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.
Of course if everyone became hair-shirt wearing vegans who stayed at home fossil fuels would be out of business by the end of the year and CO2 emissions would be mostly a thing of the past. A few people have made the decision and more will do so- basically boycott fossil fuels and most of modern life. But just a tiny few. It is not a practical strategy to reduce CO2 emissions.
One way or another coal and oil will go the way of buggies and bullock drays in the next few decades. We need a practical strategy to manage this transition.
Steve777 @ #1652 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 8:40 am
Only for the good news, which more often than not has nothing to do with him, the LNP or even the government as a whole.
Alcohol is the Christian drug. It got a divine stamp of approval some 2000 odd years ago. I give you the Irish. And Barnaby Joyce.
So is the term ‘woke’ now the favoured slur to use by both LibNat and Labor partisans ..?
Rex is getting a bit defensive about not personally taking the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge.
I can understand exactly why.
Rex would rather be talking about almost anything else.
And it is always much, much easier to blame dark forces than it is to take some personal accountability for around 20 tons of emissions a year.
As for the accusation of ‘bullying’ coming from a Greens!
Hoo hoo.
There is, of course, a de facto social justice element in the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge. Just to give you a hint, Rex, wealthy Greens have a much, much higher housing footprint than poor Greens. Now I can understand why it is easy to carry on about Boomers, etc, etc, etc but really, how can an old, white, male, wealthy Boomer Greens owner of a McMansion criticize others for not sharing their wealth and others for not fixing greenhouse emissions?
There is obvious room here to work up a social justice element of the pledge.
Boerwar:
[‘Another excellent reason to add giving up alcohol…’]
I try to reduce my carbon footprint, but giving up the piss is a bridge too far for me.
Je suis a woke Boomer!
Someone commented yesterday that the currently “woke” rich kids are very likely to develop an interest in land value inflation and imputation credits.
This is a case of “same arseholes, different shit”, to reverse the common phrase.
It has its basis in a grievous lack of historical knowledge, logical training, the mistaking of grievances for genuine problems and the promotion of selfishness as a virtue since the 1970s. It’s only the direction and outcome of the selfishness that change.
One prominent Australian example is Dr Keith Windshuttle, who went from “woke” to the grievances of the Stalinist Left to “woke” to the grievances of the Stalinist Right; all the while maintaining the grievous flaws in method that have led him into error in both cases.
Even more prominent is Mr Trump, whose method is wholly about grievance; indeed Mr Trump may well be the most “woke” public person in history: “wholly woke, wholly broke” so to speak!
‘Mavis says:
Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 1:04 pm
Boerwar:
[‘Another excellent reason to add giving up alcohol…’]
I try to reduce my carbon footprint, but giving up the piss is a bridge too far for me.’
haha. In vino veritas!
I have calculated that over a lifetime I have generated quite a few tons of CO2 emissions pursuant to imbibing alcohol.
BTW, I did not check but I am sure that that 1.5 kg per bottle over the lifetime of the bottle does NOT take into account the CO2 emissions involved in car wrecks, building and staffing hospitals, as a result of the alcohol industry. So the 1.5 kgs would be a bottom estimate.
Steve777 @ #1700 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 12:58 pm
State Govt policy in Victoria has seen a rooftop solar boom.
Voters need to preference those politicians who are not corrupted by the fossil fuel lobby.
It seems to be an aviation insider term. We were once told that Qantas could “uplift” us on a changed flight.
That aside, the whole coronavirus evacuation from Wuhan and Xmas Island quarantine is an absolute debacle that only the LNP could manage. Go Scotty!
” as the excuse for not taking the Greens New Deal C20 Emissions Strike Pledge right now?”
You still banging on about this crap Boerwar?
Shit you’re boring
EGT
It has been previously posited (not necessarily in the context of ‘woke’) that wealthy inner urbs knowledge economy Greens are potential electoral fodder for the Coalition.
The rational is the old, old one: their hip pocket nerves.
Speers spent too much time belabouring the “*is* in the black’ lie, instead of just calling it out as a lie.
He also let the Labor debt inheritance fly by, unchallenged by what the Cons have done with it since – more than doubled.
To his credit, he rode the Emissions Bullshit horse home to fine win.
Unless Morrison’s father’s death was sudden and unexpected (I know he was elderly), then that sycophantic friend of ‘Scott’ calling it as an excuse for bad decision making doesn’t carry. It didn’t stop him going Aloha.
Boerwar @ #1704 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 1:04 pm
So many assumptions and labels.
Your smears show your desperation as you slip further into the fossil fuel defenders death spiral.
Over and out.
I’ll take it from Astrobleme’s rude stance that Astrobleme is NOT taking the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions Strike Pledge AND is waiting for some government other than a Greens government to deliver the zero emissions that will finally force Astrobleme to do something real for the Climate Emergency.
The Greens Political Waiting Room is full of Astroblemes, Pegs, Rexs, all waiting for somebody else to do something and where nothing ever happens: a political hellhole of myriad Waiting for Godots.
Boerwar:
[‘I have calculated that over a lifetime I have generated quite a few tons of CO2 emissions pursuant to imbibing alcohol.
BTW, I did not check but I am sure that that 1.5 kg per bottle over the lifetime of the bottle does NOT take into account the CO2 emissions involved in car wrecks, building and staffing hospitals, as a result of the alcohol industry. So the 1.5 kgs would be a bottom estimate.’]
Seeing you put it that way, I undertake to reduce my nightly Merlot intake from three to two bottles.
“The Greens Political Waiting Room is full of Astroblemes, Pegs, Rexs, all waiting for somebody else to do something and where nothing ever happens”
what you do, Boerwar is make shit up.
Then you repeat it over an over again.
You’re boring.
No you don’t. You vehemently opposed the ACT’s light rail project because you resented paying tax to fund something you were adamant you would never use.
I accept that it might be politically expedient to pretend to certain groups of voters that coal has a future, but given most of us bludgers are quite intelligent people, let’s not pretend that thermal coal can continue to be used for much longer for us to have any hope of reducing emissions rapidly. Thermal coal does not have a future.
This is a fallacious reducto ad absurdum argument worthy of talk-back radio designed to shut the debate over climate change down, not a sincere contribution. I share your critical view of the Greens messaging and political tactics, but trying to shut down people for putting across their sincere beliefs about what we should do to reduce emissions by insisting on this absurd pledge is contemptible.
itzadream
Alcohol is the Christian drug. It got a divine stamp of approval some 2000 odd years ago. I give you the Irish. And Barnaby Joyce.
———————
A lazy bit of stereotyping on a hot Sunday.
It gets more interesting in Ireland 6 days out. Sinn Féin now in front in the poll where they traditionally do worse.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/sinn-féin-level-with-fianna-fáil-at-24-in-latest-opinion-poll-1.4159228
SF 24 FF 24 FG 21 Green 7 Lab 5 Soc Dem 3 PBP 1 Aontú 1 Others and Ind 12
Diogenes:
Sandy Pentland (an MIT Vision/AI Professor) did quite a lot on signals a few years ago.
He probably went further than his data supported.
However the absolute classic was getting the NSF to fund speed dating meetings to test his theories. He concluded (amongst the heterosexual subset) that (after adjusting for gatekeeper effects, but perhaps not correctly) that the visual signals measured from the females more or less accurately predicted the outcome whilst the visual signals measured from the males predicted nothing.
He wrote a lay audience book about it: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/honest-signals
And there’s a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL31rrUXFIk
(apparently from 2016, I saw him talking on it Stanford in 2008, not sure how much changed)
He’s one of the “figureheads” for the MIT Living Lab (LL programme is a collaboration between csail and media) which has a”presence” in Lot 14 (the former Royal Adelaide Hospital site) and has visited at twice to show the flag. It’s not impossible that he will do so again and give some sort of public lecture, in which case he’ll give the Honest Signals talk. In fact, he may even have done this, since the LL hasn’t been well promoted or coordinated (basically people turn up randomly).
It would be nice if we get a NewsPoll tonight!
“Disciplined”, to the LNP, means cutting all services back, kneecapping the bureaucracy so that there’s no one left with an historical perspective, increasing the suffering of the disadvantaged and bearing down hard on anything that looks like community welfare.
Sometimes being a Nervous Nellie is just plain common sense.
If Xi and Morrison are involved in a public issue you can bet your bottom dollar the shit is being spun and politicked out of it.
No amount of Lancet articles and Wombat-speak can counter those two masters of blarney and bluster.
I’m confident we will eventually find out that Liberal donors from the Tourism industry and the Chinese Business Lobby were heavily consulted before Morrison gave the OK to allow planeloads of potential Wuhan coronavirus infectees to land in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane just as Xi’s cover-up of the novel infestation fell apart back in China. It’s inconceivable that such back-channel wheeler-dealing wasn’t undertaken. Gladys Liu would have most likely been the Chinese go-between, as she is “The Money” when it comes to China.
All it takes is one persistent journo – perhaps a Speers, a Probyn or a Hamish MacDonald – to simply ask the question in order to receive the regulation non-denial denial. That should be enough to get someone within the government or public service who hates ScoMo (please form an orderly queue ladies and gentlemen) to provide the leak.
Another fine mess this bumbling idiot has gotten us, himself and his government into.
So will Bridget fall on her sword in time for the nightly news tonight?
Thankfully, it seems we can’t turn the Earth into Venus, we’d have to somehow burn all the limestone and marble too…
https://andthentheresphysics.wordpress.com/2020/02/01/feebacks-runaway-and-tipping-points/
That’s a really good blog, btw – very good source of climate science
Speers made a very good start on “Insiders” this morning, the article* in Fairfax confirming he’s as mad as hell and is not going to take it anymore. On Sky News, he was constrained by the editorial restraints, but now he’s free therefrom. I was surprised, however, that he didn’t mark off the “Courier-Mail” guest for referring to Morrison as “Scott” – most unprofessional. And I liked the way Savva got into Morrison’s entrails. She’s obviously doing payback for Mr. Trumble’s demise, but I can live with that.
* https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/real-people-don-t-talk-to-each-other-the-way-politicians-talk-to-us-david-speers-20191227-p53n7z.html
ItzaDream @ #1713 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 12:11 pm
Interesting distinction made by Frytheplanet. The BUDGET was in the black but on the other hand there may not be a SURPLUS because of external events.
So now the predictions made at budget time are given the status of Holy Writ while actual budget RESULTS are downgraded to footnote status.
Yeah, that’ll fly, Josh,
We may not achieve a surplus but at least the budget is ‘balanced’. Or wtte.
Mavis @ #1729 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 12:41 pm
Actually I was surprised how much milder the CM flack was than she is in her articles, which are almost uniformly horrible. I suspect Speers may have had a bit of a chat to her beforehand.
I think we will hear more about this separate women’s change room grants program and any irregularities in allocation particularly as some of the sports rorts programs to miss out were because there were other funding programs available.
Bellwether
Trump doesn’t use lube.
Reposting…
https://reneweconomy.com.au/nordic-steel-giant-to-use-renewable-hydrogen-to-produce-fossil-free-steel-by-2026-2026/
Yes, its a process that will take until 2040. But the first hydrogen based steel will be produced in 6 years from now. So much for even our metallurgical coal industry in the “foreseeable future”.
It bears repeating. I think Labor should have as a policy a new steel making industry based on hydrogen. Oh and Newcastle would be a great location. But I’m biased.
PB has been unavailable on Firefox and Edge for more than 24 hours. This is coming to your courtesy of Opera. I hope my scoop hasn’t already been scooped.
—————————————–
I understand the delay in announcing Bridget’s departure is because they are still working out the details of her appointment as Consul in the new Australian consulate in Wuhan.
Hottest places in the world over the last 24 hours.
1 Richmond Amo Aws (Australia) 95753 46.8°C
2 Badgery’s Creek Airport (Australia) 94752 46.5°C
3 Horsley Equestrian Centre (Australia) 94760 46.4°C
4 Penrith (Australia) 94763 46.4°C
5 Bankstown Airport Aws (Australia) 94765 45.3°C
6 Cambell Town (Mount Annan) (Australia) 94757 45.3°C
7 Camden Airport (Australia) 94755 45.3°C
8 Forbes Airport Aws (Australia) 94715 44.9°C
9 Young Aws (Australia) 94712 44.8°C
10 Condobolin Airport Aws (Australia) 95708 44.7°C
11 Cessnock Airport Aws (Australia) 95771 44.5°C
12 Temora Airport (Australia) 95722 44.4°C
13 Trangie Research Station (Australia) 95710 44.3°C
14 Wilcannia Aerodrome Aws (Australia) 95695 44.2°C
15 Griffith Airport (Australia) 95704 44.1°C
Script courtesy of Michael Holden of Relay Weather. Data courtesy of Ogimet
Boerwar @ #1695 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 11:46 am
I don’t think anyone needs an excuse to not take some random made up “pledge” from the Internet. 🙂
Not that I oppose individual action. People should take reasonable steps to reduce their carbon footprint. But individual action won’t solve the problem; it’s a big ticket issue that needs a big ticket solution. Whinging about pledges and how anyone who’s not living like it’s the 1800’s is a hypocrite on climate action solves nothing.
Yes. Which is why you don’t forsake advocating action on the big issues in some attempt to score political points against those that do by proposing an arbitrary, punitive pledge and then refusing to listen to anyone who doesn’t take it.
ajm:
[‘Actually I was surprised how much milder the CM flack was than she is in her articles, which are almost uniformly horrible. I suspect Speers may have had a bit of a chat to her beforehand.’]
I can’t say I’m familiar with her “CM” articles. As the saying goes, praise in public; admonish in private. I’ve got my doubts about whether she’ll be invited back, but Dennis Atkins wished her well:
[‘Dennis Atkins
@dwabriz
Best of luck to my former colleague from @couriermail
@viellarisr
for her
@InsidersABC
debut today
7:07 AM · Feb 2, 2020·Twitter for iPhone’]
JimmyD
Well, thermal coal (at least the exported kind) is in real trouble in this decade. That’s not just my opinion. And not just the opinion of “intelligent people”. It’s openly being talked about amongst coal mining management here in the Hunter. Also, metallurgical coal may not last the “foreseeable” either. See my previous post.
I’m not entirely convinced that it actually is in Labor’s best interest to pretend to certain groups of voters that coal has a future. The reason is that doing so undercuts Labor’s ability to sell new policy that would see new industry developed. Its something that can differentiate Labor and reinforce its brand in a way the Liberals cannot respond to. As I said, new steel making for Newcastle. That kind of thing. It can’t be sold if you’re simultaneously going “move along, nothing to see here”.
E. G. Theodore @ #1696 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 12:53 pm
It is Labor that has managed to turn Adani into a totemic issue. Plus their enablers and apologists on places like PB, of course. The Greens can only wedge you because your posture on Adani is so illogical and indefensible. It is no coincidence that instead of trying to defend such an illogical policy, Labor now have simply abandoned the field.
Labor has not just lost a battle. By relinquishing their moral authority, they risk losing the entire war. They are taking a political punt for their benefit … but they are doing so by betting my future.
Not happy!
I wonder if you realize how much your use of the term “woke” weakens your argument rather than enhances it?
But that aside – the real answer is that the anti-fossil fuel protest can be both loud and effective. That’s what really worries you, isn’t it? That people like Greta Turnberg might actually prove more effective than you are. That a rising tide of protest is likely to be more effective than a party that cannot even sort out its own internal conflicts on the issue, let alone win an election based on it.
It’s all very quiet on the embattled Bridget front!
BK @ #1742 Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 – 2:09 pm
A Bridget too far, perhaps?
A Bridget too far, perhaps?
_____
Certainly a pork barrel too far.
Boerwar:
As a high income bastard (to use the proper formulation) but non tax avoider, I’d much prefer to lease (from the Government) a very small home sufficient only to accommodate my base needs (including my high income generating need to be based in the CBD, and to be free of harassment that interferes with high income generation and hence high tax payments) As a (possibly extreme) example, I’d even like to be able to rent business attire during trips to major cities so as to avoid having to both store it and carry it as luggage, provided of course it is of appropriate standard, delivered to, moved between and collected from hotels as I travel etc. This is by far the most efficient way to operate that economic system, and will materially reduce energy use and hence emissions (e.g. a business clothing service provider can both move clothes much more efficiently and can also reduce the movements required, including eliminating long distance movements).
What stands in the way of this obviously superior economic organisation (which is simultaneously both more actually capitalist and more left wing) is the forces of darkness and stupidity, and their support for:
– tax avoidance
– real property inflation
– virtue signalling as a substitute for actual outcomes
– grievances as a substitute for actual problems (which unlike grievances are susceptible to solution)
– financial ‘capitalism’ as a deliberately deceptive substitute for actual capitalism
– corrupt and ludicrously wasteful protection of land factor ownership to the detriment of both labour factor ownership (non-transferable person-hood) and capital factor ownership (protection of property rights to use capital in production, but not otherwise)
– obscurantist conflation of financial (and non-productive) corporations and non-financial (productive) corporations, which have completely different roles and which therefore need to be treated differently by the state
– grossly misinformed attacks that target capitalism in general based on the same conflation of financial corporations (which are the main vector for the current problems) and non-financial corporations (which are, with labour, the victim of the financial corporations’ activities)
This can’t go on indefinitely because the non-financial private sector can and will run out of money, and so it won’t go on indefinitely. As it has twice in the past, this will lead to a new regime (or the return of a old) the places more emphasis on productive activity and less on financial activity and wealth accumulation. The strategy is obvious: follow the two historical precedents, (which are also the two greatest successes of human civilization). This is currently being prevented by a sort of unholy alliance between right wing nut jobs (who are woke to right wing grievances) and the woke on the Left.
The woke on both right and left should get some fucking sleep, wake up refreshed, and start working on real solutions – it’s not really that hard.
There’s no doubt of turmoil in Cabinet, evidenced in small part by Frydenberg’s claim that those 200 children returning from China will not be charged $1000, yet Morrison earlier said the contrary, as did
Dutton on Sky News this morning. And that’s not to mention the political fallout over the sports’ rorts, and the very poor carriage of the coronavirus crisis, allowing flight in the country well after the epicentre was identified.
BK
says:
Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 2:15 pm
A Bridget too far, perhaps?
_____
Certainly a pork barrel too far.
______________
The Bridge on the River Pork?
Mavis says:
Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 1:15 pm
…”Seeing you put it that way, I undertake to reduce my nightly Merlot intake from three to two bottles”…
………………………….
Merlot: The Hyundai Excel of grape varietals.
Still hamming things up, I see.