The heat is on

An issues poll finds concern about climate change up since the May federal election, and national security down.

One sort-of-poll, and three items of Liberal preselection news:

• The latest results of the JWS Research True Issues survey records growing concern about the environment and climate change, which is now rated among the top five most important issues by 38% of respondents, compared with 33% in June and 31% a year ago. There is diminishing concern about immigration and border security (26%, down from 30% in June and 34% last November and defence, security and terrorism (18%, down from 20% in June and 29% a year ago). A range of measures of general optimism and perceptions of government performance produced weaker results than the June survey, which appeared to record a post-election spike in positive sentiment.

• Jim Molan will shortly return to the Senate after winning a party vote last weekend to fill the New South Wales Senate vacancy caused by Arthur Sinodinos’s resignation. Molan scored 321 votes to 260 for former state party director Richard Shields, adding a second silver medal to his collection after being shaded by Dave Sharma in Wentworth last year. This was despite Molan’s attempt to retain his seat from number four on the ticket at the May election by beseeching supporters to vote for him below the line, to the displeasure of some in the party (and still more of the Nationals, who would have been the losers if Molan had succeeded). Molan was reportedly able to secure moderate faction support due to the apprehension that he will not seek another term beyond the next election.

• The Victorian Liberal Party is embroiled in a dispute over a plan for preselection proceedings for the next federal election to start as soon as January, which has been endorsed by the party’s administrative committee but is bitterly opposed by affected federal MPs. The committee is determined not to see a repeat of the previous term, when preselections were taken out of the hands of branch members to head off a number of challenges to sitting members. Those challenges might now come to fruition, most notably a threat to Howard government veteran Kevin Andrews, whose seat of Menzies is of interest to Keith Wolahan, a barrister and former army officer. Tim Wilson in Goldstein and Russell Broadbent in Monash (formerly McMillan) have also been mentioned as potential targets. According to Rob Harris of The Age, votes in Liberal-held seats could happen as soon as late February, with marginal seats to unfold from April to August and Labor-held seats to be taken care of in October.

• Matthew Denholm of The Australian ($) reports Eric Abetz and his conservative supporters believe they have seen off a threat to his position at the top of the Liberals’ Tasmanian Senate ticket, following elections for the state party’s preselection committee. Abetz’s opponents believed he should make way for rising star Jonathan Duniam to head the ticket, and for the secure second seat to go to Wendy Askew, one of the Tasmanian Liberals’ limited retinue of women MPs.

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.

2,475 comments on “The heat is on”

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  3. Morrison probably has his fingers crossed that he is banned.
    This will suit him down to the ground, politically.
    So, it will be win win.

  4. Itza

    I agree with you about the police. They have made efforts.
    Lots of work to be done still with sniff dogs and strip searches and the whole culture of we want to be feared.

    I think it reflects what the politicians want and only our votes will change that.

  5. This is a real worry imo. Respect is earned, not imposed. Fear is a completely the wrong way to run a society, and no good will come of it. The police should be there to help. Fear helps nobody.

    Mr Fuller remains staunchly opposed and has suggested any weakening of police powers, including strip searches, could lead to a “generation of kids that have no respect for authority.”

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/fuller-says-he-has-a-right-to-come-out-and-stand-by-policing-methods-20191122-p53d9e.html

  7. Loved Far from the Madding Crowd, for probably similar reasons to BW. “To persons standing alone on a hill during a clear midnight such as this, the roll of the world eastward is almost a palpable movement. The sensation may be caused by the panoramic glide of the stars past earthly objects, which is perceptible in a few minutes of stillness, or by the better outlook upon space that a hill affords, or by the wind, or by the solitude; but whatever be its origin the impression of riding along is vivid and abiding.” (Looking the quote up again, memory had had it partly conflated with “There are some heights in Wessex.”) My best buddy hated it but was amused by General Zod as Sgt Troy in the movie version to the extent of pulling down a Very High Achievement despite only reading as far as chapter 18.

    Wrote a cranky essay about A Farewell to Arms, didn’t like the Catherine character arc and said so, though the memory is largely repressed. English teacher thought a case had been made and gave it a happy rating.

  8. SK -Much of Indonesia is in the ITC which is marked by slight winds and the dreaded doldrums of the Age of Sail.

    Yeah, i thought peeps had made that point to P1 already.
    There are other options for renewable generation there. Investment seems to be an issue. Which comes back to the point that cables may be less risky for investors and Indonesia than domestic generation.

  9. SK

    With the cable project there is nothing to stop local renewable projects as well.

    The more sources the more reliable you can make electricity be.

  10. SK

    Parts of Indonesia probably have many options for small scale hydro and pumped hydro.
    I assume that land hunger is so very large in Java that it will not be given over to large scale solar – probably different in Sumatra, for example. This would make connecting Java by way of undersea power cables a high priority for Indonesia.

    I am not sure about the extent to which ITC cloudiness degrades the value of solar investments.

    You could easily overlay existing ned nord equivalents from Australia and connect the archipelago.

  12. Trump The Musical:

    Donald Trump treated reporters on Tuesday to what appeared to be a spoken-word poem about his feelings on allegations of a quid pro quo with Ukraine.

    His remarks, penned in enormous letters with black marker, were helpfully transcribed and photographed for anyone who might want to stage a performance of their own.

    The internet obliged, setting his words to music in the style of several bands.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/21/trump-ukraine-i-want-nothing-song

  17. Public transport night in Sydney.
    The metro operator has been fined undisclosed amounts for missing kpis and 18 incidents affecting reliability since opening in May.
    And their reward. A 14 year contract to continue operating the current metro AND the extension to Bankstown.
    Interesting that 10 and 7 didn’t find the latter announcement odd.
    Odd. Why?
    The announcement implied the government was considering a different operator of the extension to Bankstown. Umm, 2 different operators running trains on the same lines!!!
    Or really long platforms somewhere and passengers needing to change trains for the full journey.

  18. bw, geothermal rings bells. Lat time I was there I read they already have some generation and potential for a lot more.

    Dont know exactly why it isnt being more widely tapped into.

  19. A

    ‘Umm, 2 different operators running trains on the same lines!!!’

    Good point. Having a driver at each end of a train is a big waste.

  22. frednk, guytaur..

    Regarding that cable and since I’m an electrical engineer by training.

    It won’t be one cable – it can’t be. At a minimum 3, possibly as many as 5. And it will follow diverse routes.

    Also in many places it will be cheaper/easier to follow the seabed because of land use issues.

  23. Boerwar says:
    Friday, November 22, 2019 at 7:01 pm
    A

    ‘Umm, 2 different operators running trains on the same lines!!!’

    Good point. Having a driver at each end of a train is a big waste.

    Quite a big waste as the metro trains do not need a driver. It’s an experience standing at the front of a driverless train.

  24. BW. They are driverless. It’s more the concept. Do each companies trains run from each other’s terminals and back or do they meet in the middle and do a metaphorical handshake?
    Anyway, not happening but I wonder if they seriously considered doing it. I had assumed it would be one operator.

  26. Steve777 @ #2029 Friday, November 22nd, 2019 – 4:53 pm

    It’s quite dark in Sydney now. The street lights have come on nearly 3 hours before sunset. The sky’s grey-brown with an orange tinge and thunder is rumbling away with the occasional flash. At this stage, however, just a few spits of rain.

    Maybe it’s the Rapture. Are we about to lose Scottie?

    We should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky! 😉

  29. Steve777
    There were a few mentions of things being shifted to newstart but we were cleverly distracted by the glow of scomo’s personality.

  32. Act One in this little farce:

    Morrison and Turnbull up pressure on Westpac over money laundering claims

    The Prime Minister and his predecessor have called on the bank’s board to address explosive allegations by the financial intelligence agency.

    followed by the inevitable Act Two:

    ‘We are truly sorry’: Westpac chairman apologises, CEO has board’s backing

    Westpac chairman Lindsay Maxsted is backing the CEO and has ordered a review into the bank’s mass breach of anti-money laundering laws. (both Nine/Fairfax headlines)

    So the Westpac chair and CEO deny all responsibility. “We knew nussink!”

  35. Ajm

    One thing we can rely on is that this government has never had an original thought.

    **It breaks my little pedantic heart that when I’m on my mobile in the evenings I can’t control caps.

  37. Huge areas of rainforest have already been destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations in Indonesia and other tropical countries.

    There’s no need to cut down (and burn) rainforest for renewable energy production. Just convert a small portion of the land already given over to palm oil production.

    Nearly 150,000 critically endangered Bornean orangutans perished from 1999 to 2015, and although the main culprits were logging and hunting, palm oil was a major factor. It also exacerbates climate change—nearly half of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and other land-use changes—as well as acute air pollution. The haze from Indonesian forest fires, many deliberately set to clear land for oil palms, caused at least 12,000 premature deaths in 2015 alone.

    https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/12/palm-oil-products-borneo-africa-environment-impact/

  39. When Fuller was appointed commissar, he appeared on SkyNews, in fullsome agreement with Jones re. a number of contentious issues. The man’s a sirry irriot, seemingly having little knowledge of what the young get up to. It’s like he was never young. The young do drugs, attempting to dissuade them from doing same with a whip is equivalent to pushing water uphill – reference his son convicted of DUI.

  41. Mavis @ #2139 Friday, November 22nd, 2019 – 8:27 pm

    When Fuller was appointed commissar, he appeared on SkyNews, in fullsome agreement with Jones re. a number of contentious issues. The man’s a sirry irriot, seemingly having little knowledge of what the young get up to. It’s like he was never young. The young do drugs, attempting to dissuade them from doing same with a whip is equivalent to pushing water uphill – reference his son convicted of DUI.

    Reminds me of commissioner Gordon out of the Batman series. Earnest, honest and totally inept.

  46. I was just looking at some Blade Runner clips (prompted by Tesla’s Cybertruck launch) and fwiw, the original was set in Los Angeles in …………….drum roll……….

    November 2019

  47. Greensborough Growler:

    [‘Reminds me of commissioner Gordon out of the Batman series. Earnest, honest and totally inept.’]

    You’re showing your age, I think – not that I’m being ageist.

  48. Mavis @ #2147 Friday, November 22nd, 2019 – 8:53 pm

    Greensborough Growler:

    [‘Reminds me of commissioner Gordon out of the Batman series. Earnest, honest and totally inept.’]

    You’re showing your age, I think – not that I’m being ageist.

    Mate, Batman has been on high rotation for 50 years through reputable media outlets.

    T. S Elliot not so much.

  49. Mavis @ #2139 Friday, November 22nd, 2019 – 8:27 pm

    When Fuller was appointed commissar, he appeared on SkyNews, in fullsome agreement with Jones re. a number of contentious issues. The man’s a sirry irriot, seemingly having little knowledge of what the young get up to. It’s like he was never young. The young do drugs, attempting to dissuade them from doing same with a whip is equivalent to pushing water uphill – reference his son convicted of DUI.

    Whatever else Auntie M, he won’t be breeding a generation who fear and ‘respect’ the police, but one which simply hate cops.

  50. Wise words from Shep Smith, as he makes his reappearance after resigning from Fox News:

    “Our belief a decade ago that the online revolution would liberate us now seems a bit premature, doesn’t it?” Mr. Smith said in his customary Mississippi lilt. “Autocrats have learned how to use those same online tools to shore up their power. They flood the world of information with garbage and lies, masquerading as news. There’s a phrase for that.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/business/media/shepard-smith-fox-news.html

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