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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  1. GG:

    It could be, then, a tussle between Larkin and Batman? Though I like both, I’m going for the latter, far less complicated than the former?:

    “They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
    They may not mean to, but they do.
    They fill you with the faults they had
    And add some extra, just for you.

    But they were fucked up in their turn
    By fools in old-style hats and coats,
    Who half the time were soppy-stern
    And half at one another’s throats.”

  10. Cud
    NorNed is a dipolar system with a center tapped earth. So two cores ( read the paper on the earthing issues last night)
    Baselink is unipolar with a metal return.
    Examples of Single pole earth return are the Baltic Cable and Kontek. These use a single core cable.
    Any AC cables will be short because of the charging current.

  13. Player Onesays:
    Friday, November 22, 2019 at 6:06 pm

    …

    Not really. For a start, look at the countries you would have to go through to get an overland route to the populous markets that might be interested in buying our electricity.
    …

    What?
    Australia to Indonesia across to Indonesia then over to Indonesia onwards to Indonesia … and finally to Singapore.

  14. BK, others,

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

    Very muchly.* Same with wind in the doldrums. Add in land scarcity, and an abundance of lignite… vs Australian solar in the north and centre and the best wind resources in the world in our south. Same story all over SEA.

    On the other hand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam all have sufficient pumped hydro sites to load-balance locally while taking a continual power in-feed from us.

    Fred has the goods on the cable tech. I’m not an expert on that side of things, but the experts I speak to say the new technology is going to make it work, with very little doubt. Current technology can already do +400km stretches, so island hopping though our neighbours to the north is already technically viable.

    And its always DC for these distances underwater, or else you have to find a way to magnetise a 400km long capacitor at 600kV. Now that would be some kind of a materials science breakthrough.

    * Unless all you want to do is give people electric lighting, telecoms and some cooking, then small distributed PV systems will help a lot. But its not a complete path to eradicating energy poverty, nor will it offset the serious carbon emissions from industry in these regions.

  15. “ No comments here between 6:32 and 7:53. Wow.”
    4860 seconds with no one bitching about Labor vs Greens on PB. It is like Perdido St Station and the slakemoths.

  18. Are we in the midst of an insect apocalypse? Well, the jury is still out – not enough data to say for sure, apparently.
    https://theconversation.com/is-an-insect-apocalypse-happening-how-would-we-know-113170
    But if we wait until we are certain then it will be too late.
    In the UK there is alarm.

    The “unnoticed insect apocalypse” should set alarm bells ringing, according to conservationists, who said that without a halt there will be profound consequences for humans and all life on Earth.
    A new report suggested half of all insects may have been lost since 1970 as a result of the destruction of nature and heavy use of pesticides. The report said 40% of the 1million known species of insect are facing extinction.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/13/insect-apocalypse-poses-risk-to-all-life-on-earth-conservationists-warn

    But they also offer an easy solution to slow down the loss – shade our lights.

    Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations, according to the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence to date.
    Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects’ lives, the researchers said, from luring moths to their deaths around bulbs, to spotlighting insect prey for rats and toads, to obscuring the mating signals of fireflies.
    ………..
    Light pollution affects dung beetles, which use starlight to navigate. “For us, light pollution is a shame as we can’t see the night stars, but for a beetle it is literally life and death,” said Brett Seymoure (behavioural ecologist at Washington University)

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/22/light-pollution-insect-apocalypse

    The UK gov’t has issued light pollution guidance advice.
    The Aust Gov’t ……… Well, we will have to wait to see what Sussan Ley actually does about anything environmental. The Astronomers have been banging on about light pollution for decades, and got nowhere. We can’t rush these things.

  19. There are several reports today on the reality of Chinese attempts to infiltrate our politics. No doubt they will be linked to later. But meanwhile, Morrison assures us there is no problem.

    In an exclusive interview published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Friday, former ASIO boss Duncan Lewis warned Chinese authorities were using “insidious” foreign interference operations to win influence in Australia’s political, social, business and media circles.

    Mr Morrison sought to play down the significance of Mr Lewis’s comments, saying the government had been on top of the issue.

    “How good is Gladys Liu!”

    IMV, how naive are Australian politicians.

  20. Daniel Schneider
    @BiologistDan
    30m
    This is an Asiatic Cheetah. One of only 50 left. Conservationists set camera traps in the high plateaus of #Iran, to track the elusive cat in order to save them. The cameras were made in the US. Today, The 8 conservationists were sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying.

  22. In a decision that has caused “considerable friction” within the Morrison Government, the Defence Department last month confirmed it would purchase 41 Finnish rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) to be placed on Australia’s next fleet of offshore patrol vessels.

    The Royal Australian Navy’s contract with Finland’s Boomeranger Oy company was finalised without a competitive tender during October’s PACIFIC 2019 military trade show in Sydney.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-23/defence-boat-contract-finnish-company-causing-friction/11730136

  23. But! But! Unions!

    It wasn’t the only act of harassment against Garnaut and his family, but it was a notably overt one. The message was plain: you have displeased the Chinese government and we are going to punish you. We can always find you, we know where you live, we can act with impunity in the middle of Australia’s biggest cities. We don’t care that you worked for a prime minister. We are not afraid of Australia’s authorities.

    It was January 24, 2019. The foreign influence laws had taken effect six weeks earlier.

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/peter-hartcher-on-china-s-infiltration-of-australia-20191118-p53bly.html

    And because Scott Morrison thinks he’s oh so clever, no, Gladys Liu is not an agent of influence for China in Australia! 🙄

  24. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    Katharine Murphy writes that Morrison is relentlessly pursuing the politics of panic, but validating voter anxiety can only go so far. Well worth a read, this one.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2019/nov/23/scott-morrison-cant-attack-australias-political-circu0s-and-pretend-he-isnt-its-ringmaster
    A Chinese spy has risked his life to defect to Australia and is now offering a trove of unprecedented inside intelligence on how China conducts its interference operations abroad. This is pretty big.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/defecting-chinese-spy-offers-information-trove-to-australian-government-20191122-p53d1l.html
    China’s got tougher, but Keating’s gone soft opines Peter Hartcher.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/china-s-got-tougher-but-keating-s-gone-soft-20191122-p53da2.html
    Laura Tingle tells us about the trail of wreckage left by the disastrous Robodebt scheme.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/computer-says-no-robodebt-and-other-disasters-20191122-p53d1a
    And Paul Karp explains that the problem won’t go away from the government because a class action is still proceeding.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/22/pay-the-money-back-robodebt-the-coalitions-backflip-and-how-it-hounded-welfare-recipients
    Paul Bongiorno has written a scathing contribution on the subject.
    https://outline.com/tdvgUh
    Katharine Murphy writes that Malcolm Turnbull says Australia will struggle to meet its Paris emissions target without rapid decarbonisation of the energy sector, and he says the Liberal party’s continuing failure to develop a coherent climate and energy policy is costing the country much-needed new investment in power generation.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/23/malcolm-turnbull-says-liberals-struggles-with-climate-denial-are-hurting-australia
    Paula Matthewson recons Morrison has perfected the art of hiding in plain sight.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/2019/11/22/scott-morrison-social-media/
    David Crowe reports on the issues facing the government over pensions and superannuation.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/new-fight-looms-over-pension-super-tax-breaks-20191122-p53dae.html
    Now THIS is what you call an infrastructure blowout!
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-s-light-rail-bill-soars-to-at-least-2-9-billion-20191122-p53d88.html
    This Guardian opinion piece says that Labor’s future lies in acknowledging the complexity of working-class people.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/22/labors-future-lies-in-acknowledging-the-complexity-of-working-class-people
    Peter Hannam explains how NSW will rewrite electricity market rules to create a giant renewable energy zone, pour money into hydrogen, and spur consumers to offset carbon emissions in a landmark policy aimed at shifting the national debate over climate change.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/this-is-how
    Mike Seccombe laments that despite the successes of Australia’s renewable energy sector, the federal government is stalling on further development of this industry, instead maintaining its dogged commitment to coal-fired power.
    https://outline.com/FzjFkU
    Former diplomat Patrick Suckling explains why it’s so wrong to play down Australia’s role in fighting climate change.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/why-it-s-so-wrong-to-play-down-australia-s-role-in-fighting-climate-change-20191121-p53ctq.html
    The Saturday Paper’s editorial ridicules Rupert Murdoch’s assurance that there are no climate change deniers in News Corp.
    https://outline.com/DK4s6v
    According to Adele Ferguson Westpac’s 23 million breaches could just be the tip of the iceberg. She says that if gold medals were being handed out for playing down egregious misconduct, the gong for 2019 should go to Westpac.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/westpac-s-23m-breaches-could-be-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-20191122-p53da7.html
    Amid the panic spreading through Westpac’s executive floors this week, never mind Friday’s emergency board meeting, is the little matter of what on earth to tell shareholders at the annual meeting on Tuesday fortnight writes Michael Pascoe.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/finance-news/2019/11/22/westpac-board-agm-dividends/
    Victoria Police has sought to question Robert Doyle over allegations he sexually assaulted two women during his time as Melbourne lord mayor and leader of the Victorian Liberal Party.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-police-seek-answers-from-robert-doyle-as-alleged-victims-come-forward-20191122-p53d9j.html
    In quite a confronting contribution Tim Soutphommasane writes that a quiet and passive citizenry is not patriotic.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/a-quiet-and-passive-citizenry-is-not-patriotic-20191121-p53crl.html
    David Crowe tells us how insurance companies are pressing for stronger action on climate change to deal with soaring premiums for Australians exposed to natural disasters. It’ll be alright – Sukkar has it in hand!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/storm-brewing-over-cyclone-insurance-proposal-20191122-p53d9f.html
    Adan Triggs says that the Australian economy needs demand, not even cheaper cheap money. Until we properly understand the problem, we will keep producing ineffective solutions. Raising Newstart would be a good start.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6500876/its-the-demand-side-stupid/?cs=14258
    Judith Ireland reports that Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck has revealed up to a third of aged care services may not be “up to scratch” as he warned government spending alone won’t fix the quality issues plaguing the sector. There are quite a few issues that need to be addressed.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pretty-confronting-up-to-a-third-of-aged-care-services-may-be-substandard-20191121-p53cm4.html
    According to Rod Meyer AUSfund, the industry superannuation fund lost-super manager, has delivered unclaimed super to its rightful owners more quickly than the Australian Taxation Office and paid far more interest, a committee hearing was told.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/superannuation/2019/11/22/ausfund-beats-the-ato/
    The Saturday Paper’s Jeff Sparrow warns that we need to talk about fascism, particularly here in Australia.
    https://outline.com/caaW5Y
    Michaela Whitbourn reports that former NSW Labor MP Eddie Obeid will be released on parole next month after serving three years behind bars for misconduct in public office.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/former-labor-mp-eddie-obeid-granted-parole-after-three-years-in-prison-20191122-p53d4g.html
    Has Angus Taylor won over the states by setting a direction for hydrogen projects to prop up coal fired electricity generation?
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/hydrogen-stimulus-package-to-power-australian-energy-exports-20191122-p53d7c.html
    Jess Irvine has a good look at the size of the human services sector in Australia, how it operates and what productivity gains can be made.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-next-productivity-revolution-will-be-a-more-caring-one-20191121-p53cxy.html
    In a very concerning article Karen Middleton explores the minefield that is the NDIS.
    https://outline.com/d4GvKS
    As Australia’s economy continues to decline relative to the rest of the world, the latest area of failure is jobs. Alan Austin reports.
    https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/australias-unemployment-ranking-statistics-now-worst-ever,13336
    Christian Porter will examine the capacity of workplace regulators to enforce his promised new wage theft laws, as unions and academics warn they will be ineffective without a strong body to to prosecute employers. But Dana McCauley says that unions are saying introducing stricter penalties for wage theft would mean nothing if the new laws were not adequately enforced.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/wage-theft-laws-irrelevant-without-strong-enforcer-cfmmeu-20191122-p53d4d.html
    And now Porter has lifted the proposed requirements to disqualify union officials in the Coalition’s union penalty bill in a bid to win Senate support in the final parliamentary sitting fortnight.
    https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/nov/22/coalition-accepts-amendments-to-union-penalty-bill-in-bid-for-senate-support
    The amendments, agreed between the Coalition and Centre Alliance, are designed to shut down unions’ objection that the bill would allow minor breaches of paperwork requirements to trigger severe penalties that harm workers’ representation.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/wage-theft-laws-irrelevant-without-strong-enforcer-cfmmeu-20191122-p53d4d.html
    It was a damning judgment against Johnson & Johnson, but also an indictment on the federal agencies that need to protect Australians from harm writes Joanne McCarthy.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/where-were-the-regulators-how-authorities-failed-pelvic-mesh-victims-20191121-p53csd.html
    Witnesses made it a bad week for Trump, a very bad week.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/us-news/2019/11/22/donald-trump-is-digging-in-after-two-weeks-of-public-impeachment-hearings/
    Victoria’s independent corruption commission is paving the way for this Woodman guy’s nomination for “Arsehole of the Week”.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/how-developer-john-woodman-helped-carve-up-melbourne-s-green-outskirts-20191122-p53d3h.html

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe with Netanyahu.

    A beauty from Alan Moir.

    From Matt Golding



    Zanetti goes to the Palace.

    Johannes Leak with Morrison’s regional settlement plan.
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/d311d75350b85ff7797467666f05d2b0?width=1024

    From the US











  25. BK has linked this, but I can’t resist quoting it.

    There were two messages this week. The first message the prime minister wanted to convey is the government is managing the economy by Not Panicking. Related to the first message was the second: the Coalition has decided to provide a new round of stimulus by bringing forward spending on infrastructure, and pressing ahead with some structural reforms to supplement the economic management while Not Panicking. The government is Not Panicking because it is Not Labor. The End.

    It’s a funny old business, Morrison Not Panicking on high rotation. Pretty bizarre actually, if you take a minute to think about it.
    …
    Labor right now would be screaming, and running around with their undies on their heads, and losing their minds, because Morrison’s opponents, in his persistent telling, are “economic panic merchants” with an unquenchable “appetite for crisis”. So to cut a longish story short, this week, once again, the prime minister invited voters to conclude: thank God Scott won that election. (Hurrah optional.)

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2019/nov/23/scott-morrison-cant-attack-australias-political-circu0s-and-pretend-he-isnt-its-ringmaster?CMP=share_btn_tw

  28. I also have to add that our Authoritarian on training wheels, Scott Morrison, is being too smart-by-half in cuddling up so closely but covertly to China. They’ll crush him like an irritating bug once they have decided he has served his purpose. The smart and honourable thing to do would have been to cut Gladys Liu adrift and then go to a by-election in Chisholm with a new candidate, but instead he keeps on wanting to save face, his, and the rest of Australia can be thrown to the wolves.

  29. “Paul’s been giving the same sort of speech for five years,” says an Australian foreign policy expert who asked not to be named. “The situation has changed in the last five years. China has toughened and hardened and that’s why the debate in Australia has changed. Paul’s a bit out of date.”

    Keating affects sophistication. But in truth his conception is super-simplistic – China is big and getting bigger so be nice and don’t upset them. The reality is much harder – how do you work with a big economic partner while it’s trying covertly to take control of your country? You don’t succeed by pretending it’s not happening.

    The China Development Bank shows Keating as a member of its international advisory board. You have to wonder, when he advises this big state-owned bank, does he give it facts or fantasies? Because, based on his speech this week, he’s urging Australia to join his China fantasy, not face facts. He needs to harden up.

    I’ve been listening to Hartcher on The Drum and I’ve changed my mind on him. I think he knows his material.

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/china-s-got-tougher-but-keating-s-gone-soft-20191122-p53da2.html

  33. “Paula Matthews: Scott Morrison perfects the art of hiding in plain sight”

    A quick glance at the PM’s website shows that Mr Morrison hasn’t actually decamped to the south coast for an early summer break. Over the past week he issued 10 media releases, did four radio and two television interviews, delivered three speeches, and held two ‘doorstop’ press conferences.

    Significantly, only once during those interactions did he receive any real scrutiny, and that was during the interview with ABC Radio.

    This snapshot reveals the aim of Mr Morrison’s media strategy – avoid interviews that would likely end up as negative footage for television news programs, steer clear of the skilled interrogators in the Canberra press gallery, and use tabloid radio to communicate directly with likeminded voters.

    The last point comes straight from the tactical playbook of former prime minister John Howard.
    …
    No matter how welcome and overdue, imposing truth in advertising restrictions on Facebook will do nothing to staunch the flood of misdirections, deflections, mistruths and porkies that can flow through the other direct-to-voter channels.

    Mr Morrison is just one example of a politician hiding in plain sight, who avoids questions on the big stage, and uses social media to strike up unfiltered conversations with the voters in the stalls.

    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/2019/11/22/scott-morrison-social-media/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Saturday%20News%20-%2020191123

  34. Bolton speaks, even if it is to sound vaguely conspiracy theory-ish.

    Returning to Twitter for the first time since September, Bolton said he was “speaking up.”

    “[S]ince resigning as National Security Advisor, the @WhiteHouse refused to return access to my personal Twitter account. Out of fear of what I may say? To those who speculated I went into hiding, I’m sorry to disappoint!”

    It is not immediately clear how the White House would have blocked access to a personal Twitter account.

    Trump denied any such action during a morning call-in interview on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” after host Brian Kilmeade asked him, “Did you guys freeze his account?”

    “No, of course not,” Trump responded. “Of course not. No, I actually had a good relationship with John. We disagreed on some things and some methods, but I actually had a good relationship. No, I didn’t do that. No, I didn’t even know that.”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/impeachment-hearings-live-updates/2019/11/22/54fff730-0ca9-11ea-97ac-a7ccc8dd1ebc_story.html#link-FCUG5HSQYE6KNMELR3VE5MYYMI

  36. bakunin @ #2182 Saturday, November 23rd, 2019 – 7:40 am

    C@t,

    Not soft in the head, advancing the interests of his employers.

    Keating is a member of the International Advisory Council for the Chinese Development Bank.
    http://www.cdb.com.cn/English/gykh_512/gszl/gjgwwyh/
    http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-07/21/c_136460178.htm

    Is it ‘soft in the head’, or just plain greed, when a highly intelligent person doesn’t stand up to those wanting to co-opt him for plainly obvious reasons?

  37. A shock from a comedian, but very true. Socks it to the so-called ‘silicone six’.

    Molly McKewVerified account@MollyMcKew
    1h1 hour ago
    This speech from @SachaBaronCohen is so good — such an eloquent, deeply informed, absolutely uncompromising summary of the threat to democracy from social media-enabled conspiracy and disinformation —
    I’m posting it again.

    Watch. Listen. Share.

    https://youtu.be/ymaWq5yZIYM

  38. We didn’t have a problem when the UK was the world powerhouse and was the major foreign holder of land in Australia (it still is, and its investments are growing, but hey, they’re Us, aren’t they?). We didn’t have a problem when the US was the world powerhouse and a major foreign holder of land in Australia – I mean, a couple of military bases here and there, that’s scarcely a threat, is it?

    Australia was busily doing one of the things it appears to do best – shifting allegiances from one power to another without losing any friends along the way – and now we’re stuffing it up.

    https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/5870377/which-foreign-investors-own-aussie-farms/ – which points out, among other things, that 81% of the land ‘held’ by foreigners is leasehold, and that the UK’s holdings are 2.6% of all land – and, as they’re the major foreign investors, that means that only a very, very small percentage of farmland is affected.

  42. zoomster @ #2191 Saturday, November 23rd, 2019 – 8:27 am

    C@ – an authoritarian state owning 2% of farmland, mostly leasehold, is scarcely the major threat it’s being portrayed as being.

    You’ve heard about the port China has bought in WA? Or Bellamys? Or the Port of Darwin on ’99 Year Lease’? Or the Belt and Road initiative? Which doesn’t specifically involve Australia but is all around us. And they’ve only just begun to flex their financial muscle. It has taken the past few decades for them to effect their strategy to bankroll their plans but now they are putting them into action.

    I just think it is foolish to dismiss their designs on Australia and its resources out of hand.

  45. There’s a difference between dismissing something out of hand and putting something into perspective.

    But hey, C@, if you want to believe and defend Morrison et al over Keating, go for it.

  46. zoomster

    I’m not sure what your position is, but the message I am getting from the “China spies” reports, is that they want to influence our society, and buying our land may only be a small part of it.

  47. Thanks BK for this item 👇👇👇

    Judith Ireland reports that Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck has revealed up to a third of aged care services may not be “up to scratch” as he warned government spending alone won’t fix the quality issues plaguing the sector. There are quite a few issues that need to be addressed.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pretty-confronting-up-to-a-third-of-aged-care-services-may-be-substandard-20191121-p53cm4.html

    With the aged care royal commission planning to confirm the level of substandard aged care in its final report next year, Senator Colbeck said initial indications from commissioner Lynelle Briggs were that at least 12 to 15 per cent of services were below par and the figure could be as high as 20 to 30 per cent

    The true level of substandard care could be ………………………..% depending on the quality and type of blinkers used. I suspect that the next Royal Commission into Aged Care would be mostly about why nothing was done as a result of the last Royal Commission and so on………

    ♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲♲

    Now for a solution that works instead of just words, prayers or thoughts.

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sedating-medication-clearly-justified-in-only-10-percent-of-aged-care-cases-20191101-p536k8.html

    The solution is to force feed all those who show interest in or are at all perturbed by untoward results of the above; with Anti Psychotic Medication until the problem disappears. To be funded by the recipient of this merciful program. Subsequently the same folk could be prosecuted for overpayment of imaginary funds by the Gummint.

  48. lizzie

    Whereas America doesn’t?

    I’m not saying ‘don’t keep an eye on the Chinese’ – I’m saying ‘don’t jump at shadows’.

    Particularly when jumping at shadows can be detrimental for our economy.

  49. zoomster

    I think America won that influence war some time ago. We’ve absorbed so much of their ‘culture’. China is a different proposition. 🙁

  50. Fess

    Sacha Baron Cohen is on the money.

    We are in the precipice, and Facebook in particular has aided and abetted.
    Hence how we find the UK, USA at the crossroads.

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