Essential Research: US visit, economic conditions, Middle East intervention

A new poll records a broadly favourable response to Scott Morrison’s US visit, mixed feelings about the state of the economy, and support for Australia’s new commitment in the Middle East.

Essential Research has released its fortnightly poll, once again without voting intention results. It includes a series of questions on Scott Morrison’s visit to the United States, with results generally more favourable than I personally would have expected. For example, the most negative finding is that 32% agreed that Donald Trump’s presidency has been good for Australia, compared with 49% who disagreed. By way of comparison, a Lowy Institute survey in March found 66% believed Trump had weakened the alliance, and only 25% had either a lot of or some confidence in him.

Only 38% agreed that a good relationship between Scott Morrison and Donald Trump reflected badly on Australia, compared with 48% who disagreed. Other results were probably too influenced by question wording to be of much value. Fifty-seven percent felt Morrison had shown “good diplomacy skills” during the visit, a quality that might be attributed to anyone who maintains a straight face in the President’s presence. The statement that Morrison “should have attended the UN Climate Summit, alongside other world leaders” is compromised by the words in italics (which are my own), but for what it’s worth, 70% agreed and 20% disagreed.

A question on the state of the economy likewise produces a result less bad than the government might have feared, with 32% rating it good and 33% poor. Fifty-one per cent supported Australian military involvement in the Middle East, after it was put to them that Australia had “agreed to provide military support to their allies in the Middle East to protect shipping and trade in the region”, with 35% opposed.

Essential has not yet published the full report on its website, so the precise sample size cannot be identified, but it will assuredly have been between 1000 and 1100. The poll was conducted online from Thursday to Sunday.

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.

1,065 comments on “Essential Research: US visit, economic conditions, Middle East intervention”

Comments Page 9 of 22
1 … 8 9 10 … 22

  1. How unsurprisement

    Jon Stone
    @joncstone
    ·
    34m
    Irish government says it ‘cannot possibly’ support Boris Johnson’s Brexit plan
    Irish government says it ‘cannot possibly’ support Boris Johnson’s B…
    Ireland deputy prime minister has said his country “cannot possibly” support Boris Johnson’s Brexit plan, and encouraged the UK to come back with something “fit for purpose”. Speaking in the
    independent.co.uk

  2. Vaping…

    Lung injuries from vaping are “most likely” caused by direct toxicity or tissue damage from noxious chemical fumes, the Mayo Clinic said in a statement Wednesday announcing new findings. But the researchers cautioned the study is in its early stages and based on a small sample size.

    Why it matters: Scientists are trying to determine the cause of the vaping-associated lung disease, which has led to at least 17 deaths, more than 800 reported injuries in almost all U.S. states, and bans on various vaping and tobacco products.

    Details: In the letter published Oct. 2 in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers reviewed lung biopsies from 17 patients, “all of whom had vaped and were suspected to have vaping-associated lung injury,” the Mayo Clinic said.

    Lipids, fatty substances found in mineral oils were suspected as a possible cause of the lung injuries associated with vaping, but the researchers in this study found no evidence of this causing the tissue injury.
    “While we can’t discount the potential role of lipids, we have not seen anything to suggest this is a problem caused by lipid accumulation in the lungs. Instead, it seems to be some kind of direct chemical injury, similar to what one might see with exposures to toxic chemical fumes, poisonous gases and toxic agent.”
    — Mayo Clinic Arizona surgical pathologist Brandon Larsen, in statement

    https://amp.axios.com/vaping-lung-disease-toxic-fumes-study-findings-21202a21-4e80-46de-b88a-a7932819e042.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=1100&__twitter_impression=true

  3. “… So far, aluminium batteries are only half as energy dense as lithium-ion batteries, but our long-term goal is to achieve the same energy density. … Furthermore, the batteries have the potential to be significantly less environmentally harmful,” says Patrik Johansson.

    https://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/physics/news/Pages/A-new-concept-could-make-more-environmentally-friendly-batteries-possible-.aspx

    If Aluminium batteries are is less than 50% of the cost of Li batteries maybe Li batteries still have a place in portable electronics, but the much bigger batteries needed to store wind/solar energy might be Aluminium based. A quick online search revealed that Lithium is currently ten times as expensive as Aluminium, per tonne. (Of course how that translates into $/Joule is another matter.)

  4. Lately, the challenge is in storage…the sooner the price and capacity of batteries comes down the sooner fossil fuels can be fully retired….

    Thanks for the note…

  5. Aluminium, sodium, bromide, zinc-air… the competitors to Li-ion are lining up!

    Just need the supply chain, and production economies of scale and learning-by-doing will kick in.

  7. “California sea lions are among the most vocal of all mammals. Vocalizations include barks, growls, and grunts.
    During the breeding season, male California sea lions bark incessantly when establishing territories; once established, the males bark only when maintaining and defending their territories.
    During periods of nonbreeding, submissive males become more vocal than dominant males.”

  9. I yelled out for a while ‘stop mixing us up’. Only later did I realise that this was a fentanyl induced episode brought about by my recent watching of a Simpsons episode:

    My Simpsons knowledge isn’t all it should be, but this Valentine’s Day special from Mondo Media more than makes up for it:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtvuQ–z1b0

    Sweet dreams!

  10. Repeat 10 times before any speaking engagement to flex the tongue and mouth muscles.
    “Peter Dutton is a nasty nazi”
    Then repeat 10 times at the speaking engagement.
    Great weekend all.

  11. The developer of the Serenity Cove estate, joint-venture company Sime Darby Serenity Cove, was recently listed as “discontinued” by one of its Malaysian co-owners and is in the process of cutting its physical and corporate links to Australia.

    The discovery comes as city and state environmental authorities investigate tonnes of sediment choking nearby Coombabah Creek, which locals say has settled in the waterway since the same developer conducted dredging and lake expansion works associated with the Serenity Cove development.

    A resident, Steve Jeffery, told Guardian Australia that dolphin pods used to come up the waterway along Coombabah Creek, which is part of the Moreton Bay Ramsar wetland of international significance. Now he can walk across the creek at low tide.

    “This catchment used to be alive, the noises at night sometimes would keep you awake, it was a beautiful sound. The fish jumping, the sharks, the giant rays.

    “It’s all blocked now. There has been a significant drop in fish and crabs. There are no more waterbirds here. It has absolutely become an environmental catastrophe.”
    …
    Malaysian conglomerates Sime Darby and Brunsfield International developed the Serenity Cove estate through a joint venture company, Sime Darby Serenity Cove. The company is registered in Australia but is the wholly-owned subsidiary of another entity registered in the British Virgin Islands.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/04/contaminated-water-from-gold-coast-luxury-estate-adds-to-wetland-catastrophe?CMP=share_btn_tw

  15. This government , and their Coalition counterpart in NSW, couldn’t manage a piss up in a brewery:

    Almost half of the state’s water-sharing plans – including more than a dozen in the drought-stricken Murray Darling basin – have not been audited according to the government’s own rules, leaving bureaucrats in the dark about how well the arrangements are working.

    With five of the 25 delayed audits now almost five years late, the Berejiklian government has been forced to commission private consultancy Alluvium to complete the work by early next year.

    Disclosures about major setbacks in finalising the crucial plans come as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Drought Minister David Littleproud travelled to Inverell as part of the federal government’s response to the worsening drought gripping much of the state.

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-water-sharing-plans-in-disarray-20191003-p52xdo.html

    I see ScaMo has got Josh wearing branded baseball caps too now. 😐

  16. lizzie @ #412 Friday, October 4th, 2019 – 6:26 am

    This video of a preacher checking his phone while speaking in tongues reveals what a fake some people can be.
    https://twitter.com/i/status/1179065695151239175

    I think I prefer the photo of that fungus you posted yesterday – you know the one that looked like the fingers of the ghost of liberal past returning to collect the interest from the money he stole from the widders and orphings.

    Praise the Lord – I’m right for ammunition then kew. 😇

    So solly – my first reaction was – and I quote –

  17. Good Morning

    I see its all blame guytaur again today.

    All because I don’t share the view that the Greens are Labor’s enemy and point out some hard harsh facts on my views on why Labor lost the election.

    I will say it again for the obtuse. It was not the Greens convoy that lost Labor the election as many here are trying to make out.

    Its Labor’s policy on Adani that cost it the election if the Greens had any involvement at all for pointing it out. Thats what galls the Labor partisan view so much. The Greens give the left a voice that can’t be shut down by Labor right wing warriors that Labor must appease the right and be LNP lite to win elections.

    Instead people can point out to Labor they will lose votes on the left by moving right. I find it amazing that yet again even as some here acknowledge how extreme the LNP are its lets take their tactics and shut up voices of dissent. The irony is not seen at all.

    Of course science and understanding means you have to accept the relationship of coal to burning carbon

    Now there are open debates outside the PB bubble about how much Australia is responsible for the damage coal causes outside of Australia and what costs Australia may have to pay for that. Something like that of the Tobacco industries.

    https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-climate-change-australias-mining-giants-are-an-accessory-to-the-crime-124077

    Pointing out that Australia has an addiction to coal. Pointing out that includes the Labor party. Pointing out Labor needs to address this directly. That means stopping Adani.

    Its only become a thing on this blog every day because of the denial of some Labor partisans here of this fact. You can’t be for the environment and for opening new coal mines. You have to phase coal out.

    Thats not closing down an industry and stopping jobs. Thats providing alternative jobs recognising that industry is in decline and will soon be dead anyway. Adani is Labor’s environmental test. Just like the Franklin Dam was for Tasmaninan Governments.

    Its why the Greens are all over it. Its why Bob Brown had his convoy. Yes the Franklin Dam had the world telling the locals that they could not build a new dam. The situation is exactly the same. Government addicted to their way of doing things and ignoring reality.

    Fantasy fails when reality confronts it.

    So despite every day the arf arf of the Greens are evil sea lions that exists on this blog any time anyone disagrees with a Labor policy that does not make the Greens evil. It also does not make the person posting a member of the Greens party or a Greens staffer or MP.

    Time to let go of some of the delusions on this blog. It will help civil discourse.

  19. Morrison Modus Operandi:
    Stack the ‘Review’ to get the outcome you want:

    Labor has called for one of three experts leading a landmark review of retirement incomes to be sacked over her ties to a campaign against one of its signature election policies.

    Labor MP Ed Husic, speaking with the knowledge of Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, on Thursday described Deborah Ralston, a critic of Labor’s policy to scrap refundable franking credits, as a “stone chucker”.

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stone-chucker-labor-calls-for-retirement-expert-to-go-20191003-p52xah.html

    I love that Ed Husic is Labor’s Media Envoy. 😉

  21. guytaur
    Friday, October 4th, 2019 – 6:39 am
    Comment #417

    Good Morning

    Good morning to you monsieur ❗

    I don’t blame you for anything. I managed to fuck up my own life entirely without assistance.

    You can have most of my delusions. I just need enough to start the day.

    Be kind to yourself mon ami. 😇☕

  25. Jon Cooper‏Verified account @joncoopertweets

    Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, told House investigators on Thursday that he warned Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, that Giuliani was receiving untrustworthy info from Ukrainian political figures about Joe Biden & his son.

    Kurt Volker, who resigned last week after being named in a whistleblower complaint that sparked the House impeachment inquiry of Trump, said he tried to caution Giuliani that his sources, including Ukraine’s former top prosecutor, were unreliable and that he should be careful about putting faith in the prosecutor’s stories, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed door meeting.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/this-is-when-the-inquiry-gets-real-former-us-special-envoy-to-ukraine-testifies-in-impeachment-probe-today/2019/10/03/51365c1b-5a01-4e44-872a-299b67949a5e_story.html

  26. @craigthomier tweets

    I agree with this. We have a far right government in Australia. #auspol https://twitter.com/mjrowland68/status/1179676098394607617

    @barriecassidy tweets

    .@barriecassidy says the Liberal party has dropped any pretence of being a centre-right party and has shifted arguably to the far right. @rmit https://twitter.com/mjrowland68/status/1179676098394607617/photo/1

    _____________________

    @SafetyPinDaily tweets

    Trump promised to revive US manufacturing. But the sector just plunged deeper into a recession. || Via BusinessInsider https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/trump-manufacturing-recession-us-china-trade-war-pressures-sector-2019-10-1028571949

  27. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    David Crowe looks at what Morrison has said about the UN in a major speech yesterday. Morrison seems to becoming a bit of a Trump mini-me.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-warns-against-negative-globalism-in-foreign-policy-speech-20191003-p52xfg.html
    Here’s what Katherine Murphy says about it.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/03/scott-morrison-echoes-trump-as-he-warns-nations-must-avoid-negative-globalism
    Michelle Grattan says that Jacqui Lambie’s vote on the medevac bill should involve only judgements about morality, the medical needs and future lives of vulnerable people, and border security.
    https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-jackie-lambie-should-not-horse-trade-on-medevac-repeal-bill-124639
    Jenna Price uses the deplorable Anne Ruston (who appears to have zero compassion, an attribute which is surely necessary for someone working in her portfolio) as an example of why Australia’s politicians need a giant shot of diversity.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-simple-way-to-change-the-diversity-of-our-politicians-20191003-p52xdd.html
    And Luke Henriques-Gomes writes that Anne Ruston has been accused of being “out of touch” and “spreading dangerous lies” after she said that an increase to the unemployment benefit Newstart would end up in the hands of drug dealers and pub owners.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/03/anne-ruston-under-fire-for-saying-raising-newstart-would-be-gift-to-drug-dealers
    He tells us how Centrelink issued a $14,500 robodebt to a disability pensioner with an intellectual impairment and then failed to offer him support to deal with the alleged overpayment.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/03/centrelink-accused-of-issuing-14500-robodebt-to-pensioner-with-intellectual-impairment
    Shane Wright and Eryk Bagshaw explain how the states are responding to the soft economy by carrying out lots of small level infrastructure projects to boost employment.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/states-fill-pot-holes-and-paint-classrooms-to-stimulate-economy-20191003-p52xcm.html
    Phil Coorey writes that Labor finally has remembered that it is the economy, stupid.
    https://outline.com/VeNytL
    David Crowe has formed the opinion that the free trade agreement will force Australia to take a stance on Hong Kong’s freedom.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/trade-agreement-will-force-australia-to-take-a-stance-on-hong-kong-s-freedom-20191003-p52x8g.html
    Almost half of NSW’s water-sharing plans – including more than a dozen in the drought-stricken Murray Darling basin – have not been audited according to the government’s own rules, leaving bureaucrats in the dark about how well the arrangements are working.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-water-sharing-plans-in-disarray-20191003-p52xdo.html
    On the subject of drought the SMH editorial says that the government’s basic approach is to dribble out more money and hope that it rains. It backs drought assistance to help farmers cope but it should be fair and efficient and it should be designed to encourage farmers to adjust to the new climate conditions.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/drought-plan-must-factor-in-climate-change-20191003-p52xfn.html
    Barnaby Joyce and the coal-loving Morrison Government’s “jobs for the boys” and inaction on climate are only exacerbating the circumstances that lead to drought and other disasters, writes executive editor Michelle Pini.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/how-barnaby-and-the-coalition-make-hay-when-it-doesnt-rain,13166
    Labor has called for one of three experts leading a landmark review of retirement incomes to be sacked over her ties to a campaign against one of its signature election policies. Ed Husic has describer her as a “stone chucker”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stone-chucker-labor-calls-for-retirement-expert-to-go-20191003-p52xah.html
    Home Affairs has supported its push for privatisation of the process by saying Australia’s visa system is outdated, risking mistakes and fraud and not up to the challenge of international crime and terrorism.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6420799/visa-system-risks-foreign-interference/?cs=14350
    Amy Remeikis writes that Peter Dutton has declared protesters who disrupt traffic should have their welfare payments cut and be subject to mandatory jail sentences as conservative MPs continue to lash out against climate change protests.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/03/peter-dutton-accused-dictator-urging-welfare-cuts-protesters
    The current monopolised price packaging for NBN services isn’t friendly towards those struggling with their finances, writes Paul Budde. He says NBN issues are widening the inequality gap in Australia.
    https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/nbn-issues-are-widening-the-inequality-gap-in-australia-,13167
    Quentin Dempster writes that although a 2000-page environmental impact assessment released last week has given a green light to the largest electricity infrastructure project ever undertaken, Snowy 2.0, expert objections to its cost in financial and environmental terms are alarming.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/10/03/snowy-2-0-vision-cost/
    Thousands of Victorian apartment owners whose buildings are covered in flammable cladding are paying rates that fail to recognise that the value of their property has plummeted. The state opposition has called on the Andrews government – which is spending $600 million on fixing the problem – to cut rates for buildings with flammable cladding, with some owners saying their homes are now unsellable.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/rates-rise-despite-fall-in-value-of-apartments-with-flammable-cladding-20191003-p52xew.html
    Nearly one in 10 jobseekers are expected to fail a mandatory drug test for welfare recipients, a Senate committee has heard.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6418232/one-in-10-jobseekers-expected-to-fail-drug-test-department/?cs=14350
    A directive from Attorney-General Christian Porter is being regarded as a move by the LNP to control freedom of press, writes William Olson.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/sarah-hanson-young-says-press-freedom-inquiry-is-going-nowhere,13165
    Judith Ireland explores the guts of the submissions made to the proposed religious discrimination legislation. The government really has a tiger by the tail here!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/harm-bar-set-too-high-uniting-church-warns-on-religious-discrimination-laws-20191003-p52x92.html
    Sarah Danckert reports that the ACCC is pressing ahead with preparations for a controversial new inquiry into the banking sector despite internal concerns about the probe and a lack of formal approval from Frydenberg.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/accc-to-push-ahead-with-new-banking-inquiry-despite-internal-concerns-20191003-p52xe6.html
    David Eastman has claimed he is owed at least $18 million in compensation from the ACT government for wrongful imprisonment, the ACT Supreme Court has heard.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6419652/eastman-claims-18-million-in-compensation/?cs=14225
    Paul Fletcher has taken the extraordinary step of forcing the current provider of the National Relay Service to hand over customer details, in an attempt to resolve a stalemate over the future of the deaf phone service.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6420371/minister-to-force-company-to-hand-over-details-of-captel-users/?cs=14350
    A rise in vaping-related deaths in the United States has divided researchers, smokers and health professionals about the potential health risks of e-cigarettes.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/10/03/vaping-myths-busted/
    Now the “stable genius” Trump has called on China to investigate the Bidens!
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/donald-trump-calls-for-china-to-investigate-bidens-20191004-p52xin.html
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trumps-angry-bizarre-self-defeating-impeachment-strategy-20191004-p52xis.html
    Latika Bourke tells us how Ireland has dealt a likely lethal blow to Boris Johnson’s compromise Brexit plan, putting Britain on course for a no-deal Brexit with the clock ticking on the country’s October 31 departure date.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/ireland-deals-savage-blow-to-boris-johnson-s-brexit-plan-20191003-p52xhy.html
    Alexander Downer has rejected claims he was “directed” to contact an aide to Donald Trump during the US President’s bid for power three years ago, countering new assertions in a letter that demands Australian help for a divisive US investigation. Joe Hockey also has rejected the claims.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/top-republican-urges-morrison-to-help-controversial-investigation-20191003-p52xcb.html
    Amy Remeikis on Alexander Downer: the Australian blue blood accused of being an anti-Trump ‘spy’.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/04/alexander-downer-the-australian-blue-blood-accused-of-being-an-anti-trump-spy
    Conservatives know Boris Johnson is a fraud. But he’s their fraud says John Crace.
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/03/conservatives-know-boris-johnson-is-a-but-hes-their
    And here’s todays “Arsehole of the Week” nomination.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/sa/2019/10/03/police-officer-wombat/

    Cartoon Corner

    Mark David gives the Uber Tuber a makeover.

    A good one from Zanetti.

    A couple from Sean Leahy.


    Jim Pavlidis makes a point here.

    From Matt Golding.





    Simon Letch and the trade wars.

    Andrew Dyson and the Hong Kong situation.

    Jon Kudelka looks back to a certain London wine bar.
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/95ed85c780cdc3775d368177ca7a448a?width=1024

    From the US











  28. Donald Trump only has one rule when cornered like the rat he is:
    Double Down!

    President Donald Trump, ensnared in an impeachment inquiry over his request that Ukraine investigate former vice president Joe Biden, has now called on China to do the same.

    “China should start an investigation into the Bidens,” Trump said in remarks to reporters outside the White House on Thursday, local time. Trump said he hadn’t directly asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to investigate Biden and his son Hunter but said it was “certainly something we could start thinking about.”

    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/donald-trump-calls-for-china-to-investigate-bidens-20191004-p52xin.html

  29. guytaur @ #424 Friday, October 4th, 2019 – 6:49 am

    KJ

    I blame Sky News. All that crap fed to Labor party people in parliament house has its effect. 🙂

    I find it difficult to believe that anyone voluntarily watches Sky New or the other drivel such as The Bolt Report.

    Remember the “good old days” of consciousness raising.
    Now we need to rise to the level of stupid – present company excluded naturally.
    Over and out. 😇

  30. Wordmaster Rick Wilson flays Trump again ( available part of a members only article )

    SCENES FROM A MELTDOWN
    Trump Is Going to Burn Down Everything and Everyone, and Republicans, That Means You

    That press conference was terrifying. And congressional Republicans should be more afraid than anyone. Trump’s going down and taking them with him.

    Donald Trump’s Oval Office performance-art masterpiece Wednesday was one for the ages, a pity-party, stompy-foot screech session by President Snowflake von Pissypants, the most put-upon man ever to hold the highest office in the land. If you watched his nationally televised press conference, Trump’s shrill, eye-popping hissy fit scanned like the end of a long, coke-fueled bender where the itchy, frenzied paranoia is dry-humping the last ragged gasps of the earlier party-powder fun.

    Between calling Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) a panoply of Trumpish insults (and for the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to be held for treason), engaging in his usual hatred of the press, talking about Mike Pompeo’s intimate undergarments, and quite obviously scaring the shit out of Finnish President Sauli Niinisto—who looked like he was the very unwilling star of an ISIS hostage video—Trump spent the day rapidly decompensating, and it was a hideous spectacle. All the Maximum Leader pronunciamentos won’t change the reality that Donald John Trump, 45th president of the United States, has lost his shit.

    In private, Republicans are in the deepest despair of the Trump era. They’ve got that hang-dog, dick-in-the-dirt fatalism of men destined to die in a meaningless battle in a pointless war. They’ve abandoned all pretense of recapturing the House, their political fortunes in the states are crashing and burning, and the stock-market bubble they kept up as a shield against the downsides of Trump—“but muh 401(k)!”—is popping.

  31. Wow Phil Coorey is full of it.

    Shorten did take economics as the heart of Labor’s policy suite at the last election.
    Thats what Franking Credits was all about. Labor might have lost the framing debate however it was not wrong to concentrate on inequality.

    Even those blaming climate policy are showing their bias if they don’t think climate policy is economic policy.

    This country being told again how it has to be the neo liberal way or the highway by the media elites of the press gallery

  32. Another expensive white elephant created by Turnbull.

    Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s vision for the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro scheme to power Australia’s renewable energy future looks like coming at a huge cost.

    Although a 2000-page environmental impact assessment released last week has given a green light to the largest electricity infrastructure project ever undertaken, expert objections to its cost in financial and environmental terms are alarming.

    “Initially promised at $2 billion, it was quickly revised to $4 billion and a contract for part of its construction has been agreed at $5.1 billion,” said Dr Bruce Mountain, director of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre.

    And the New South Wales National Parks Association executive officer Gary Dunnett said in a statement that Kosciuszko National Park would be partially destroyed.

    Twenty square kilometres of largely undisturbed native alpine bush would be affected, with nine million cubic metres of excavated rock spoil to be dumped throughout the park including in existing reservoirs, reducing their active storage capacities and stream flows.

    “The Wrong Project in the Wrong place.”
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/10/03/snowy-2-0-vision-cost/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning%20News%20-%2020191004

  34. Those who refuse to look for a job because they are too busy protesting may find they have their payments suspended.
    — Michaelia Cash

    I think most protesters are smarter than Michaela.

  35. lizzie

    This sums it up I think

    @noplaceforsheep tweets

    There’s nobody in this country who has the right to bash Newstart recipients, especially women who spend as much on one haircut as a single mother spends on food for her children in an entire week. @ABCthedrum

  36. Guytaur you are both correct and wrong about the Adani effect in QLD during the election. Labor has been walking both sides of the street over Adani depending on which government was facing an election. Folks up here just got fed up with the mixed messages.

    However the stupid timing of the convoy had an impact. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Instead of a trickle the reaction was a raging torrent. The result speaks for itself.

  37. ‘Serious and urgent’: New whistleblower says political appointee attempted to interfere with IRS audit of Trump or Pence taxes

    A new whistleblower has filed a complaint alleging a Trump-appointee attempted to interfere with the IRS tax audit of President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence.

    The Washington Post reports the whistleblower, whose name is unknown, says they were “told at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted to improperly interfere with the annual audit.”

    Democrats have flagged the whistleblower complaint for a federal judge.

    House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) received the complaint in July. Saying it raises raises “serious and urgent concerns” he has characterized it as containing credible evidence of “potential ‘inappropriate efforts to influence’ the audit program.”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/irs-whistleblower-said-to-report-treasury-political-appointee-might-have-tried-to-interfere-in-audit-of-trump-or-pence/2019/10/03/0c768b34-e52e-11e9-a331-2df12d56a80b_story.html

  38. No Real Time tomorrow which is a shame. WTF is Trump doing now appealing to China to help him get the dirt on Biden? Joe is right that Trump is terrified of facing him in an election because he knows he’ll be beaten.

  39. Jennifer RubinVerified account@JRubinBlogger
    2h2 hours ago
    From Pelosi response to Kevin McCarthy: “I received your letter this morning shortly after the world witnessed President Trump on national television asking yet another foreign power to interfere in the upcoming 2020 elections.” She really is in a whole different league.

  40. To use an Australian colloquialism, Trump is a fucking lowlife. Though I’m tempted to attach the appellation to the only sort of women who survive and prosper in Morrison and Dutton’s Coalition, Ms Cash and Ms Ruston.

  41. dwh

    I am exactly right about the convoy. Just like the Tasmanian Government. I am not discounting the rage of the local residents. Its as real as the forestry unions in Tasmania that embraced Howard.

    I am pointing out the long term effects for Labor. It has to win the war not the battle. It can’t be for coal and for the environment. It has to have a crystal clear phase out plan. That means no excuses by opening a new coal mine. This has the benefit of stopping those mixed messages.

    However be in no doubt. It was not the convoy that stopped Labor winning the election. It was a small part. It was the mixed messaging the convoy highlighted giving Labor a two face look as the LNP demonised it.

    That meant voters didn’t trust Labor or Mr Shorten. The LNP exploited the lack of trust brilliantly.

    That lack of trust was focussed on Mr Shorten as the two face man in chief. As told by the LNP

  48. On the ticket for the impeachment trial I posted earlier, I missed the fine print in the CNN article. The image was for proceedings against Clinton. Apologies.

    Hopefully there should be similar tickets issued in regard to Trump before too long.

  50. I think that the Adani convoy annoyed a lot of people who would never vote Labor or Green. Apart from that, maybe it rallied the troops who were already concerned about the climate and the environment (so not L/NP voters). I don’t think that it would have changed many votes one way or the other. I expect that it would have had little impact on the election result.

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