Essential Research: bushfires, climate change and asylum seekers

A new poll finds respondents clearly of the view that not enough is being done to tackle climate change, but with opinion divided as to whether it appropriate to debate the matter in the context of the bushfire emergency.

The Essential Research poll series continues to chug along on its fortnightly schedule without offering anything on voting intention, with this week’s survey mainly relating to bushfires and climate change. Support for the proposition that Australia is not doing enough to address climate change have reached a new high of 60%, up nine since March, with “doing enough” down five to 22% and “doing too much” down three to 8%.

However, perceptions of climate change itself are little changed, with 61% attributing it to human activity (down one) and 28% opting for “a normal fluctuation in the earth’s climate”. On the debate as to whether it was appropriate to raise links between climate change and bushfires, opinion was evenly divided – out of those who considered such a link likely, 43% felt raising the matter appropriate compared with 17% for inappropriate, while another 30% rated the link as unlikely.

A further question related to the issue of medical evacuations for asylum seekers, and here the situation is murkier due to the need to provide respondents with some sort of explanation of what the issue is about. As the Essential survey put it, the relevant legislation allows “doctors, not politicians, more say in determining the appropriate medical
treatment offered to people in offshore detention”. Put like that, 62% were opposed to the government’s move to repeal it, including 25% who believed the legislation didn’t go far enough. That left only 22% in favour of the pro-government proposition that “legislation will weaken our borders and result in boats arriving”.

The poll was conducted Thursday to Sunday from a sample of 1083.

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.

1,314 comments on “Essential Research: bushfires, climate change and asylum seekers”

Comments Page 3 of 27
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  1. There are SO many questions that need to be asked and answered of Westpac over the AUSTRAC issue. Some that spring to mind are –
    – when were unreported transactions first identified?
    – how were they identified?
    – what initial investigation of cause was undertaken?
    – was a systematic problem seen then?
    – was the issue escalated or reported up?
    – is there a Westpac procedure to handle such issues to a transparent conclusion?
    – was there any interference run to prevent such process from running its course?
    – when was it apparent that there was a serious issue in terms of the quantity of unreported transactions?
    – when was the board made aware of this?
    – when did the board take ownership of the problem?
    – at the time of implementing the AUSTRAC requirements to the system did the systems analysis correctly specify the process for the programmers?
    – how did the system change’s efficacy get tested and approved before going live?

    That should be enough to have some fun!
    – when the AUSTRAC requirement was was

  2. “Blue Labour”!

    That’s a new term to me. Is Blue Labour the same as Red Tory?

    In Scotland Labour are known as the Red Tories. They are often in alliance with the Blue Tories to run Local Councils.

  3. pukka:

    [‘SM call to Fuller was a message to the officers investigating the AT case.

    They will be in no doubt about what that message is.’]

    No doubting that. Fuller will now have to disassociate himself entirely from the investigation.

  5. Cities are good. I like them a lot. They bring together everything I most enjoy – my family, music, good food, art, my friends…and so on. They are also highly efficient in terms of the organisation and supply of education, health care, pubic utilities, work, good and services of all kinds. They also offer many opportunities for new investments of all kinds, which means that incomes in cities will be higher in the future. In many cases, new investments in urban economies and populations generate increasing returns to scale….that is…more can be done with less. So they are resource-conserving.

    We could do a better job with them. But cities exist and succeed for very good reasons.

  6. lizzie @ #78 Wednesday, November 27th, 2019 – 9:56 am

    ItzaDream

    Be nice if we could raze our cities and start again. Snigger.

    I’m half serious there. The earliest planners tried to set up grids but their plans were soon over-ridden by shysters looking for a quick profit. The “wide brown land” seemed to stretch for ever, and a quick turnover meant rewards for speculators. To me, Dick Hamer was the last Liberal who tried to rein in the spread of Melbourne and retain green corridors, but now it’s rafferty’s rules (is that a non-PC expression now?)

    Early Melbourne at least had some planning concepts. Sydney on the other hand, at the city evolved, was a rag tag of ad hockery with roads following topography – the essentialness of Sydney, it’s fabulousness and its pitfalls – while they probably spent most of the time wondering how to survive at all. And British urban design wasn’t exactly known for excellence. Imagine if the French had got here two days earlier what might have been.

    Mind you, it makes for much serendipitous interest and surprise in Sydney which I find lacking in, say, Melbourne and certainly Adelaide.

    The early lack of planning was never going to be exposed till some threshold was reached, by which stage the next phase of planning should have been well established. Never happened, never will. It’s all catchup, and the next election.

  7. LNP congestion busting measure.

    Keeping wage growth at record low levels. Maintaining starvation levels of Newstart –
    So that –
    Mr. Hockey’s pronouncement that “Poor People Don’t Drive Cars” remains true now and forever.

  8. (Bloomberg) — Justin Trudeau scored a major political victory with the negotiated end to a damaging Canadian rail strike that will only cement his government’s growing ties with organized labor.

    The prime minister’s reluctance to force an end to the strike of about 3,200 conductors and railyard operators at Canadian National Railway Co. won him accolades from the union and industrial relations experts who prefer a hands-off approach. In the face of intense pressure from industry, farmers and provincial premiers, Trudeau’s team insisted on letting negotiations run their course.

    It was the latest manifestation of an increasingly pro-labor stand under Trudeau, which is a dramatic departure not only from the previous Conservative administration that regularly ordered picketers back to work, but also from past Liberal governments. And it couldn’t have been easy as the costs to the economy mounted daily.

  10. [‘Turnbull throws Morrison under a bus.

    Malcolm Turnbull was just on Sky News, where he was asked about Mr Morrison’s phone call to the NSW Police Commissioner. His answer was not exactly helpful for the Prime Minister.

    “It is always critically important that in any police inquiry, particularly something that involves a politician, that the police are and are seen to be acting entirely free of any political influence,” Mr Turnbull said.

    “Now, I am sure the call that the Prime Minister made to the NSW Police Commissioner was innocuous, but it would have been much better if it had not been made, because it is really, it is vitally important that the inquiry that is being conducted by the NSW Police, like every inquiry they undertake, is seen to be conducted entirely free of political influence.

    “So it is a call, being blunt about it, it is a call I would not have made.” That is some high quality fodder for Labor.

    Anthony Albanese, who already spoke about this issue earlier, took another swing at Mr Morrison in the halls of parliament after his interview with News Breakfast.

    “I’ll tell you what Australians will be thinking today,” he said.

    “They will think to themselves, if one of my mates was under investigation, can I pick up the phone to the head of the police and ask for the details of that investigation on the day that it’s launched? I think not.

    “The Prime Minister needs to actually answer today, in a way that is actually straightforward, exactly what took place in that phone conversation. He needs to answer whether there were notetakers there, which would have been appropriate, I would have thought.

    “This goes to the Prime Minister’s judgment, not just the flawed judgment of this failed Minister Angus Taylor.”]

    – source: news.com.au

  15. That Dr Sheep Person
    @noplaceforsheep
    ·
    2m
    Why are media buying into this *oh it was only alleged by the ALP* tripe? It’s clearly intended to discredit serious allegations on the grounds of who has made them.

  17. Even some on his own side are taking a swing at Morrison:

    Sky News host Andrew Bolt says Energy Minister Angus Taylor is a “goose” and has a potential “problem” on his hands as the Financial Crimes Squad begin investigations against his use of an allegedly doctored document.

    …Mr Bolt said you have to “wonder if this really is the bloke you want in charge of our electricity supply,” following the allegations levelled against him.

    https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/angus-taylor-has-a-potential-problem-on-his-hands-bolt/ar-BBXla0V?li=AAgfYrC&ocid=wispr

  20. Guardian Australia
    @GuardianAus

    Tony Burke says the ‘doctored document saga’ involving Angus Taylor is the most clear cut example he has ever seen of a member misleading the House. #auspol #qt

  22. Quiggin, cutnpasted by Peg:

    ‘To sum up, the view that Labor has abandoned a traditional base of socially conservative, religious, economically aspirational, manual workers in favour of an out-of-touch inner-city elite is the opposite of the truth. The best thing Blue Labor and similar groups could do to promote a more inclusive style of politics is to stop deriding and caricaturing the majority of ordinary Australians who don’t fit their outdated stereotypes.’

    I assume that Quiggin’s views are inside the Urbs Bubble. It is focussed on the Inner and Outer Urbs. Quiggin’s analysis makes no sense at all once you reach rural and regional electorates.

    He could test this quite easily by asking the first 30 ute drivers the relevant questions.

  25. C@t

    A number of people are questioning Morrison’s suitability for his position. As he reached it by cheating and lying, he will no doubt support any MPs who do the same. Integrity is so yesterday. So ironic that Porter is attacking the unions with an Integrity Bill.

  29. Bin Chicken = Bird of the Year…

    It was funny how many cops were lining up for team blue at the recent Victoria Election. Male police officers that is.

    Although I think the only officer to be elected was Jackson Taylor to team Red in Bayswater.

  30. Justine Landis-Hanley
    @justinel_h
    ·
    25m
    The AAT has been triaging Centrelink debt appeals in an effort to reduce its caseload.

    50% of people contacted in 18/19 ended up dropping their cases.

    Robodebt victims told me the AAT tried “intimidating” them out of appealing. Experts are concerned.

  31. Anthony Albanese @AlboMP
    ·
    6m
    The PM is meant to govern in the national interest, not his own. And right now, people are asking themselves:

    If one of my mates was under investigation, could I pick up the phone to the head of police and ask for details about that investigation on the day that it was launched?

  32. Warren nosedives in new nationwide poll

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s support among Democratic primary voters nationwide plunged 50 percent over the past month, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll, signaling that the shake-ups in the primary field are far from over.

    Former Vice President Joe Biden has retaken the lead in the poll after an autumn that saw him surrender his solid frontrunner status, climbing 3 points to earn 24 percent in the poll. Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., surged into second, rising 6 points to 16 percent, with Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders not far behind at 14 and 13 percent, respectively

    https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/26/warren-nosedives-buttigieg-climbs-poll-074054

  33. ‘lizzie says:
    Wednesday, November 27, 2019 at 11:18 am

    Justine Landis-Hanley
    @justinel_h
    ·
    25m
    The AAT has been triaging Centrelink debt appeals in an effort to reduce its caseload.

    50% of people contacted in 18/19 ended up dropping their cases.

    Robodebt victims told me the AAT tried “intimidating” them out of appealing. Experts are concerned.’

    So, appointing a whole swag of political hacks to the AAT is win win.

  35. [Robodebt victims told me the AAT tried “intimidating” them out of appealing. Experts are concerned.]

    That assertion should not be allowed just to hover. What type of appeal is being referred to here?

  36. A better wording for Albo would have been this. It would highlight the problem.
    .
    .
    If one of my mates was under investigation, would it be right if I pick up the phone to another old mate the head of police and ask for details about that investigation on the day that it was launched?

  38. John Quiggin on Twitter sounding exactly like a Greens member:

    JohnQuiggin
    @JohnQuiggin
    ·
    10m
    Sensible centrists (two months ago): We need a middle path between climate denialism and climate alarmism.
    Sensible centrists (two weeks ago): Fires are alarming, but it’s not the time to point to causes
    Sensible centrists (today): Climate is so last week. Let’s talk about China.

    No wonder Pegasus is besotted with him.

  39. C@tmomma @ #123 Wednesday, November 27th, 2019 – 11:07 am

    lizzie @ #120 Wednesday, November 27th, 2019 – 11:04 am

    Guardian Australia
    @GuardianAus

    Tony Burke says the ‘doctored document saga’ involving Angus Taylor is the most clear cut example he has ever seen of a member misleading the House. #auspol #qt

    And Taylor’s obviously been advised to just try and brazen it out until the end of the parliamentary term.

    Just like he brazened out the water buy-back scandal, the trashed protected grasslands, the …

  40. BW

    Quiggan is right. You are wrong. Quiggan provides facts for his assertion. You have just made an assumption about a whole lot of seats Labor could win that have no problem with Labor stopping Adani, and coal.

    Despite the narrative Newscorpse and LNP propaganda backed by some “Blue Labor” types voters do know there is a difference. That includes knowing the Greens same same mantra is not true.

    They are the people the polls showed Labor in front. All Labor has to do is convince the unengaged voters of the same thing as they did the engaged voters.

    It was not the policies. It was the communication of Labor’s message.
    Fence sitting on taxes and Adani did not help. Labor got all the negatives and none of the positives

  41. Uh oh. Speaking of planning. Gladys want to make it easier for investors, get rid of layers of bureaucracy, and create a bazzillion jobs.

    The current system does not give investors certainty – some planning proposals are taking years to determine and there are too many layers of bureaucracy which is unacceptable,” she said.

    “Under the new reforms, we will deliver the simplest and most effective planning system in Australia that creates thousands of jobs and improves the way people live and work, right across the state.”

    Sound familiar?

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/berejiklian-to-overhaul-planning-laws-with-push-for-30-minute-cities-20191126-p53ecw.html

  42. All Hell To Break Loose As Trump Throws Giuliani Under The Bus

    In an interview with Bill O’Reilly, Donald Trump said that he wasn’t directing Giuliani and that he was just one of Rudy’s clients.

    Transcript:

    Q: What was Rudy Giuliani doing in Ukraine on your behalf?

    Trump: Well, you have to ask that to Rudy. I don’t know. I know he was going to go to Ukraine, and I think he canceled a trip, but Rudy has other clients other than me.

    Q: You didn’t direct him to go there on your behalf?

    Trump: No.

    The sound that you are hearing is Trump’s bus getting warmed up as Rudy Giuliani is being tossed underneath it. The Republican emergency plan has always been to make Giuliani the fall guy if impeachment went badly for Trump.

    Impeachment has been a disaster for Trump, so Republicans have broken the glass on their plan to have Giuliani take the fall.

    If Giuliani follows through on his insurance threat, all hell is about to break loose, and impeachment definitely will not be done before Christmas.

    https://www.politicususa.com/2019/11/26/all-hell-to-break-loose-as-trump-throws-giuliani-under-the-bus.html

  44. ‘JohnQuiggin
    @JohnQuiggin
    ·
    10m
    Sensible centrists (two months ago): We need a middle path between climate denialism and climate alarmism.
    Sensible centrists (two weeks ago): Fires are alarming, but it’s not the time to point to causes
    Sensible centrists (today): Climate is so last week. Let’s talk about China.’

    Quiggin is making up some serious crap.

    Sensible centrists accept climate science. There is no halfway point.

    Sensible centrists are ready to talk about climate science at any time.

    Sensible centrists are ready to talk about climate policy AND about China at the same time.

    Sensible centrists make the observation that the two extremes of climate policy, one adopted by the Coalition, the other by the Greens, are both failing miserably.
    The one extreme is subsidising fossil fuels. FAIL.
    The other extreme is Zero/2030 which will not happen because it cannot be implemented in the time frame and because 90% of the population do not support it. FAIL.

    Quiggin’s antics are seriously losing him some credibility here.

  47. Here’s a Bloomberg article wrt Trump attempting to throw Giuliani under the bus:

    Donald Trump denied directing Rudy Giuliani to go to Ukraine to look for dirt on his political rivals, in an interview with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.

    “No, I didn’t direct him, but he is a warrior, he is a warrior,” Trump told O’Reilly in an interview streamed on the internet on Tuesday.

    Giuliani has said publicly that he conducted an investigation “concerning 2016 Ukrainian collusion and corruption” on Trump’s behalf.

    The investigation I conducted concerning 2016 Ukrainian collusion and corruption, was done solely as a defense attorney to defend my client against false charges, that kept changing as one after another were disproven.

    — Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) November 6, 2019
    Asked by O’Reilly what Giuliani was doing in Ukraine, Trump said “you have to ask that to Rudy.”

    “Rudy has other clients, other than me,” Trump said. “He’s done a lot of work in Ukraine over the years.”

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-26/trump-denies-sending-rudy-giuliani-to-ukraine-for-biden-probe

  49. John Quiggin:

    https://twitter.com/JohnQuiggin/status/1197355855022190596

    “Firie: Why are you having a BBQ on a total fire ban day?
    Quiet Australian: There are hundreds of fires already. I’m no more than 1 per cent of the problem
    Firie: You’re no better than an arsonist
    Sensible centrist media: This extreme rhetoric stops us all getting along”

    ———-
    Unmitigated failure
    https://johnquiggin.com/2019/11/24/unmitigated-failure/

    That’s been the response of Australia’s political class, politicians, pundits and journalists alike to the arrival of catastrophic climate change in the form of ubiquitous and semi-permanent bushfires. The failure has been so comprehensive, encompassing nearly everyone in Labor and the LNP, and most of the commentariat, that there is not much point in naming names.

    I can’t motivate myself to write a proper analysis of this, so I’ve been reduced to writing a series of snarky tweets.

    Update: Sean Kelly spells out the same point in the SMH.

    ——-
    Sean Kelly, former adviser to Labor prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-political-classes-are-stuck-and-the-consequences-could-be-catastrophic-20191124-p53di8.html

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