In through the out door

Sarah Henderson returns to parliament via a Senate vacancy and a hotly contested preselection, as Coalition MPs blow bubbles on electoral “reform”.

Two brief news items to relate on Australian matters, as well as which we have the latest of Adrian Beaumont’s increasingly regular updates on the constitutional mess that is Brexit.

Sarah Henderson, who held the seat of Corangamite for the Liberals from 2013 until her defeat in May, will return to parliament today after winning preselection to fill Mitch Fifield’s Victorian Senate vacancy. This follows her 234-197 win in a party vote held on Saturday over Greg Mirabella, a Wangaratta farmer and the husband of former Indi MP Sophie Mirabella. After initial expectations that Henderson was all but assured of the spot, Mirabella’s campaign reportedly gathered steam in the lead-up to Saturday’s vote, resulting in a late flurry of public backing for Henderson from Scott Morrison, Josh Frydenberg, Jeff Kennett, Michael Kroger and Michael Sukkar.

Also, The Australian reports Queensland Liberal Senator James McGrath will push for the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, of which he is the chair, to consider abolishing proportional representation in the Senate and replacing it with a system in which each state is broken down into six provinces, each returning a single member at each half-Senate election – very much like the systems that prevailed in the state upper houses of Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia in the bad old days before the advent of proportional representation.

Ostensibly motivated by a desire to better represent the regions, such a system would result in a Senate dominated as much as the House of Representatives by the major parties, at a time of ongoing erosion in public support for them. The Australian’s report further quotes Nationals Senator Perin Davey advocating the equally appalling idea of rural vote weighting for the House. The kindest thing that can be said about both proposals is that they are not going to happen, although the latter would at least give the High Court an opportunity to take a stand for democracy by striking it down.

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.

2,838 comments on “In through the out door”

Comments Page 36 of 57
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  1. BK

    Thanks for the morning roundup.

    A search on Brighsun Electric Vehicles reveals lots of positive stories shared by Ms Liu when she was employed as their comms director back in 2015. Furthermore lots of happy snaps with former PM and ministers.

    This included a Guinness world record of a bus making a nonstop trip between Melbourne (actually Yuroke a no name place north of Melbourne and Sydney) on one charge, lots of talk about jobs in Victoria and the release of four bus prototypes from coaches to route buses.

    Now four years later nothing… the company appears to have disappeared and former staff are working for other vehicle engineering firms. The prototype vehicles have been scrapped or converted to other power sources.

    Interestingly the company statements at the time were very vague in specifics such as charging stations etc.

    Another Wankel rotary engine saga perhaps?

  2. Thanks, BK.

    Those Patrick irrigation images are interesting. We drove over the Condamine River last month. Dry bottom.

    IMO this is another example of the growing north/south – upstream/downstream fight in the MDB with the South Australian section of the Murray featuring as the cloaca and the Murray Mouth the rectum.

  3. Bert @6:44
    “When are the so called main stream media going to start concentrating on and questioning what the the government is or isn’t doing instead of what the opposition is or isn’t doing? To answer…”

    If and when Labor reattains power.

  4. “Another Wankel rotary engine saga perhaps?”

    Are you thinking of the Sarich Orbital Engine?

    The Wankel rotary has been successfully used for over a century.

    Edit (I was conflating the rotary engine with the radial engines of early aircraft). The rotary has been in production since the 1960s and Mazda recently announced a new generation rotary ICE as part of its Hybrid power unit technology for the 2020s.

  5. The interesting bit is that the US is now insisting that the drones that hit the Saudi oil facilities came direct from Iran and not from the Yemen.

    That is an act of war and traditionally would satisfy a reasonable test for being a casus belli.

    It is also demonstrates that the Iranians are capable not only of halting ship-borne traffic in the Gulf, but that they are also capable of doing serious damage to US capital investment in Saudi Arabia in an all-out war. The major US interest in the Aqaiq facility damaged by the drones is Aramco.

    Let’s hope that Ms Bishop uses some of her good offices to pour some oil over the troubled waters of the Strait of Hormuz.

  6. The 300 Australian troops in Afghanistan who were to come home after 18 years of failed Australian warmaking, now have to stay because the insane person in the White House wrecked negotiations by tweeting in a fit of pique.

    Lickspittle Morrison had better be good at sucking arse because that is all that the White House’s resident lunatic understands.

  7. “Let’s hope that Ms Bishop uses some of her good offices to pour some oil over the troubled waters of the Strait of Hormuz.”

    You do realise that Trump will likely simply Napalm any oil that is spread over the troubled waters of the gulf, don’t you?

  8. The Incredible Hulk is so angry he wants to build a bridge from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
    The political technique is a classic from the playbook of the best POTUS ever: Shoot; cause a shitstorm; jump to the next location; rinse and repeat.
    Don’t stop; don’t argue; don’t apologize.
    The MSM and the commentariat is ALWAYS one step behind.
    And nobody much is talking about the destruction that Brexit will deal to ordinary Brits and to their environment.

  9. At first, when I read that the Nationals are arguing that “milk” should only apply to the fluid from mammals, I thought they were being a little precious.

    Then I recalled that one of my in-laws saw no harm in calling margarine “butter”. I changed my mind.

  10. A-E

    Trump is a gut isolationist.

    The CENTCOM has repeatedly advised successive US presidents that it would be extremely costly to go to war with Iran and that there is probably no way for the US to win a conventional war with Iran.

    While the US would doubtless be able to launch a devastating first strike by way of stealth bombers and cruise missiles it would never be a knock out blow and there would immediately be an all out war in the Gulf.

    The game plan now is that the US is punishing Iran economically hoping to force a regime change. It is doing so chiefly by throttling Iranian oil exports. Iran only has to wait a year and a half and hope that the US elects someone other than Trump. In the interim, Iran is nibbling away at the edges of the envelop by reminding everyone that it too can do a bit of throttling of oil exports.

    The brinksmanship involves plausible deniability. It gets Trump off the hook of looking weak.

    Stopping the ships in the Straits of Hormuz and shooting down a US drone involved degrees of plausible deniability on the part of Iran. If the US has technical data involving the tracking of drones launched from Iran and landing in Saudi Arabia then plausible deniability bit just got a whole lot harder for Iran.

  11. Sounds familiar?

    Tom NicholsVerified account@RadioFreeTom
    5h5 hours ago
    Polls: Biden beats Trump in every swing state by more than any other Dem candidate
    Dems: Yes, but can he really beat Trump?
    Me: *walks into traffic*

    Tom NicholsVerified account@RadioFreeTom
    5h5 hours ago
    If progressive voters aren’t “enthusiastic enough” to vote after three years of Trump, when former GOPers like me are willing to vote for a cinder block with a “D” on it, then Trump deserves another term. Maybe then progressives will discover some “enthusiasm.”

  12. lizzie @ #1750 Monday, September 16th, 2019 – 7:21 am

    Never forget that Morrison sees no harm in lies if it serves his purpose.

    @shipwreckcoast1

    In Corangamite, Henderson claimed a LNP(Henderson) supporter was targeted b/c of corflute display in front yard…claimed a dog was killed as a result. Claim was repeated by #ScoMao on #ABC. The story was a complete lie but served to smear ALP/Greens in the electorate

    Never forget that Labor will always let Morrison get away with lying because they’re incapable of sustaining an effective attack.
    Depressing ain’t it.

  13. Thanks BK. My pick for the morning is Eryk Bagshaw’s piece on an upcoming surplus, that “will come a year ahead of schedule on the back of surging commodity prices and an underspend on social services.”

    Excuse my broken record.

    It speaks to what the average voter believes (and who votes on belief not facts) – that the Cons are better economic managers. The Belief in the God of Surplus (the rivers of gold of a mining boom, GST bonanza, and a goodly dose of smoke and mirrors) carried the Howard Costello through ten years of retrograde disruption to the social fabric, titillating and distracting with war mongering and lying, and embracing the racist right with faux outrage about the right to be wrong.

    Morrison will follow the script. He is even a much better liar than Howard; some bar that.

    Labor’s inability to prosecute its economic credentials is a heavy drag on its electability.

    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/first-surplus-in-a-decade-is-around-the-corner-but-at-what-cost-20190915-p52rek.html

  14. Stopping the ships in the Straits of Hormuz and shooting down a US drone involved degrees of plausible deniability on the part of Iran. If the US has technical data involving the tracking of drones launched from Iran and landing in Saudi Arabia then plausible deniability bit just got a whole lot harder for Iran.

    Well the leader of the Yemeni Houthi Rebels was just interviewed on AM and he outlined how they achieved their drone strike. Sounded extremely knowledgeable and credible.

  15. More liberal corruption that greens ignore.
    @Samanthamaiden
    NEW: $105,000 Liberal donation mystery: @GladysLiuMP declines to explain her involvement in mystery donation from Chinese electric bus company she worked for in 2015 as she conducts “audit” of fundraising thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/…

  16. Zoidlord @ #1773 Monday, September 16th, 2019 – 8:15 am

    @mundo it was the greens attacking Labor that is making ScoMo getting away with shit…

    That’s it, Labor gets beaten up by the fairies at the bottom of the garden then comes back for a thumping from the toriy bully boys at the top of the garden.
    Labor needs to find a quiet spot under a willow somewhere in the middle and hide if they hear someone coming.

  17. @ralphjohnston7
    ·
    16h
    Replying to @vanOnselenP

    What should have been investigated, and still should is the donation to Andrew Robb’s private fundraiser the day CHAFTA was signed by, you guessed it, the same Huang who paid @samdastyari legal bill. It stinks

    MAY 2016

    A Chinese government-backed propaganda unit and a swag of companies that stand to gain from the China Australia Free Trade Agreement have made more than half a million dollars of political donations in Victoria, raising concerns about the influence of foreign donors.

    Companies linked to Chinese conglomerate Yuhu Group made a donation to then trade minister Andrew Robb’s fundraising entity the day the trade deal was clinched.

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/chinese-interests-play-an-increasing-role-in-australian-and-political-donations-20160518-goxl8b.html

  18. lizzie @ #1778 Monday, September 16th, 2019 – 8:20 am

    @ralphjohnston7
    ·
    16h
    Replying to @vanOnselenP

    What should have been investigated, and still should is the donation to Andrew Robb’s private fundraiser the day CHAFTA was signed by, you guessed it, the same Huang who paid @samdastyari legal bill. It stinks

    MAY 2016

    A Chinese government-backed propaganda unit and a swag of companies that stand to gain from the China Australia Free Trade Agreement have made more than half a million dollars of political donations in Victoria, raising concerns about the influence of foreign donors.

    Companies linked to Chinese conglomerate Yuhu Group made a donation to then trade minister Andrew Robb’s fundraising entity the day the trade deal was clinched.

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/chinese-interests-play-an-increasing-role-in-australian-and-political-donations-20160518-goxl8b.html

    Her Majesties Opposition are all over it. Watch this space.
    Oh, wait…..

  19. Bill Shorten @billshortenmp
    ·
    6m
    People with disability need their stories of abuse & neglect dragged into the light, so we can work to not repeat the mistakes of the past. But we share the grave concerns of disability communities about the two commissioners with potential conflicts. #disabilityroyalcommission

  20. Does this mean petrol prices will go up?

    Oil prices jumped on global markets Sunday night after a wave of weekend drone attacks instantly erased half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production.

    Brent crude traded at $70.98 per barrel on oil futures markets Sunday, an 18 percent surge from Friday’s close of $60.15, before falling back to a 12 percent jump. U.S. benchmark West Texas intermediate crude opened at $61.27 per barrel, a 12 percent climb.

    In a tweet, Trump said he authorized the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a to-be-determined amount. He added that he told government agencies “to expedite approvals of the oil pipelines currently in the permitting process in Texas and various other States.”

    The attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure immediately knocked out 5.7 million barrels — nearly 6 percent — from the 100 million barrels a day the world consumes.

    https://beta.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/09/15/oil-prices-jump-after-weekend-drone-attack-saudi-arabian-oil-fields-infrastructure/


  21. mundo says:
    Monday, September 16, 2019 at 8:11 am
    ….
    Never forget that Labor will always let Morrison get away with lying because they’re incapable of sustaining an effective attack.
    Depressing ain’t it.

    Labors problem is the depth of bullshit. Do they go after the Green’s bullshit, the Liberal bullshit or the Green’s supporting the Liberal’s bullshit. Clearly they should focus, instead of going after it all.

  22. [‘Iran has warned the US it’s “ready for a fully-fledged war” after it was blamed for a drone attack on Saudi Arabia that cut into global energy supplies.

    Revolutionary Guard says its forces could strike US military bases across the Middle East with their arsenal of ballistic missiles.’]

    https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/iran-warns-us-its-ready-for-fullyfledged-war-after-drone-attack-on-oil-rig/news-story/694f6273aa01140c66cb715516475c3b

    Probably merely saber-rattling?

  23. Sounds familiar?

    Tom NicholsVerified account@RadioFreeTom
    5h5 hours ago
    Polls: Biden beats Trump in every swing state by more than any other Dem candidate
    Dems: Yes, but can he really beat Trump?
    Me: *walks into traffic*

    Tom NicholsVerified account@RadioFreeTom
    5h5 hours ago
    If progressive voters aren’t “enthusiastic enough” to vote after three years of Trump, when former GOPers like me are willing to vote for a cinder block with a “D” on it, then Trump deserves another term. Maybe then progressives will discover some “enthusiasm.”

    This kind of thinking is either deliberately trying to maintain the status quo when many many Americans want change, or it is really weak. Yeah Trump is stupid and corrupt, and has added personal insult and injury, but what has really failed is the whole trickle down economics policy school, it is what drove Trump, Brexit and even, IMHO Abbott / Turnbull / Morrison.

    Hilary’s biggest weakness, which Biden shares, was that they were part of the problem that didn’t really seem like they were offering anything different. A bit like Shorten here. ‘Oh we will review, sometime in Govt, newstart’ had people, yes really stupid people but voters none the less, turn to anyone else.

  24. It seems that anything that cannot be monetised is either a weed or a pest.

    Michael McCormack has started Monday in the most Michael McCormack of ways – blaming frogs for getting in the way of dams.

    AAP reports:

    “You’ll always get some environmentalist who will find a frog or something to roadblock a dam or a road,” Michael McCormack told ABC Radio on Monday.

    State and federal National Party politicians are ramping up calls to fast-track the planning process for dam construction, as parts of regional NSW rapidly run out of water due to the ongoing drought.

    How. Dare. They. It’s almost like native animals think they LIVE in the environment or something.

    The Guardian blog

  25. Mavis Davis @ #1788 Monday, September 16th, 2019 – 8:36 am

    [‘Iran has warned the US it’s “ready for a fully-fledged war” after it was blamed for a drone attack on Saudi Arabia that cut into global energy supplies.

    Revolutionary Guard says its forces could strike US military bases across the Middle East with their arsenal of ballistic missiles.’]

    https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/iran-warns-us-its-ready-for-fullyfledged-war-after-drone-attack-on-oil-rig/news-story/694f6273aa01140c66cb715516475c3b

    Probably merely saber-rattling?

    You mean, the part where the U.S. blamed Iran (with zero evidence yet again) for something that Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for? Or the part where Iran replied with “we’re getting sick of this shit, knock it off”?

  26. Morning bludgers

    Thanks BK.

    Sam Dastyari understanding his big errors of judgment is good. Many on this blog thought he was hard done by. Now Liu is in a hundred fold worse position. She needs to go

  27. nath says:
    Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 6:27 pm

    Boerwar
    says:
    Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 5:58 pm
    … maybe change her name to something like: ‘Gladys In Lieu’
    _________________________________
    Listen mate. There was only one Oscar Wilde. GG and you seem to be competing for who has the sharpest wit. Is it witty to say that is reality you are competing for the title of the biggest fuckwit?

    Nath

    Oblivious as you are, to being the continual object of derision on this site, you probably subscribe to Wilde’s dictum that “there is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uycsfu4574w

    Only Monty Python could bring Wilde, Shaw and Whistler into a television skit.

  28. WWP:

    And look what wanting someone different has delivered.

    This election is not like normal elections. The goal is to get rid of the madman in the WH. After that people can go back to wanting inspiration and whatever from their president.

  29. State and federal National Party politicians are ramping up calls to fast-track the planning process for dam construction, as parts of regional NSW rapidly run out of water due to the ongoing drought.

    Again, what is the point of a dam when there is no rain?

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