This site’s slow-moving Call of the Board series, which takes a closer look at the results for every seat at the May 18 election, now makes it to regional Victoria. This area once enjoyed its fair share of marginal seats (see Ballarat, Bendigo and Monash/McMillan below), but now has only Corangamite to offer in the way of reliable election night seats-to-watch. Nonetheless, there were a few interesting things going on in the results for those who cared to look. (And while you’re here, note also the post on Brexit developments immediately below this one).
Ballarat (Labor 11.0%; 3.6% swing to Labor): Labor has been strengthening in this once highly marginal seat since Catherine King gained it at the 2001 election, at which it was the only seat in the country to shift from Coalition to Labor (with some help from the retirement of Michael Ronaldson, later a Senator). The only serious speed bump in that time was a 6.8% swing to the Liberals in 2013, reducing her margin to 4.9%, which she has now almost made good with successive swings of 2.4% and 3.6%. The Liberal primary vote on this occasion was down 4.0% despite the absence of the Nationals, who polled 4.2% in 2016, although they did face new competition on the right from the United Australia Party, which polled 4.6%.
Bendigo (Labor 9.0%; 5.2% swing to Labor): Victoria’s other regional city seat has followed a similar pattern to Ballarat over time: won by Labor from the Liberals in 1998, retained only narrowly in 2004 and 2013, and now looking secure again after successive swings of 2.5% and 5.2% in 2016 and 2019. The current member, Lisa Chesters, has now almost made up the 8.2% swing she suffered when she came to the seat on Steve Gibbons’ retirement in 2013. The Liberal primary vote was down 6.1% amid an overload of competition on the right, with One Nation, Conservative National and Rise Up Australia all in the field alongside the ubiquitous United Australia Party.
Casey (Liberal 4.6%; 0.1% swing to Liberal): Located on Melbourne’s eastern outskirts and held for the Liberals by the Speaker, Tony Smith, Casey was one of many Victorian seats that looked promising for Labor after the state election, but singularly failed to deliver on the day. Smith actually picked up a very slightly swing on two-party preferred, and none of the primary vote swings were particularly significant. Labor tended to do better in the more urbanised western end of the electorate, particularly in those parts of it newly added from La Trobe in the redistribution.
Corangamite (LABOR NOTIONAL GAIN 1.1%; 1.0% swing to Labor): Corangamite was designated as a notional Labor seat by the barest possible margin, so whoever received the swing was almost certain to win the seat. That proved to be Labor’s Libby Coker, just, in a result perfectly in line with the state average. Defeated Liberal member Sarah Henderson picked up a few swings in the booths newly added to the electorate on the Bellarine Peninsula, but the Great Ocean Road swung to Labor, reflecting its affluent and educated sea-changer demographic. The Greens were down 3.0% on the primary vote, as voters situated in the state’s south-west failed to warm to a candidate called Simon Northeast.
Corio (Labor 10.3%; 2.1% swing to Labor): Labor’s Richard Marles picked up 4.2% on the primary vote and 2.1% on two-party preferred, the former assisted by a small field of four candidates. The Liberals picked up some swings in Geelong’s down-market north, but the city centre and its surrounds went solidly to Labor.
Flinders (Liberal 5.6%; 1.4% swing to Labor): One of many disappointments for Labor was their failure to seriously threaten Greg Hunt in an area that had swung forcefully their way at the state election. Hunt was also little troubled by Julia Banks, who managed 13.8% of the primary vote, well behind Labor on 24.7%. Banks’s presence cut into the vote share for Liberal, Labor and the Greens – Hunt was down 3.8% to 46.7%, and needed preferences to win the seat for the first time since he came to it in 2001.
Gippsland (Nationals 16.7%; 1.5% swing to Labor): For reasons not immediately apparent, Labor was up 3.0% on the primary vote and cut slightly into what remains a secure margin for Nationals member Darren Chester.
Indi (Independent 1.4% versus Liberal; 4.1% swing to Liberal): As a number of highly trumpeted independents failed to live up to the hype elsewhere, Helen Haines performed a remarkable feat in retaining the independent mantle of Cathy McGowan. Haines’ primary vote of 32.4% was only slightly short of McGowan’s 34.8% on her re-election in 2016, although the Liberals put up a stronger show after gouging half of the Nationals vote. An interesting feature of the result was the 7.7% swing to the Liberals on two-party-preferred versus Labor, suggesting Haines’ preferences favoured the Liberals more strongly than did McGowan’s.
La Trobe (Liberal 4.5%; 1.3% swing to Liberal): A swing to the Liberals in Melbourne marginals was not a feature of too many pre-election predictions, but such was the outcome in La Trobe. Both major parties were up slightly on the primary vote amid a smaller field of candidates than 2016.
Mallee (Nationals 16.2%; 3.6% swing to Labor): Vacated with the demise of Andrew Broad’s two-term career, this was retained by the Nationals against a challenge from the Liberals, as it was in 2013 when Broad succeeded John Forrest. Liberal candidate Serge Petrovich actually fell out of the preference candidate before Labor, despite outpolling them 18.8% to 15.7% on the primary vote, and his preferences duly delivered a large winning margin to Nationals candidate Anne Webster. Webster would likely have won the seat even if Petrovich had survived to the final count, given her 27.9% to 18.8% advantage on the primary vote.
McEwen (Labor 5.0%; 1.0% swing to Liberal): Despite being an area of dynamic growth, particularly around Mernda and Doreen at Melbourne’s northern edge, McEwen turned in a largely static result on this occasion. This was in contrast to its form at the five elections from 2004 to 2016, when two-party swings ranged from 4.1% to 9.0%. Both major parties were down slightly on the primary vote as One Nation took to the field, scoring 5.9%, and Labor member Rob Mitchell’s two-party margin was slightly clipped after a blowout win in 2016.
Monash (Liberal 7.4%; 0.2% swing to Labor): The solid margin built up by Russell Broadbent since 2004 in the seat formerly known as McMillan was little disturbed, although the 7.6% recorded by One Nation took a 3.6% bite out of his primary vote. A noteworthy feature of the result was a heavy swing to the Liberals in the Latrobe Valley towns of Moe and Newborough, a pattern reflected in coal and electricity producing areas across the country.
Nicholls (Nationals 20.0%; 2.5% swing to Labor): After a three-cornered contest in 2016, in which Damian Drum gained the seat for the Nationals on the retirement of Liberal member Sharman Stone, the Liberals vacated the field in Nicholls (formerly Murray), and Drum retained the seat with a majority of the primary vote. One Nation polled 11.3%, easily the best result of the five seats they contested in Victoria.
Wannon (Liberal 10.4%; 1.2% swing to Liberal): Liberal member Dan Tehan picked up slight favourable swings on both the primary and two-party vote. Former Triple J presenter Alex Dyson polled 10.4% as an independent.
Most rape or domestic violence cases have only the one witness, that being the victim. Should those cases be thrown out or ridiculed or dismissed because there aren’t multiple witnesses to the allegations?
Actually, no they don’t. Not all witnesses are eye witnesses to the actual assault..
There will be witnesses as to, for example, the victim and assailant leaving premises together. CCTV plays an important part too, even from shops and banks, showing the assailant tracking the victim. Pathology plays a part: semen samples, bite mark matching, blood analysis etc. Very often the assailant admits (or is forced to admit when confronted with corroborating evidence) having sexual intercourse, but claims it was consensual.
I think you’ll find that a conviction based on one single witness, without any pathology, CCTV or other corroboration – or admissions by the assailant – is actually quite rare.
“A public inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing at casinos run by Crown Resorts will decide whether the James Packer-dominated group is fit to hold a licence in New South Wales and whether the state’s gambling laws need to be overhauled.”
Anyone fit to hold a license in gaming operations in NSW wouldn’t want one.
NSW Labor is one branch of the Labor party.
If it were to fail, it wouldn’t be the end of the party nation wide. The Victorian branch was basically closed down under Gough and it wasn’t the end of the party nationally.
A good opportunity, however, for NSW to sweep out its stables, although given past history, I’m not sure whether that nettle will be grasped.
Zoom, there was a proposal some years back to sell Sussex St HQ and move to Parramatta. Not sure why it failed, but if you know Chinatown where HQ is – the location is totally incongruous in today’s time for a broad based Democratic Party. The land and building must be worth $50-$100m
A physical shift to the Greater West would also squeeze the long boozy lazy Susan lunches.
sprocket_
Vic Labor’s moved its headquarters twice in the last twenty years. No biggie.
zoomster if you weren’t so caught up in minor ALP business you could have run as an Indy and done what Cathy and Helen have done as an independent rural. Was being able to name drop Stephen Conroy really worth it?
Meanwhile in the Land of the Free, Democratic contenders trimmed to 10..
10 candidates met both thresholds, qualifying them for the debate scheduled for next month:
Former Vice President Joe Biden
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker
Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro
California Sen. Kamala Harris
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Businessman Andrew Yang
ABC, the media partner in the September debate, also announced Thursday the podium order, from left to right: Klobuchar, Booker, Buttigieg, Sanders, Biden, Warren, Harris, Yang, O’Rourke and Castro.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/02/politics/september-debate-qualifiers/index.html
Bushfire:
Shouldn’t this be:
“Psyclaw’s pseudo-science psycho-babble.
Seems to scan better and makes more sense. What does ‘psuedo psycho-babble’ mean?
Albanese intervened very quickly into what should have been a Victorian labor party branch matter re Setka and his ongoing membership of the party. Instead of leaving it to that state branch to consider, Albanese decided he would anoint himself judge and jury and demand national executive expell Setka. Forget about natural justice. Forget about procedural fairness. It would be Albanese who decides if a member should be expelled and on what grounds. Not the state or territory branch.
Albanese made his call. He set the precedent. Now his home state branch is once again back in the swamp and the actions of individuals within the NSW branch are coming under huge scrutiny. The incumbent state secretary, now suspended, has admitted she knew a illegal donation had been received from a banned donar yet she turned a blind eye and despite opportunities to report the matter to the AEC she did nothing.
Where is Albanese ? He was very quick to intervene into what should have been a matter for the Victorian state branch yet he remains silent on the ongoing train wreck of his home state branch. Will he be consistent and decisive and intervene or will he be shown up as simply trying to score political points by showing how tough he can be when it suits ?
I will be the first to acknowledge Albanese if he does respond forcefully to the ICAC revelations re NSW labor and members of that branch.
zoomster @ #405 Friday, August 30th, 2019 – 10:17 pm
No more room to bury the bodies? 🙂
What does ‘psuedo psycho-babble’ mean?
What Psyclaw does.
“Psyclaw”, I guess, is a portmanteau of “Psychology” (or maybe “psychiatry”) and “Law”. He/she reckons he/she can speak authoritatively on matters of law and the human mind. That’s the “psycho” part.
“Babble” comes in because it’s usually incomprehensible.
“Pseudo” is because he/she is usually wrong in his/her assessment of others, usually because these assessments are so boringly predictable and outright wrong.
His/her MO is to make up an outrageous accusation against someone else.
Then, when they deny it, or backchat him/her over it, this is used as further proof as to how fucked-in-the-head the victim of the accusation really is.
It’s all designed to make Psyclaw look superior.
Sprocket_:
It’s the combination of the convict past and the Rum Corps past, and affects all (state) parties in the state to a controlling extent, though it’s not entirely clear how it got into the Greens.
Mixing the NSW state and federal apparatuses, which both major parties have done extensively, is very dangerous and will damage both.
Following cults always ends in disaster. Time is the only moving permutation.
BB
Your creative writing continues.
1. I didn’t say you are lying. I don’t think you are lying. I think you are sincerely supporting Pell.
2. The views of Weinberg J in making his C of A judgement were not directly related to his extensive criminal law experience or skills. They were his views as a wise human being, using the same analytic skills a wise, diligent jury member would use. So says Professor of Law, Jeremy Gans.
3. Yet another unicorn from you ……. that I am using (pseudo) scientific babble. Nothing I have posted in response to you has been scientific. That is, unless you consider that my recognising your ridiculing others, your disrespecting their views, your subjectively supporting Pell, your production of huge quantities of bullshit, and most of all, your being incensed when contradicted, are matters of science. I do not.
No, this is merely my observed assessment of you, which I think creates a tad more clearer word picture of you, than does your assessment of me that I am a dickhead, patronising wanker. As a matter of fact I quite enjoy your assessment of me.
The use of ad hominems as a rule indicates a dearth of substance in the user’s argument. And the fact that you did not actually address any of my previous points instances that rule.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
Alexandra Smith writes about ICAC providing the NSW Labor party the excuse to knife her.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/in-the-thick-of-it-the-fall-of-kaila-murnain-20190830-p52mgp.html
Former NSW MP Ernest Wong has been accused of lying to a corruption inquiry over his alleged role in organising for a Chinese billionaire to pay $100,000 for dinner with then-federal and state Labor leaders Bill Shorten and Luke Foley.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/mp-accused-of-organising-for-chinese-billionaire-to-pay-100k-to-sit-with-alp-leaders-20190830-p52mcp.html
The SMH editorial says that the revelations at the Independent Commission Against Corruption about political donations to the ALP by Chinese property developers have provided a shocking insight into the link between money and politics.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/icac-shows-holes-in-campaign-financing-laws-20190830-p52mie.html
As the ICAC hearings unfold, we’re learning just how vulnerable Australia is to foreign influence says Peter Hartcher.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/alp-s-disarray-is-morrison-s-chance-20190830-p52mjk.html
In an entertaining contribution Sam Maiden sought out Bill Heffernan to get the lowdown on the handling of political donations.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/08/30/kerry-packer-bill-heffernan/
Karen Middleton writes that in a new book, veteran journalist Brian Toohey argues that covert CIA operatives have worked in Australia for decades, something the government has long denied.
https://outline.com/YFxfnD
Ross Gittins tells us how our leaders are slowly coming to grips with a different economy.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/our-leaders-slowly-come-to-grips-with-a-different-economy-20190830-p52me0.html
Labor’s Jim Chalmers says the government should bring forward its mid-year budget update and use the cash flowing in from the nation’s miners to fast-track personal income tax cuts and boost spending.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-calls-for-early-budget-update-fast-tracked-tax-cuts-20190830-p52mab.html
Mike Seccombe analyses the stalemate on stagnant wage growth and concludes that “our treasurer would rather point at the other guilty parties in corporate Australia. ‘Look over there, it’s not us, it’s them.’”
https://outline.com/TXUqLb
Katharine Murphy reveals that the New South Wales government is working on a plan B to the national energy guarantee ahead of a meeting of federal and state energy ministers expected next month.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/31/nsw-government-working-on-plan-b-to-replace-national-energy-guarantee
Now Coles has walked away from advertising on 2GB because of Jones’s antics.
https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/coles-withdraws-ads-from-2gb-after-alan-jones-controversial-comments-20190830-p52mhq.html
Matt Wade explains what is going on in the world’s trading system and how Australia may be impacted.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trade-war-what-is-going-on-in-the-world-s-trading-system-20190829-p52m19.html
The Department of Agriculture has refused to release video of sheep on board a ship bound for the Middle East, saying it could be used selectively to lobby for a ban on the live-export trade. Such transparency!
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/department-of-agriculture-refuses-to-release-live-export-footage-20190829-p52lt4.html
James Massola reports that Morrison has dismissed calls for the Australian government to drop the prosecution of whistle blowers Bernard Collaery and Witness K.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/pm-bats-aside-questions-over-prosecution-of-witness-k-and-lawyer-20190830-p52mjj.html
Demagogues use contempt for the media as a key weapon, but it must also be worth defending implores Katharine Murphy.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/31/australian-journalism-must-fight-for-its-future-o-because-the-times-could-not-be-more-serious
Elizabeth Knight explores the charges the ACCC has laid on Bluescope Steel.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/how-the-son-of-business-royalty-allegedly-tried-to-be-a-cartel-king-20190830-p52mg5.html
John Hewson says, “They’ve done it again. An LNP government has again put our military in harm’s way, this time by joining Trump’s so-called “coalition” to focus on freedom of navigation in the Straits of Hormuz, without much prior consultation, except with the Americans, and without any parliamentary process or approval.”
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6349557/smooched-into-another-military-coalition/?cs=14258
The AFR says that a new debt-fuelled house price bubble is at risk of emerging from the Reserve Bank’s interest rate cuts, as it tries to negate an anticipated slowdown in economic growth next week to the weakest pace since the global financial crisis.
https://outline.com/TbTPp2
According to Judith Ireland Anglican Bishop Dr Michael Stead has raised concerns the so-called “Folau clause” in the federal government’s religious discrimination bill will act as a “gag” on devout employees. They won’t rest until the legislation provides religious privilege protection.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/folau-clause-could-still-gag-religious-australians-bishop-warns-20190830-p52mfj.html
Laura Tingle says that pressure to harden religious rights could turn into the PM’s most difficult domestic policy issue.
https://outline.com/kZhV7W
The religious discrimination bill should not allow the far right to have their way says Neda Madhok in The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/30/the-religious-discrimination-bill-should-not-allow-the-far-right-to-have-their-way
And Paul Karp reports that the religious discrimination bill has been attacked as an ‘extraordinary foray in the culture wars’.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/30/religious-discrimination-bill-attacked-extraordinary-foray-culture-wars
The Conversation puts a position that this Religious Discrimination Bill is a mess that risks privileging people of faith above all others.
https://theconversation.com/religious-discrimination-bill-is-a-mess-that-risks-privileging-people-of-faith-above-all-others-122631
Three years ago, outgoing commissioner Ken Lay ordered a review into sexual harassment and predatory behaviour at Victoria Police. The latest audit shows that while determined moves are being made, a toxic culture is hard to stamp out.
https://outline.com/e3WMkf
in the Saturday Paper Kevin Rudd writes about defining Australia’s national identity.
https://outline.com/YeSwY2
An unprecedented iPhone hacking operation, which attacked “thousands of users a week” until it was disrupted in January, has been revealed by researchers at Google’s external security team.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/30/hackers-monitoring-implants-iphones-google-says
ALP Minister Tony Burke has released a public statement calling on the PM to rethink his stance on penalty rates, writes William Olson.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/burke-applies-pressure-on-morrison-over-penalty-rates,13055
The Great Barrier Reef is at “a critical point” with the marine park’s outlook downgraded on Friday from “poor” to “very poor” due to coral bleaching and deforestation reports Peter Hannam. And would you believe that the government report puts climate change at the top of the list of drivers of its demise.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/great-barrier-reef-outlook-downgraded-to-very-poor-as-threats-mount-20190830-p52mb8.html
The reef report is in and ocean scientists are fearful.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/the-reef-report-is-in-and-ocean-scientists-are-fearful-20190830-p52mg3.html
But “The Great Barrier Reef is not dead … long live the reef” trumpets the lightweight Sussan Ley.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-great-barrier-reef-is-not-dead-long-live-the-reef-20190830-p52mg0.html
Paul Bongiorno writes that at the very time the world’s most powerful democracy is locked in a trade war with the planet’s biggest authoritarian state, Australia’s reputation as a free nation is under severe strain.
https://outline.com/LmUypR
Would you believe that Paladin asked Home Affairs about ‘unforeseen bribes’?
https://outline.com/rGVKHq
The dysfunction in the Home Affairs Department that has been long reported on (see here, here and here) has now been officially confirmed in a survey conducted by the Australian Public Service Commission, writes Abul Rizvi.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/survey-reveals-low-morale-in-home-affairs-department,13056
Anti-Brexit campaigners have suffered their first blow after a Scottish judge rejected a bid to block the Prime Minister’s plan to shut Parliament but John Major said he would join forces with the Remain campaigner Gina Miller and add his name to her claim for a judicial review of Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/legal-setback-for-boris-johnson-s-opponents-but-the-fight-is-not-over-20190830-p52mk5.html
Why the Queen may quietly resent being boxed in by Boris Johnson.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/why-the-queen-may-quietly-resent-being-boxed-in-by-boris-johnson-20190830-p52mco.html
Even Fox News has (sort of) had enough of Trump.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/we-don-t-work-for-you-fox-news-anchor-rips-into-donald-trump-20190831-p52mlu.html
Miranda Devine has been writing for the New York Post for less than two months but she has already been called out by the US media for praising Donald Trump’s use of an “ethnic slur” reports Amanda Meade.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/aug/30/miranda-devine-snarks-at-us-narks-after-praising-trump-on-fox
Mrs Setka earns nomination for “Arsehole of the Week” with this disgraceful effort.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/setka-s-wife-allegedly-sped-at-126km-h-heavily-intoxicated-with-children-in-car-20190830-p52mem.html
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe and the ICAC wreckage.
From Matt Golding.
Andrew Dyson goes all the way on religious freedom.
Alan Moir takes under the British Houses of Parliament.
Zanetti at the ICAC hearing.
From Glen Le Lievre.
Jon Kudelka on the Great Barrier Reef.
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/614292a5b9361a6af7e70f1732d50644?width=1024
From the US
Thank you, BK.
The lesson for the day. But Morrison and Dutton are two of the worst offenders.
doyley @ #409 Friday, August 30th, 2019 – 10:26 pm
Give the dog a bone, doyley.
If you actually followed this incident closely, as I have been, you would have read that, away from the cameras, moves have been going on to resolve the matters that have been exposed by ICAC this week.
Jodi Mackay, Kristina Kenneally and no doubt, Anthony Albanese, have been devising plans to reconstruct the NSW Branch from the ground up.
Kaila Murnain will get her judgement day from the party at the conclusion of the ICAC investigation when they have handed down their findings.
Until such time, you should stop embarrassing yourself trying to find ways to keep supporting a convicted, guilty by his own admission, violent thug. Just because he is ‘Union’.
nath
I reckon I delivered more for Indi than Cathy, and I doubt Haines will do any better.
Indies really can’t do much, unless there’s a hung Parliament.
They get lots of attention, of course, but I was more into getting things done.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/one-of-the-best-bogong-ski-tragedy-claims-eminent-forest-scientist-20190830-p52mk4.html
zoomster
says:
Saturday, August 31, 2019 at 7:43 am
nath
I reckon I delivered more for Indi than Cathy, and I doubt Haines will do any better.
Indies really can’t do much, unless there’s a hung Parliament.
They get lots of attention, of course, but I was more into getting things done.
______________________________________
You certainly have the ego to match a Cabinet Minister!
Knowing Labor is years away from governing again makes living through the interim years somehow less disturbing. When we were in with a chance I was constantly on edge. Now there’s no chance I can get on with life without the attendant anxiety. Strange. Another day in Morristan? Piece o’ cake.
cat,
More than once you have accused me of being a John Setka supporter and more than once you have accused me of therefore being a supporter of domestic violence against women.
Those accusations are rubbish and with respect to your inference I support domestic violence because I supposedly support Setka they are grubby at the least.
You are not worth the time of day so for one last time I will state my position clearly and that will be it from me on this matter.
Yes I am a union supporter. Proud of it. But every post I have made on this issue I have made it clear John Setka should resign from his CFMMEU leadership position. By remaining he is doing harm to the CFMMEU and the labour movement in general. He is a yesterday man. However, that is a matter for Setka, the CFMMEU and its members.
With regard to his membership of the labor party. Setka has been convicted of two charges of domestic violence. He should now either resign or be expelled from the labor party. But that should be a matter for the Victorian branch of the labor party and due process should be untaken by that state branch.
However, by sticking his head into what should have been a Victiorian matter before the Setka court case had been finalised and on the basis of some unsubstantiated allegations in the media and stating that Setka would be expelled from the labor party Albanese has promoted himself to sole judge and jury as to which member or members of the Australian labor party do not meet so called “ labor values “ and he will determine which member or members will be expelled and by which date. He then expects National executive to rubber stamp his decree.
A complete load of bullshit and completely overriding state and territory branches. However, that is the precedent Albanese has now set. If he is to be consistent then he should now intervene in his home state branch with the same speed he showed with Setka.
I do not support Setka but I do support a proper process and a consistent process being in place to decide matters of membership of the labor party.
Albanese has now pronounced himself judge and jury. I do not agree with it but he has set the precedent and he should now act against his home branch or else be called out as a hypocrite and his intervention in Victoria re Setka nothing more than political point scoring to show how tough he is.
It is a frightening thought that the Morrison govt is only at the beginning of their term.
Bankrupted by Adani, but with thousands of years of ancestry and association with the land, Adrian Burragubba has set up camp on land at the mine site just days before traditional land rights were extinguished by the Qld govt on thursday apparently. I wonder where anyone thinks Adrian and other Wangan & Jagalingou people will go, it’s their homeland.
Seems even the Qld police are pondering the issue of removing Adrian and others from their traditional lands in these circumstances.
Adani native title anger prompts police query about ‘sensitivities’ over removing protesters
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-31/adani-native-title-anger-prompts-police-inquiries-protest-clash/11466778
lizzie @ #425 Saturday, August 31st, 2019 – 8:16 am
Well, sure Lizzie, but don’t fight it. The years slip by…..defeat is inevitable……………..eventually.
I’m off to plant tomatoes. Spring is here! and Scrotty can’t change that, yet.
Average of Polls in August:
Democratic Presidential Nomination
Biden 28.9
Sanders 17.1
Warren 16.5
Harris 7.0
Buttigieg 4.6
Yang 2.5
Booker 2.4
O’Rourke 2.4
Gabbard 1.4
Castro 1.1
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-31/australian-government-secrecy-over-nauru-refugee/11465188
doyley @ #424 Saturday, August 31st, 2019 – 8:15 am
Okay, so to address your points, as I read them to be.
1. You believe that State Branches of the ALP should be sovereign. That the federal MPs, leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party and the federal executive should have no say in matters involving ALP Members. Leave it to the States to sort out their own houses and keep them in order?
2. What follows from that position then, is that you don’t believe that federal intervention, by whatever means or person, should ever occur. Leave it to the States to sort out their own houses and keep them in order?
3. EXCEPT, it seems to me, when the Federal Parliamentary Labor Leader comes from the same State that YOU believe demands a federal intervention. Am I right in saying that? Or are you being tricky and laying that request for intervention at the feet of the federal leader, Anthony Albanese, in his role as a member of the NSW State Executive?
4. To which I ask, why not then simply ask that the whole of the NSW State Executive of the ALP deal with Kaila Murnain, when it’s the appropriate time, and not simply only Anthony Albanese?
Sorry, but I can’t resolve the hypocrisy that your two positions suggest to me. That is, not fine for the federal leader to intervene in a Victorian matter (and has it even occurred to you that Setka sits on the executive of the national board of the CFFMMEU and is a delegate to the national conference/decision-making body of the ALP?), but fine for the national leader to be called upon by you specifically to intervene, before a judgement has been handed down wrt Kaila Murnain (which contrasts, again, with the Setka matter because he had admitted guilt in his court case AND Albanese had heard reports of his comments about Rosie Batty)?
If you wouldn’t mind elucidating answers to my questions I would really appreciate it.
Morning all. Thanks BK for the dawn patrol.
No Real Time today which is taking a week off.
Actually, no, nath. If I had more of an ego, I would have trumpetted these as personal achievements when I was a candidate. I didn’t, mainly because I know that no one achieves anything by themselves.
It’s looking back now that I realise how much of what happened wouldn’t have if I hadn’t been on the floor of State conference harrassing Ministers.
Once, for example, a weekend at State Conference secured $15 million to seal a road.
I know of people who have never been elected as delegates to SC who simply go there to sit outside (I suppose the origin of the word ‘lobbying’) so that they can talk to Ministers and other mover and shakers when they come out for a coffee.
Flying the Tamil family around Australia and then to Christmas Island, just to keep ahead of lawyers and supporters, is the action of a department that has no restriction on its budget, and no accountability.
zoomster
nath just carps at Labor from the sidelines. He no longer gets much response to his bitchy attacks on Shorten, so he’s started on you.
lizzie @ #433 Saturday, August 31st, 2019 – 7:06 am
Nor any respect for due process.
lizzie @ #434 Saturday, August 31st, 2019 – 9:08 am
And, as a teacher, zoomster is well used to dealing with juveniles. 🙂
Confessions @ #435 Saturday, August 31st, 2019 – 9:11 am
Because they know that, once they are gone people will soon move on and forget about them.
C@t
😆
(That was in response to your comment on zoomster)
Here’s a good news story about a company that usually cops a lot of bad publicity:
https://www.nestle.com.au/media/news/nestl%C3%A9-volunteers-clean-parramatta-river-parklands
C@
‘1. You believe that State Branches of the ALP should be sovereign. ‘ – it’s not a matter of belief, it’s a matter of fact – and that’s what the recent court case confirmed.
‘2. What follows from that position then, is that you don’t believe that federal intervention, by whatever means or person, should ever occur..’ Incorrect assumption. Just because the state branches are ‘sovereign’ when it comes to membership (and various other matters) doesn’t mean the Fed branch has no power of them whatsoever. It’s not uncommon for an organisation to have control of certain aspects of its operations but not over others.
‘3. EXCEPT, it seems to me, when the Federal Parliamentary Labor Leader comes from the same State that YOU believe demands a federal intervention. Am I right in saying that? ‘ (i) so you admit that 2 is wrong and there are exceptions; (ii) ‘ in his role as a member of the NSW State Executive..’ is the money quote.
Another point is that Albanese has had ample time in the NSW State party to fix things up, well before he became the Federal leader.
‘4. To which I ask, why not then simply ask that the whole of the NSW State Executive of the ALP deal with Kaila Murnain, when it’s the appropriate time, and not simply only Anthony Albanese?’
Because Albanese has – by his attempts to intervene in Victorian matters – taken this role on himself. It would be highly hypocritical of him to continue to demand that Vic fix up its affairs and ignore the situation in NSW.
As both doyley and I pointed out earlier, Albo’s initial actions regarding Setka were foolish, because he has made himself the arbiter of who should or should not be an ALP member. He didn’t have to do that. The Setka affair has backfired on him (as we predicted it would) because he hasn’t the authority to impose his wishes on the party.
Ironically, this is a direct result of the ‘thirty faceless men’ affair, when the State branches could dictate to the parliamentary arm of the party. To remove those controls, the rules were changed to separate the functions of the parliamentary branch of the party and the relevant State branches. However, it worked both ways – if the state branches can’t dictate what MPs should be doing, MPs can’t dictate what the state branch should be doing.
C@
Funnily enough, I had a student in the class the other day who reminded me of nath. All snark, no contribution.
The Biloela family affair and similar deportation sagas remind me of the last days if the White Australia policy.
US spies say Trump’s G7 performance suggests he’s either a ‘Russian asset’ or a ‘useful idiot’ for Putin
• Current and former spies are floored by President Donald Trump’s fervent defence of Russia at this year’s G7 summit in Biarritz, France.
•“It’s hard to see the bar anymore since it’s been pushed so far down the last few years, but President Trump’s behaviour over the weekend was a new low,” one FBI agent who works in counterintelligence told Insider.
• Meanwhile, a recently retired FBI special agent told Insider that Trump’s freewheeling and often unfounded statements make it more likely that he’s a “useful idiot” for the Russians. But “it would not surprise me in the least if the Russians had at least one asset in Trump’s inner circle.”
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/spies-react-trump-g7-summit-russian-asset-2019-8?r=US&IR=T
Trump may have revealed US military secrets by tweeting a photo to taunt Iran
• President Donald Trump looks to have shared a photograph of an intelligence briefing that could have exposed US military secrets to the world while taunting Iran over Twitter.
• The image Trump shares appears lifted from an intelligence briefing and is much more high-resolution than anything commercial satellite image providers have produced.
Read more at https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tweet-may-have-revealed-us-military-secrets-taunting-iran-2019-8#Cgf0wfxwSKTb79GJ.99
Pentagon Says Trump Was Never Supposed To Share Picture Of Damaged Iranian Launchpad
A U.S. defense official told CNBC that the picture in Trump’s tweet, which appeared to be a snapshot of a physical copy of the satellite image, was included in a Friday intelligence briefing.
Experts told CNBC that the shot was likely never meant for public view.
There is a shadow in the picture that Trump tweeted that appears to be the president snapping a shot of intelligence briefing, which he then tweeted out to his followers.
Recklessness with classified information has been a hallmark of the Trump presidency. Trump has leaked classified intelligence to America’s enemies and blabbed about intel to the American people.
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/08/30/pentagon-says-trump-was-never-supposed-to-share-picture-of-damaged-iranian-launchpad.html
Everything Trump Touches Dies.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/bolton-sidelined-from-afghanistan-policy-as-his-standing-with-trump-falters/2019/08/30/79651256-8888-483b-9fd1-c47a2cfadab7_story.html
Okay, zoomster, thanks for the extensive and courteous reply. So, I therefore only have one more, very important question to ask: What IS the Victorian Branch of the ALP doing about John Setka?
(I’ve got to go out now for a couple of hours, so don’t think I’m ignoring you if I don’t reply immediately. 🙂 )
Another snap of Trumps pic :
Steve777 @ #442 Saturday, August 31st, 2019 – 9:19 am
Smells like the first days of the new white-cult-of-faith days in Morristan to me…….long, long way to go yet before the end……….
C@
I honestly don’t know. Which doesn’t mean they’re not doing anything, just that I’m not in that particular loop.
cat,
Firstly,
Regarding your arguments that Setka is a delegate to national conference and he admitted his guilt.
Kaila Murnain has admitted under oath at ICAC that she knew a substantial illegal donation had been made to the NSW branch of the labor party by a banned donar yet she did nothing. She turned a blind eye. She admitted her guilt.
Kaila Murnain sits on the National executive of the Labor party.
Everything else I was going to post has been covered far move clearly and succinctly by Zoomster.