Welcome to the latest instalment of Call of the Board, which probes into every seat result from the May federal election region by region. Earlier instalments covered Sydney, here and here; regional New South Wales; Melbourne; regional Victoria and south-east Queensland. Today we look at the electorates of Queensland outside of Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.
The posts dealing with the big cities have featured colour-coded seat maps and the results of a model estimating how the results would have looked if determined by demographic factors alone. Unfortunately, colour-coding doesn’t get you very far when zooming out to vast and unevenly populated regional terrain, and the model hasn’t proved to be much use in producing plausible results for regional seats, in which elusive factors of local political culture appear to loom large. However, I can at least offer for purposes of comparison Labor two-party estimates derived from the Senate results, potentially offering a pointer to how much candidate factors affected the lower house results.
Seat by seat alphabetically:
Capricornia (LNP 12.4%; 11.7% swing to LNP): Labor held this Rockhampton region seat for all but one term from 1977 to 2013, but history may record that it has now reached a tipping point akin to those that have excluded the party from former regional strongholds including Kennedy (Labor-held for all but two terms from federation to 1966, but only once thereafter), Grey in South Australia (Labor-held for all but one term from 1943 to 1993, but never again since) and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia (Labor-held for all but three terms from 1922 until Graeme Campbell quit the party in 1995, and now divided between the safely conservative seats of O’Connor and Durack). The 11.7% swing to Michelle Landry, who has held the seat since 2013, was the biggest in the country, shading the 11.2% swing to the beloved George Christensen in Dawson. Landry’s primary vote was actually little changed, reflecting the entry of One Nation, who accounted for most of Labor’s 14.3% collapse. The rest came from a halving of the Katter’s Australian Party vote from 7.1% to 3.7% and the absence of Family First.
Dawson (LNP 14.6%; 11.2% swing to LNP): Dawson behaved almost identically in swing terms to its southern neighbour, Capricornia, as voters showed themselves to be a great deal more concerned about Adani and its symbolism than George Christensen’s enthusiasm for life in the Philippines. As in Capricornia, the LNP primary vote was little changed from 2016, but the arrival of One Nation soaked up 13.1% which neatly matched Labor’s 12.5% decline. Katter’s Australian Party held up better here than in Capricornia, their 6.3% being only slightly down on 2016.
Flynn (LNP 8.7%; 7.6% swing to LNP): Labor narrowly won this Gladstone-based seat on its creation at their 2007 high-water mark and sliced the margin back to 1.0% in 2016, but hopes of going one better this time fell foul of the party’s region-wide disaster. The swing in this case was fairly typical of those suffered by Labor outside the immediate range of proposed Adani mine, though in this case One Nation were not a new feature, their 19.6% being slightly higher than their 2016 result. The seat was a bit unusual in that Labor’s score on the two-party Senate estimate was 2.8% stronger than their House result.
Groom (LNP 20.5%; 5.2% swing to LNP): The 5.2% swing to John McVeigh was a bit below the regional Queensland par, despite him being a sophomore of sorts – although he may have arrived in 2016 with a ready-made personal vote due to his background as a state member. Nonetheless, it was sufficient to catapult the seat from fifteenth to second on the national ranking of seats by Coalition-versus-Labor margin, reflecting the narrowing of margins in many blue-ribbon city seats. The 2016 result was remarkable in that Family First polled 10.0% in the absence of right-wing minor party competition – this time the newly arrived One Nation polled 13.1% in their absence. The LNP primary vote was little changed and Labor was down 3.5%, the rest of the swing bespeaking a more right-wing minor party preference pool.
Herbert (LNP GAIN 8.4%; 8.4% swing to LNP): Labor’s most marginal seat pre-election, following Labor member Cathy O’Toole’s 37 vote win in 2016, the Townsville seat of Herbert was one of five seats across the country and two in Queensland that were gained by the Coalition (balanced to an extent by Labor’s gains in Gilmore and, with help from redistribution, Corangamite and Dunkley). While the swing was lower than in the Adani epicentre electorates of Dawson and Capricornia immediately to the south, it was sufficient to produce the most decisive result the seat has seen since 1954. O’Toole’s primary vote was down 5.0% to 25.5%, while LNP victor Phillip Thompson added 1.6% to the party’s 2016 result to score 37.1%. High-profile Palmer candidate Greg Dowling did relatively well in polling 5.7%, and One Nation were down from 13.5% to 11.1%.
Hinkler (LNP 14.5%; 6.1% swing to LNP): Keith Pitt, who has held this Bundaberg-based seat since 2013, picked up a swing well in line with the regional Queensland norm. He was up 2.2% on the primary vote, while Labor was down 3.8%; One Nation fell from 19.2% to 14.8%, mostly due to an expansion in the field from seven candidates to ten, including three independents, none of whom did particularly well individually.
Kennedy (KAP 13.3% versus LNP; 2.3% swing to KAP): Bob Katter had a near death experience at the 2013 election, at which time he was presumably tarred with the minority government brush despite being the only cross-bencher who backed the Coalition after the inconclusive 2010 result. However, he’s roared back to dominance since, picking up successive two-party swings of 8.9% and 2.3%, and primary vote swings of 10.5% and 2.6%. On the latter count at least, he’s been assisted by the fact that One Nation have declined to challenge him. In Coalition-versus-Labor terms, the seat participated in the regional Queensland trend in swinging 7.8% against Labor.
Leichhardt (LNP 4.2%; 0.2% swing to LNP): The negligible swing in favour of LNP veteran Warren Entsch was an exception to the regional Queensland rule, and was generally attributed to the centrality of tourism to the economy of Cairns, giving the region a very different outlook on issues like Adani. The result was generally status quo in all respects, but the seat had the distinction of being one of only three in the state where the Labor primary vote very slightly increased, along with Ryan and Fairfax. With Entsch’s primary vote down slightly, the two-party swing, such as it was, came down to an improved flow of preferences.
Maranoa (LNP 22.5% versus One Nation; 6.6% swing to LNP): For the second election in a row, Maranoa emerged with the distinction of being the only seat in the country where One Nation made the final preference count. One Nation and Labor were down on the primary vote by 3.2% and 2.7% respectively; at the last preference exclusion, One Nation led Labor 21.3% to 19.0%, compared with 23.6% to 22.9% in 2016. The other story here was the strong sophomore showing for David Littleproud, who was up 6.8% on the primary vote and by similar amounts on two-party preferred against both One Nation and Labor. The 25.4% margin versus Labor is now by some distance the biggest in the country, compared with the electorate’s ninth ranking on this score in 2016. Equally impressive for Littleproud is the distinction between his 25.4% margin and the 20.4% recorded by the two-party Senate measure.
Wide Bay (LNP 13.1%; 5.0% swing to LNP): Llew O’Brien may also have enjoyed a sophomore effect after succeeding Warren Truss in 2016, as his primary vote was up 3.2% while One Nation fell from 15.6% to 10.8%. However, the Labor primary vote held up unusually well, and the two-party swing was at the lower end of the regional Queensland scale.
Wright (LNP 14.6%; 5.0% swing to LNP): So far as the major parties were concerned, the result here was typical of regional Queensland, with LNP member Scott Buchholz up 3.1% on the primary vote and Labor down 4.0%. Independent Innes Larkin, who appears to have made his name locally campaigning against coal seam gas, scored a respectable 5.3%, which presumably helps explains the drop in the One Nation vote from 21.8% to 14.0%.
It appears an election is coming in the UK…
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/28/government-likely-adopt-lib-dem-election-plan-says-jo-swinson
I wonder if all those who recently went all out in their hate for the 23 year old girl engaged to the elderly magistrate will cease now that she has tragically died:
https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/ashleigh-petrie-fiancee-of-victorian-magistrate-rodney-higgins-has-died/news-story/057cb38c1121ae8092d62540a902dc06
The chances of a pre-Christmas general election are rising after Boris Johnson revealed a “plan B” to send the UK to the polls, if he suffers his expected defeat in the Commons on Monday.
For the first time, Downing Street said it is ready to explore “all options” – including new legislation – to persuade MPs to back a snap ballot, even if that means abandoning its own Brexit deal.
The shift came after the dramatic move by the Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party to back an early election, provided the Withdrawal Agreement Bill is shelved and the threat of a no-deal Brexit removed.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/general-election-boris-johnson-vote-commons-brexit-deal-latest-a9173401.html
a rsays:
Monday, October 28, 2019 at 11:32 pm
Where is it written that all of a Party’s policies must be released before an election?
An election campaign is about messaging, so surely you want to present and highlight policies attractive to swinging voters and ignore those that they might view negatively.
This doesn’t mean you haven’t got these policies, but in an election campaign you can’t talk about everything. There isn’t the time. 🙂
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/28/matteo-salvinis-coalition-sweeps-to-power-in-umbria-elections
The Right win in Umbria…
Donald J. Trump: A graceless boor — even in victory
• Trump’s descriptions throughout his announcement were unduly demeaning, well beyond declaring someone a military enemy. Al-Baghdadi died “like a dog,” was “a sick, vicious puppy,” and died whimpering in a tunnel. Quite apart from the question of lacking any empathy for a death, even a necessary one, Trump’s language was incendiary. Think of how his words will be heard over and over in ISIS refugee camps and by Islamist revolutionaries looking for an excuse to rise anew. The smart move would have been a touch of humility – a gene missing from the Trump DNA.
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/donald-j-trump-a-graceless-boor-even-in-victory/
“The lack of precision in the polling has prompted public reflection at Essential, as has been flagged by its executive director, Peter Lewis.
Guardian Australia is not now publishing measurements of primary votes or a two-party-preferred calculation, but is continuing to publish survey results of responses to questions about the leaders and a range of policy issues.
The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3%”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/29/essential-poll-most-think-economic-stimulus-more-important-than-surplus
Aren’t you ashamed, Australia? One very eloquent Indigenous man. Q and A
https://twitter.com/i/status/1188804744388567042
Was this how the rot started? (Sept 2010)
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/thirsty-foreigners-soak-up-scarce-water-rights-20100903-14uev.html
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
Boris Johnson has just now lost his third bid for a general election, after Labour abstained and he failed to reach the two-thirds majority of MPs he needed for a poll. The result was 299 votes for and 70 against. A two thirds majority of 424 votes was required to pass the motion.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/28/boris-johnson-third-attempt-general-election-fails
Katharine Murphy digs into the details of the latest Essential polling among which show that a clear majority would favour stimulus over surplus.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/29/essential-poll-most-think-economic-stimulus-more-important-than-surplus
Peter Hartcher writes that a gloating Trump is losing the trust of allies.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/gloating-trump-loses-trust-of-allies-20191028-p534uy.html
And Matthew Knott says that the killing of the IS leader is not the gamechanger Donald Trump is looking for.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/killing-of-is-leader-is-not-the-gamechanger-donald-trump-is-looking-for-20191028-p534xc.html
Baghdadi’s death is a huge blow to Islamic State, but history suggests it won’t guarantee a safer world writes Greg Barton.
https://theconversation.com/baghdadis-death-is-a-huge-blow-to-islamic-state-but-history-suggests-it-wont-guarantee-a-safer-world-125930
As the economy begs for a stimulus and the government fixates on a surplus, talk of extreme monetary policy is growing writes Greg Jericho.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2019/oct/29/negative-interest-rates-mad-economic-science-or-the-logical-next-step
David Littleproud had a less than enjoyable time on the Q and A program last night.
https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/an-awkward-moment-on-an-awkward-night-for-a-minister-in-the-firing-line-20191029-p5355s.html
In quite a downbeat contribution Shane Wright laments that the “Great Stagnation” is upon us but our leaders haven’t noticed.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-great-stagnation-is-upon-us-but-our-leaders-haven-t-noticed-20191026-p534ig.html
The Opposition Leader will move to reposition federal Labor as a party of wealth creation that strongly supporters mining and resources’ role in renewables writes Rob Harris.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-says-labor-must-embrace-wealth-creation-mining-sector-on-way-to-low-carbon-future-20191028-p534y4.html
Michelle Grattan tells us that Anthony Albanese will seek to marry a strong commitment to a low carbon economy that can fuel a “manufacturing boom”, with firm support for coal, in his first “vision statement”, to be delivered in Perth.
https://theconversation.com/low-carbon-economy-can-spur-australian-manufacturing-boom-albanese-125953
And Sam Maiden writes that Albanese has backed a 50 per cent renewable energy target in Australia as a “job creator” as part of his new Labor Party “vision” speech.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/10/29/anthony-albanese-renewable-energy-jobs/
A key company in the business empire of Australia’s richest man, Anthony Pratt, has paid very little tax since 2013 despite reaping profits totalling more than $340m over the same period, corporate and tax records show.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/29/company-of-anthony-pratt-australias-richest-man-pays-virtually-no-tax
Dana McCauley tells us how one private health insurer NIB wants to increase incentives for “good behaviour” like exercising or being a non-smoker as it moves closer to predicting members’ health risks by analysing their medical and claims history.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/free-sunscreen-and-skin-checks-health-insurer-seeks-to-reward-good-behaviour-20191027-p534nm.html
Michaela Whitbourn reports on the Federal Court case where the ABC is challenging the legal validity of the search warrant authorising the federal police’s June 5 raid on its offices in Ultimo and is seeking the return of documents seized at the time.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6461236/we-dont-want-any-sensationalist-headlines-afp-allegedly-told-abc/?cs=14329
Labor is digging still deeper into Taylor’s use of a spurious document against Clover Moore.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6461093/labor-delves-further-into-taylors-claims/?cs=14329
With the interim report from the Aged Care Commission due to be released on Thursday Paul Bongiorno writes that there is a universal view across the sector that waiting for those findings to be handed down before responding to what has already been uncovered would be a gross dereliction of government duty.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2019/10/28/aged-care-sector-royal-commission-scott-morrison/
Christopher Knaus brings us up to date on the matter.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/28/labor-questions-angus-taylors-explanation-to-parliament-over-false-figures
Mortgage brokers have won another regulatory concession from the Morrison government, this time gaining more time to earn commissions for borrowers “drawing down” extra debt on a mortgage facility.
https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/mortgage-brokers-win-commission-break-20191028-p5351b
The family court does need reform, but not the way Pauline Hanson thinks explains lecturer on law Henry Kha.
https://theconversation.com/the-family-court-does-need-reform-but-not-the-way-pauline-hanson-thinks-125728
Rob Harris reports that Morrison and Howard have swung their support behind Jim Molan being gifted the senate spot vacated by Arthur Sinodinos.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6462119/morrison-howard-behind-molan-senate-bid/?cs=14350
Michael Pascoe is concerned that the way the federal government licenses CT and MRI medical scanning equipment is killing people – a factor in Australia having the highest cancer death rate in the world.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/10/28/australia-use-ct-compared-mri/
The US Fed is expected to cut interest rates again this week despite divisions, but more important will be what Jerome Powell says about the future writes Stephen Bartholomeusz. He says Powell’s crucial speech could signal whether the Fed fears a slide into recession.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/powell-s-crucial-speech-to-signal-whether-fed-fears-slide-into-recession-20191028-p534wr.html
According to Jennifer Hewett many are saying that APRA’s bonus plan is not workable.
https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/apra-s-bonus-plan-is-not-workable-20191028-p534yw
Tony Wright slams Morrison for being absent at the Uluru closure event.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-s-leadership-goes-missing-at-uluru-20191028-p534yp.html
Wastewater tests are showing that regional Australians use more cannabis, prescription opioids, alcohol and methamphetamine than capital city dwellers
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/28/australias-rural-drug-use-tops-city-consumption-commission-analysis
Workers stand to lose hundreds of dollars a year in wages if employer demands for reforming collective bargaining are met and more people are pushed onto non-union deals, the Centre for Future Work has warned.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/29/workers-would-lose-hundreds-of-dollars-a-year-if-pushed-to-non-union-deals-report
The Canberra Times tells us that Home Affairs has suggested using face scans to confirm people’s age before they watch online pornography. The Department of Home Affairs has also raised using the technology to restrict access to gambling sites.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6461679/porn-viewers-may-be-subject-to-face-scans/?cs=14350
Wayne Swan has slammed a news tie-up between Facebook and News Corp, saying the two companies spread “inaccurate” right-wing messaging that was an “existential threat to good democratic practice”.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/swan-hits-out-at-facebook-news-corp-news-partnership-20191028-p534u7.html
Economist Angela Jackson explores why people spent up big with a $900 tax bonus in 2009, but appear to be saving a similar size tax rebate in 2019.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/they-should-have-called-the-tax-rebate-something-more-exciting-20191028-p534xq.html
Architect Geoff Hanmer is far from satisfied with the NSW government’s proposed Design and Building Practitioners Bill.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/knowing-who-to-blame-is-cold-comfort-to-owners-of-defective-apartments-20191026-p534gw.html
As a result of yet another cockup a tribunal has found that Centrelink was wrong to issue a single mother and alleged domestic violence victim with a $50,000 welfare debt.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/28/single-mothers-50000-welfare-debt-wiped-as-tribunal-rules-centrelink-wrong
The Andrews government will launch a fresh crackdown on dodgy builders, architects and plumbers as it continues to grapple with the crisis in Victoria’s residential construction sector. The practice of Phoenixing is targeted.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/phoenixing-in-crosshairs-amid-crackdown-on-dodgy-building-operators-20191028-p5351a.html
A child sexual abuse victim of Hillsong founder Brian Houston’s father Frank has questioned the “audacity” of Scott Morrison continuing to support Houston, and the possibility Houston may have been invited to accompany the prime minister to the White House in September.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/28/sexual-abuse-victim-of-hillsong-founders-father-blasts-pm-for-supporting-brian-houston
Even if the Tories win an election they’ll be finished writes Polly Toynbee.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/28/election-boris-johnson-tories-labour
Hong Kong has fallen into recession, hit by five months of anti-government protests that erupted in flames at the weekend, and is unlikely to achieve any growth this year, the city’s Financial Secretary said. Hardly surprising.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/hong-kong-enters-recession-as-police-accused-of-violence-against-media-20191028-p5355a.html
European leaders have agreed to the UK’s request to delay Brexit until January 31 – though it could happen earlier if the agreed divorce deal is ratified by Britain’s Parliament. Nick Miller updates us on the latest Brexit manoeuvres.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/brexit-delayed-again-to-end-of-january-but-it-could-happen-sooner-20191028-p5354x.html
Cartoon Corner
A couple of beauties from David Rowe.
Andrew Dyson sums up Trump nicely.
https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_800/t_resize_width/q_86%2Cf_auto/17ebfe8f70870f42eb165df6b9916ec2e9f8d74c
Cathy Wilcox goes to Uluru again.
From Matt Golding.
Mark David ridicules Angus Taylor.
Peter Broelman sees Milat off.
Zanetti on Hanson’s entry to the bush.
Jon Kudelka prepares Albo for the election loss review report.
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/c19f8c2bb6155a623e34dade3c45b033?width=1024
From the US
Hi BK,
This article cannot be immediately accessed and I’m unable to Outline it either!
Labor is digging still deeper into Taylor’s use of a spurious document against Clover Moore.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6461093/labor-delves-further-into-taylors-claims/?cs=14329
C@t
I clicked on your link and it worked for me.
I clicked on it again, and again all I get is the first 2 lines, with the second line fading away. Oh well. 🙁
There’s plenty of other good stuff to read and I imagine the Paul Karp article is similar.
Scott Morrison knows where the voters are and they weren’t at Uluru. They were at the Netball.
Because Scott Morrison is not a leader, he’s an election winner. That’s what he does, he wins elections.
C@t
He wins selection processes, too, in much the same unethical way.
Albo will have to box very clever to sell his message as the headlines will not provide enough detail. They will trumpet his love of coal. Just wait and see.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-says-labor-must-embrace-wealth-creation-mining-sector-on-way-to-low-carbon-future-20191028-p534y4.html
‘Unethical’ isn’t in Scott Morrison’s vocabulary. There’s just ‘success’ and ‘failure’.
lizzie,
I think what Albanese may try to get at, and I don’t know, I will say that upfront, is that Labor has high ideals = 50% Renewable Energy Target but with a dose of Realism= a slow but steady transition away from ‘Bad’ Coal Mining, keeping ‘Necessary’ Coal Mining and other types of Mining and an acknowledgement that the concerns of all that are linked to those areas are valid.
“Fans of Britain’s long-running comedy-drama Brexit are today overjoyed after learning that another season of the popular show has been commissioned”.
https://newsthump.com/2019/10/28/tv-fans-delighted-as-brexit-renewed-for-yet-another-season/?fbclid=IwAR38i5Oy9Jg-gWmyGyGiktikToJIgAcJNrbnMmip7cuJfbdDUcluqBF8D_c
C@t
The problem, as I see it, is that just as the policies before the election required some detailed understanding, this also applies to Albo’s mining stance. People will need to dig behind “coal” to realise that he is promoting other minerals as well. This is a typical example:
C@tmomma @ #663 Tuesday, October 29th, 2019 – 7:25 am
Try this
https://outline.com/mcF76k
Morning all. Thanks BK. Cat using Firefox with private browsing on I can read all of that Taylor article.
Pleased to see Albanese’s policy shift to climate change and jobs. Whether building new water, power, electric car charging networks or public transport there will be plenty of jobs addressing climate change. And, absurdly, in the case of power and transport they will be cheaper than what we are doing now, which is both expensive thanks to monopolies, and not very labour intensive. What is next needed is a skills training policy to allow some incumbents to retrain to get jobs in the new industries. That will play to Labor’s strengths as well.
In fact Albanese’s CC policy is a lot like AOC’s in USA. Both are feasible.
Incognito worked! 😉
“C@tmomma says:
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 at 7:25 am
I clicked on it again, and again all I get is the first 2 lines, with the second line fading away. Oh well. ”
You only get five free Canberra Times articles a month without a subscription. Use them wisely!
lizzie,
Anodyne Paradigm is hardly representative of the broader electorate.
C@t
No single person is representative of the broader electorate. I was just giving an example.
‘ @AnodyneParadigm
8m
Yeah…No. You are loosing the plot @AlboMP & @AustralianLabor
Chasing votes of a handful of Central QLD coal mining seats and endorsing the state’s reliance on coal royalties is populist politics.
An eachway bet that will cause a further haemorage of the Labor vote’
Anondyne’s framing here is deliberately limited. The Greens would like to keep the focus narrowly on coal and off their policies to ban the dogs, the trots, the jumps, rodeos, cotton, cattle, sheep, uranium, and to gut the ADF, etc, etc, etc…
The Greens are not populists in the regions. Their vote in the regions is generally well less than 10%.
The take home messages are the opposite to what Anondyne is trying to sell, explicitly or implicitly. Labor should ignore Greens’ framing of regional policy debates.
Labor should ignore Greens’ claims to superior political wisdom.
Labor should develop clear air between itself and the Greens.
At least Albo chose WA to ‘Albo made a speech’ . In WA the word mining = iron ore and gold. Gives him a fighting chance to not have mining= COAL by the meeja lizards and or the public.
I was also fine with the distinction Albo made between coaking and steaming coal. The former is fine, and the latter has to stop. This is significant for Qld, which has several high grade coaking coal mines. Adani is the latter though.
Morning all
Great to see Boris Johnson continuing on his winning streak. Lol.
If the UK wants to save itself from further humiliation. They should just chuck in Brexit and forget the past three years of self flaggelation. It’s the only sensible thing to do.
The salesman at work. “Big extension cord.”
https://twitter.com/i/status/1188705590798946304
This commentator says it’s fine that Democrats don’t compel testimony through the courts. I agree with her that senior Cabinet members like Pompeo and co should also be impeached if they continue to support Trump’s stonewalling. But I rather like the idea of Republicans returning to their communities with the prospect of a Senate trial imminent and facing questions from constituents about whether they will back the traitor in the WH or the country.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/28/here-is-how-make-schiffs-strategy-even-smarter/
Trump releases picture of ‘wonderful dog’ that helped American forces in their mission to have Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ‘die like a dog’. He obviously has mixed views on dogs.
Thanks again BK for your work with the Dawn Patrol.
I know (just know) that all Poll Bludgers will be entranced with the following item from The Australian.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/here-are-the-australian-finalists-in-news-corp-australias-annual-news-awards/news-story/1cbfd5b19edb1ef81e2ab1742bd3b08a
Greg Bearup, Eric George, Nicholas Adams-Dzierzba and Charlie Peel are finalists in the Outstanding Achievements in Reporting category for the Who the Hell is Hamish? podcast, with Eric Lobbecke in the running for the Bill Leak Cartoonist of the Year award.
While ordinarily counting myself a winner in the
Stakes – I am pleased to say that I know nothing of the prospective winners what I first took to be a late April Fool joke. Very pleasing result for me.
Gardening, mowing today – 😎🌷🌺
Victoria:
For the life of me I cannot understand why Tories have let the Brexit shit-show go on for as long as it has. May could’ve feasibly said ages ago that the government tried to get legislation through the parliament and failed. End of story.
“You only get five free Canberra Times articles a month without a subscription. Use them wisely!”
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Yes, except whoever designed the CT’s paywall left massive holes in it. Even when you reach 5 articles you can just view the source (the HTML code) of the page and the entire article is still there to be read in-between the code. All their paywall seems to be is a CSS layer which visually covers up the article text when triggered by a tracking cookie. Simply deleting the cookies in your browser or using a “incognito” (private browsing) tab should get around it and reset the article count to 5. Just worked for me. Don’t even need a paywall blocker for the CT.
lizzie @ #678 Tuesday, October 29th, 2019 – 8:13 am
I know that, but from my history of involvement in Twitter he’s one who’s always quick to criticise Labor without insight to the greater reality that faces Labor-winning over people that aren’t him. And not the loads of people who he references that his imagination has conjured will defect to The Greens, apparently. They hardly did at the last election and they probably won’t at the next. Despite his alarmist expostulations on Twitter.
Instead, Labor have to sell the meta narrative that they care about the jobs people have now but they also care about Climate Change and Renewable Energy targets that are serious solutions to the problem of Global Warming. So we need to listen to what Albanese says, rather than jumping to scatterbrained solutions like Anodyne Paradigm has.
At least give him the benefit of the doubt first. And it’s why I don’t go to Twitter very much these days. It creates a hermetically-sealed world with its algorithm which skews to your prejudices.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of value to be had there too, but I just find that spending every day there distorts your perception of the broader reality.
In WA, in addition to gold, iron ore and other minerals, resource extraction also means gas. LNG is big business here. One of the reasons it’s growing is because gas is displacing thermal coal.
Waiting for ny car in the servicing department waiting room. The TV is tuned to “Sunrise”. Apparently climate protesters have ‘taken over’ part of the Melbourne CBD ccording to Sunrise. I’m sure that there’ll be plenty of stuff for the usual suspects to fulminate about.
Trump can’t do anything without screwing it up — even the Baghdadi announcement: Conservative columnist
Conservative Washington Post columnist Max Boot ridiculed Donald Trump in his Monday column, noting that the president couldn’t even manage to kill an ISIS target and get it right.
Trump turned what should have been a huge news story for him into “a ridiculous, risible spectacle,” Boot wrote. Instead of sticking to his teleprompter, Trump went off about what he witnessed in the videos. “He treated the world to his usual blend of braggadocio and bluster — dishonest and distasteful in equal measure.”
“A president who has never heard a shot fired in anger reveled in Baghdadi’s last moments, even claiming ‘he died like a coward … whimpering and crying and screaming all the way,’” recalled Boot.
“Trump’s news conference should have been his shining hour. Instead, it showed yet again why he is utterly unfit to be commander in chief,” Boot closed.
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/trump-cant-do-anything-without-screwing-it-up-even-the-baghdadi-announcement-conservative-columnist/
Someone should ask Scotty if Australia plans to update its travel warnings accordingly.
Victoria @8:13.
“
should just chuck in Brexit and forget the past three years of self flaggelation. It’s the only sensible thing to do.”
That would be the sensible thing to do, but Brexit now seems inevitable. The British will be stuck with the consequences for decades.
Perhaps Payne has said something on Women, but I can’t remember it.
Impeachment vote will force GOP to put up or shut up: Oversight Democrat
On Monday’s edition of CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) told anchor Wolf Blitzer that the upcoming House vote to formally advance the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump calls the GOP’s bluff on the legitimacy of the process — and forces Republicans to debate impeachment on the merits.
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/impeachment-vote-will-force-gop-to-put-up-or-shut-up-oversight-democrat/
Pelosi Strikes Down Trump’s Final Defense With Impeachment Vote
This week, we will bring a resolution to the Floor that affirms the ongoing, existing investigation that is currently being conducted by our committees as part of this impeachment inquiry, including all requests for documents, subpoenas for records and testimony, and any other investigative steps previously taken or to be taken as part of this investigation.
This resolution establishes the procedure for hearings that are open to the American people, authorizes the disclosure of deposition transcripts, outlines procedures to transfer evidence to the Judiciary Committee as it considers potential articles of impeachment, and sets forth due process rights for the President and his Counsel.
We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump Administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives.
Nobody is above the law.
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/10/28/pelosi-trump-impeachment-vote.html
Found this infographic of per capita alcohol consumption by country by type. I had no idea Australians were such huge drinkers!
Nancy Pelosi is the smart politician that Donald Trump isn’t. Waiting until the evidence to support Impeachment of Donald Trump was incontrovertible, not able to be denied or disputed, before she had the vote on the floor of the House, is just genius.
C@tmomma says : Tuesday, October 29, 2019 at 9:03 am
Nancy Pelosi is the smart politician that Donald Trump isn’t. Waiting until the evidence to support Impeachment of Donald Trump was incontrovertible, not able to be denied or disputed, before she had the vote on the floor of the House, is just genius.
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Bill Palmer :
So where does this get us? It means House Democrats are about to take everything public. Transcripts of the existing testimony will be released. Upcoming hearings will be televised. The closed-door phase of impeachment is about to end, and the House will begin taking its impeachment argument directly to the public.
What’s remarkable is that, based solely on what’s surfaced in the media thus far about Donald Trump’s recent scandals, the polls say that a growing majority of Americans already think Trump should be impeached and removed from office. This number should climb even higher once the bulk of the evidence and testimony against Trump soon becomes public.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/nancy-pelosi-level-next-impeach-donald-trump/22426/