Essential Research: sports rorts, ICAC, Australia Day

The latest from Essential finds majority support for removing Bridget McKenzie, but with a third saying they haven’t been following the issue.

Essential Research has not allowed the long weekend to interrupt the fortnightly schedule of its polling, which continues to be limited to attitudinal questions. Conducted last Tuesday to this Monday from a sample of 1080, the most interesting question from the latest poll relates to Bridget McKenzie, whom 51% felt should have been stood down by the Prime Minister. Only 15% felt he was right not to do so, while a further 34% said they had not been following the issue. The question included an explanation of what the issue involved, which is always best avoided, but the wording was suitably neutral (“it is claimed she allocated $100million to sporting organisations in marginal seats to favour the Coalition”).

The poll also finds overwhelming support for the establishment of a federal ICAC – or to be precise, of “an independent federal corruption body to monitor the behaviour of our politicians and public servants”. Fully 80% of respondents were in favour, including 49% strongly in favour, which is five points higher than when Angus Taylor’s troubles prompted the same question to be asked in December. Also featured are yet more findings on Australia Day, for which Essential accentuates the positive by framing the question around “a separate national day to recognise indigenous Australians”. Fifty per cent were in favour of such a thing, down two on last year, but only 18% of these believed it should be in place of, rather than supplementary to, Australia Day. Forty per cent did not support such a day at all, unchanged on last year.

Note that there are two threads below this one of hopefully ongoing interest: the latest guest post from Adrian Beaumont on Monday’s Democratic caucuses in Iowa, and other international concerns; and my review of looming elections in Queensland, where the Liberal National Party has now chosen its candidate for the looming Currumbin by-election, who has not proved to the liking of retiring member Jann Stuckey.

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.

2,092 comments on “Essential Research: sports rorts, ICAC, Australia Day”

Comments Page 34 of 42
1 33 34 35 42
  1. ”Australians will not be charged $1000 to be evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, in a stunning federal backflip blamed on “incorrect advice” given to Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week.”

    Yeah, blame someone else. The buck stops somewhere else.

    Does this guy take responsibility for anything?

  2. Bill Maher reckons Dotard won’t leave if he loses, and will call out his base.. a possible foretaste?

    “Armed gun owners rallied in Kentucky entering the state’s capitol building in Frankfort on Friday.
    The gathering was organized by the group We Are KY Gun Owners. They were spurred into action when Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam pushed for new gun control measures that led to threats of violence, culminating with Northam declaring a state of emergency earlier this month.

    Astonishingly, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal, visitors to the capitol building are banned from entering with umbrellas or sticks that are used for protest signs because they can be “used as weapons,” but guns and rifles are permitted.

    Joe Gerth of the Courier-Journal tweeted a video showing security officers instructing armed rally-goers to go around the metal detectors while entering the capitol building.“

    https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fully-armed-rally-goers-enter-kentuckys-capitol-building-with-zero-resistance-946606/

  3. “David Lipson, another former Sky guy who has left the building for the ABC.”

    ***

    It’s a long list!

    Speers, Lipson, Celina Edmonds, Stan Grant, Gemma Veness, Amy Greenbank, Stacy Lee, Dan Bourchier, Patricia Karvelas (sort of), Juanita Phillips… Probably more.

  4. I suspect the $1000 fee was dropped because no one would take up the Governments offer/ CI miltiary media stunt.
    Chinese are careful and canny with money (good for them), I suspect a $1000 one way trip to Christmas Island is not seen as a good investment.

  5. “Every single Bludger agrees that Speersy (thanks Amy and Mike) acquitted himself very well on #Insiders, and this augurs well for the show “going forward”.”

    ***

    Think we all share a strong dislike of Trump too! We just disagree on how best to get rid of him lol

  6. TPOF:

    [‘For some people that is what massive shock does. Like an adrenalin rush that lets you deal with the immediate ‘threat’. The grief comes later.’]

    You’re probably right but I know I could not have pulled it off.

  7. doyley @ #1649 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 11:33 am

    This morning, less than one hour before Josh put the kybosh on the $1000, Dutton was strongly defending the very same charge.

    He also defended McKenzie.

    Interesting games being played out within the government.

    Or, as the Coalition would bleat if the shoe was on the Labor foot,
    ‘Chaos and dysfunction in the government!’

  8. Just caught up with Insiders on Iview.

    The show enforced my view that the walls are closing in on the climate change deniers and parliamentary fossil fuel cartel and their boosters on here.

    Their arguments and their defence of their actions are becoming seen as increasingly extreme and unpalatable to the mainstream.

    Speers is a perfect fit for the ABC’s ‘balanced’ mantra. He’s a class act.

  9. Listening to a ‘Border Force’ goon talking about not ‘uplifting’ passengers from China. Stop the world I want to get off.

  10. doyley @ #1652 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 11:33 am

    This morning, less than one hour before Josh put the kybosh on the $1000, Dutton was strongly defending the very same charge.

    He also defended McKenzie.

    Interesting games being played out within the government.

    I agree.

    Dutton will be furious being caught out like he has. Makes him look out of touch.

    There’s no doubt whatsoever the Govt is in absolute chaos – and with the extreme views some in the Govt hold, it’s an extremely dangerous period we’re in.

  11. Mavis says:
    Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 11:55 am
    TPOF:

    [‘For some people that is what massive shock does. Like an adrenalin rush that lets you deal with the immediate ‘threat’. The grief comes later.’]

    You’re probably right but I know I could not have pulled it off.

    ________________________________________

    We are all different.

    Unfortunately we all too often judge people on what we would have done, rather than see them as different but just as compassionate.

    A lot of the prejudice against Lindy Chamberlain flowed from people who judged how ‘we’ would have responded if our new born baby had been snatched by a wild animal, rather than accept that she had a different way of dealing with grief.

  12. #ScottyFromMarketing has apparently put the tourist promotion on hold?

    “The Border Force Commissioner says non-citizens or residents travelling from or through China will not be allowed to board their flight and those arriving from today will have their visas cancelled and quarantined.

    Overnight 71 passengers were “denied uplift” from China.”

  13. As others have pointed out — the prominent factor that I find frustrating , and I would hope but not expect others will, with Scotty from marketing is the absolute lack of responsibility for anything.

    Bushfires – the States need to do more
    Sportrorts – nothing wrong here, but I’ll get my ex chief of staff to ‘independently’
    investigate
    $1000 fares back from China – someone else made the decision

    Keeps going

    Naively I expect the role of Government and the PM is to take responsibility for actions / decisions and not blaming others. This also plays out with his penchant for gaslighting those who ask hard questions eg at the National Press Club when someone asked him if he thought it was ok for a govt to use funds to politically target funding what it wants – his response was beyond patronizing. Said more about him – this lack of moral character, angers me that we have a PM who shirks responsibility and always blames others. Thought conservatives where all about individual responsibility – be good if they displayed some!

  14. From Dublin
    Things going from bad to worse for the government with Sinn Féin now in 2nd place on polling

    https://www.thejournal.ie/opinion-poll-9-4988666-Feb2020/
    FF 23 SF 21 FG 19 Greens 10 PBP 5 Lab 5 Soc Dem 5 Ind and others 11
    The combined total for the Civil War parties is 42%!

    Could a radical change in Irish government be underway with a SF lead left coalition?

    Probably not, SF notoriously outperforms in the polls. Ireland does not have compulsory voting and supporters of SF have a low turnout. While FG says it is not going to happen a grand coalition is more likely

  15. C@tmomma says:
    Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 8:56 am

    …”You appear to have forgotten Joe Biden’s winning debate performance against Republican darling, Sarah Palin”…

    ………………………….

    Biden managed to outwit a literal idiot, this somehow assures him of an election win?

  16. To give some hope to those dispirited by the Kentucky Gun Goons:

    Even as key Republican senators acknowledged Trump’s guilt on charges of abusing power and obstructing Congress, they defied public opinion on Friday by voting to block witnesses and documents, paving the way for the president to be acquitted and claim exoneration.

    Republican fealty to Trump has long wearied liberals but the senators’ move appeared to cause a new level of anger. The Indivisible Project, a progressive group, announced it would target nine senators, among them majority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Trump loyalist Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, in November’s elections.

    Indivisible said it would next week call out one of the “nine Payback Project senators for their participating in a coverup by placing a full page newspaper ad in one of their biggest state papers”. In an appeal to activists, it said “rage is good for recruiting. Hello. Are you pissed about impeachment too?”

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/01/donald-trump-impeachment-republican-senate-coverup

  17. Peg added a very useful idea to the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge suite today.

    Peg was recalling how the Greens have been campaigning for decades about a container deposit scheme. When it occurred to Peg that all along the Greens could have refused to use cans! After all, cans require mining of many materials, their manufacture creates CO2 emissions, and their disposal creates further environmental issues. Does the Greens refusal to use cans matter? Well, around 200 billion aluminium cans are manufactured every year. In a climate emergency not use these cans is important. Then there are around 30 billion steel cans!

    Here is Peg’s revised Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge:

    1. Reduce personal housing footprint to the world average.
    2. Refuse to fly except in emergencies.
    3. Sell car.
    4. Eat low miles, low storage, low refined food, low irrigated foods and low storage energy foods.
    5. Eat no dairy and no beef products.
    6. Wear the same clothes and shoes until they wear out.
    7. Do not use cans. Ever.

  18. Not Sure @ #1671 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 12:13 pm

    C@tmomma says:
    Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 8:56 am

    …”You appear to have forgotten Joe Biden’s winning debate performance against Republican darling, Sarah Palin”…

    ………………………….

    Biden managed to outwit a literal idiot, this somehow assures him of an election win?

    Sure, she was mad as a cut snake but she was also very, very influential on the zeitgeist of America. You or I may have realised what an idiot she was, but she was a dangerous idiot who needed to be stopped in her tracks. To do that in real time was an achievement, If only of sorts.

  19. ““Speers does something that has not been practiced for years and years, much to my frustration.
    He just goes back to the primary question and repeats it.””

    I remember way back in the day during the 98 Wharf Dispute. Jennifer Byrne was hosting 7:30 Report and had Peter Reith in for interview.

    She kept, ever so politely, going back to the questions which he obviously did NOT want to answer. None of this “lets move on” bullshit.

    Reith tried to keep giving non-answers and she pretty much used the whole time for the interview re-asking a couple of basic questions.

    Watching the rising “WTF is going on here this is not the way this is done!!” type panic in his face as he realized he was well pinned and THIS journo was NOT going to let go was a joy. He just dug himself a bigger and bigger hole.

  20. So far the government has completely flipped on;

    1. Whether to quarantine citizens coming back from Wuhan
    2. A travel ban from China
    3. Making evacuees pay $1000

    Total shambles.

  21. “For some people that is what massive shock does. Like an adrenalin rush that lets you deal with the immediate ‘threat’. The grief comes later.”

    The rush of support from close friends and relatives in the immediate aftermath is a big part of it. This unfortunately never lasts very long. I guess thats why its said that the funeral can be the easy part – everyone is there consoling you. The really hard part starts when it finishes and everyone leaves you to yourself.

  22. Holden Hillbilly @ #1647 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 8:32 am

    Australians will not be charged $1000 to be evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, in a stunning federal backflip blamed on “incorrect advice” given to Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week.

    Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealed on Sunday morning that Australians would be airlifted from China and flown to quarantine on Christmas Island without having to pay the $1000 fee the government announced days earlier.

    More likely an incorrect question from the Government!

    Something like;

    How can we do this without impacting the budget bottom line?

  23. Boerwar @ #1676 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 12:18 pm

    Peg added a very useful idea to the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge suite today.

    Peg was recalling how the Greens have been campaigning for decades about a container deposit scheme. When it occurred to Peg that all along the Greens could have refused to use cans! After all, cans require mining of many materials, their manufacture creates CO2 emissions, and their disposal creates further environmental issues. Does the Greens refusal to use cans matter? Well, around 200 billion aluminium cans are manufactured every year. In a climate emergency not use these cans is important. Then there are around 30 billion steel cans!

    Here is Peg’s revised Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge:

    1. Reduce personal housing footprint to the world average.
    2. Refuse to fly except in emergencies.
    3. Sell car.
    4. Eat low miles, low storage, low refined food, low irrigated foods and low storage energy foods.
    5. Eat no dairy and no beef products.
    6. Wear the same clothes and shoes until they wear out.
    7. Do not use cans. Ever.

    So you’re in an online bullying mood today ..?

  24. Rex
    Have you taken the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge yet?
    Or are you waiting for the Revolution to force OTHERS take the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge whether they like it or not?

  25. We have had a single serve drink container deposit scheme in SA for as long as I remember. It was 5c and was doubled to 10c a few years ago.
    It covers:
    cans
    bottles
    cartons eg flavoured milk.
    those little Yacult biotic drinks etc drinkable yoghurts.
    small size alcohol bottles and cans
    single serve juice eg the stuff you put in kids’ lunchboxes.
    fruit etc drink
    large bottles of soft drink

    No deposit on unflavoured milk.

    I rarely see a drink container laying around. If discarded, there is always someone collecting them for extra cash.

    works so well no one thinks about it. it just happens.

    full list here. https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/energy-and-environment/recycling-and-waste/container-deposit-scheme

  26. There was another wonderful moment in this morning’s interview when Freydenberg tried the ‘Labor is worse’ line.
    Speers knew the relevant facts.
    Bang! Bang! Bang!
    Right between Frydenberg’s shifty eyes.

  27. doyley @ #2444 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 11:33 am

    This morning, less than one hour before Josh put the kybosh on the $1000, Dutton was strongly defending the very same charge.

    He also defended McKenzie.

    Interesting games being played out within the government.

    Dutton is driving – hence Josh the Junior Marketing Manager’s panic this morning. Dutton (via his pet rat Ghunt) demanded the reversal of all of the advice given by the Communicable Diseases professionals yesterday morning – and Scummo has no choice but to do so. The CD community is mightily pissed, and might go public. This is going to end in a coup.

  28. Boerwar @ #1682 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 11:33 am

    Have you taken the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge yet?
    Or are you waiting for the Revolution to force OTHERS take the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge whether they like it or not?

    There’s no such pledge or scenario because after direct emissions from energy generation and transport are cleaned up all the indirect emissions you like to bang on about largely disappear as a consequence.

    You can exist sustainably without compromising on lifestyle. It’s Tesla’s entire value proposition.

  29. Boerwar @ #1684 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 12:33 pm

    Rex
    Have you taken the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge yet?
    Or are you waiting for the Revolution to force OTHERS take the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge whether they like it or not?

    I note you didn’t deliberately insert my name 4 times in your post that time. Much better.

    Your attacks on environmentalists only confirm in my eyes that your attempts to shield the extreme actions of the climate change deniers and the parliamentary fossil fuel cartel are completely foolhardy.

  30. I am working on some more ideas to help Di Natale improve the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge.
    How about this one: NO MORE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION. Each bottle of wine contributes approximately 1.5 kg of CO2 emissions during its life time.
    This may sound harsh but the Greens Climate Emergency requires all hands to the pumps and a bit of self discipline.
    Instead of the more usual disciplining others. Instead of the more usual ‘campaigning fors’ and ‘calling fors’ and ‘demands’.
    The beauty of the Pledge is that it enables the Greens to contribute immediately instead of having to wait another 30 years to deliver.

  31. So, Rex has NOT taken the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge.
    Emitting like buggery during a Climate Emergency!
    Rex would rather rattle on about same old, same old, boosters, coal huggers ad nauseam.
    Walking the talk is always a good start, Rex.
    It gives you street cred.
    Just do it!

  32. re Insiders

    How piss weak is ‘received incorrect advice’ on charging evacuees, like he’s some mere mouthpiece with no input into the content of what he says. He’s a heartless bastard this Morrison. Gutless too.

    I hadn’t seen the footage where it is explained to him that it wasn’t because he was tired (as Morrison had proffered in a sleazy attempt to remove himself from the equation) that the man had rejected his handshake, but rather that the man had lost his house. To which Morrison showed all the empathy of someone who had left their play lunch on the school bus.

  33. ar
    I support the system changes that will deliver on energy and transport zero. No brainer.
    They are unlikely to arrive within the Greens’ stated targetted time frame for the simple reason that the Greens, too, know that coal has a future. Hell, the Greens themselves barely have a future. They just don’t want to say it.
    In the interim, can I suggest that you stop using the prospect of the eventual arrival of energy and transport zero, as well as the eventual arrival of a Greens Government, as the excuse for not taking the Greens New Deal C20 Emissions Strike Pledge right now?
    Every bit matters during the Climate Emergency.

  34. I managed to watch that fucking cretin Friedeggburger bullshit on and on and on up to the sports rort question from Speers (I can almost see Scummo grinding his fangs at how badly our innumerate treasurer blundered and blustered) before I gave up in utter disgust. Will Ita be receiving phonecalls about how horrible David Speers was to princess precious and that maybe he should be replaced with Piers Ackerman.

  35. TPOF:

    [‘A lot of the prejudice against Lindy Chamberlain flowed from people who judged how ‘we’ would have responded if our new born baby had been snatched by a wild animal, rather than accept that she had a different way of dealing with grief.’]

    Yes, I well remember that she was found guilty in the court of public opinion by acting in what was considered to be inappropriate and this no doubt contaminated the police investigation. It wasn’t until 2012 that a coroner made a final ruling that a dingo took Azaria – 32 years after her disappearance.

    In the late ’80s, I was traveling by car to Melbourne, stopping for lunch at the Albury RSL. The
    Chamberlains were in the restaurant. What struck me was that they had their heads down, and seemed quite anxious. People were pointing and whispering. It must’ve been hell for them. And I dare say some still think she’s guilty.

  36. Player One:

    frednk @ #1210 Saturday, February 1st, 2020 – 12:57 pm

    P1
    Deniers are a problem but worse are people who prevent implementable solutions because they want perfection.

    So … opening new coal mines is an “implementable solution”?

    The forces of darkness have managed to turn Adani (Galilee Basin) into Stalingrad.

    Sometimes the smart move is to walk away from a battle, instead of fighting to try to win a Pyrrhic Victory.

    Will the “woke” follow the precedent and keep fighting loudly and ineffectively (at least ineffectively in terms of “stopping” Adani), or will they switch to a smarter strategy? (which could in fact involve actually stopping Adani)

  37. Another excellent reason to add giving up alcohol, apart from the CO2 emissions, the mining that is involved in glass and wine manufacture, storage, transport and distribution is the amount of endangered species habitat destroyed. Australia has 140,000 ha of vinyards.

    There appears to be no good environmental reason to have such an industry at all and is gratifying to see that the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge is taking this into account.

  38. Did I leave out all the irrigation water used to grow wine alcohol? Any wag can sit back an criticize the MDB Plan. But a shed load of that water is used on wine grapes.
    Yet another excellent reason for alcohol being on the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge.

  39. Boerwar @ #1694 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 12:43 pm

    So, Rex has NOT taken the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge.
    Emitting like buggery during a Climate Emergency!
    Rex would rather rattle on about same old, same old, boosters, coal huggers ad nauseam.
    Walking the talk is always a good start, Rex.
    It gives you street cred.
    Just do it!

    You’re back to bullying I see.

    That’s the only play left for the fossil fuel defenders.

Comments Page 34 of 42
1 33 34 35 42

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *