The Guardian reports on yet another fortnightly Essential Research poll with no voting intention numbers, but we does at least get the monthly leadership ratings. These show Scott Morrison down a point on approval to 39% and steady on disapproval at 52%, after the previous poll respectively had him down five and up nine. Anthony Albanese is respectively down two to 41% and up one to 31%, and he has lost his 39-36 lead as preferred prime minister, with the two now tied on 36%. The BludgerTrack trends on the sidebar have now been updated with these results.
Further questions on bushfire recovery, sports rorts and coronavirus don’t seem to have turned up anything too mindblowing, but the publication of the full report may turn up something hopefully later today.
UPDATE: Full report here. The most interesting of the supplementary findings for mine relate to the budget surplus, the consistent theme of which is that respondents aren’t that fussed about it: 79% agree spending on bushfire recovery is more important than maintaining it, with 11% disagreeing; 65% say it would be understandable if the coronavirus impact meant it wasn’t achieved, with 18% disagreeing; and 57% agree it was wrong for the government to discuss the surplus in the present tense before the election, with 24% disagreeing.
alfred venison @ #435 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:13 pm
I think the majority of urban Australia is in a self-induced state of denial re the catastrophic events and destruction caused by global heating. It’s scary.
Ch 7 news – generally having RW sympathies – has no doubt that Morrison is being wedged by the Barnaby Nationals clique and the Liberal “moderates over coal. Showed the image of him holding a lump of coal and reported he doesn’t say that word nowadays.
Sigh, what is new with the crooks and scumbags in the LNP –
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/11/matt-canavan-leaves-two-properties-worth-more-than-1m-off-2019-declaration-of-interests
No more hidden corruption, now it’s there for all to see and they don’t give damn because they’re in charge and screw everyone else.
Councils justified in legal challenge to North East Link
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/councils-justified-in-legal-challenge-to-north-east-link-20200211-p53zsv.html
C@tmomma @ #448 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:26 pm
Opinion is opinion. For example “I don’t like Elizabeth Warren” is an opinion. “I think Trump will win” is an opinion. “Sanders may not win” is an opinion. “But he can’t win” (Kakaru this morning) or, of Trump, “he will win” isn’t really an opinion, it’s an absurdity, especially when……well I think we all know who the frontrunner is. Words actually mean something, or at least they should. I’m pretty sure you’d pile on if I said “Buttigieg can’t win” because if I did I’d be an idiot and deserve people’s ridicule. 🙁
Bellwether @ #448 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:27 pm
I’d like to see your evidence for this assertion. However, if you are talking about Pete Buttigieg’s desire to spend more on Veteran’s Mental Health and Housing, then how cynical of you to call that an ‘increase in military spending’.
As to the specifics of whether Pete Buttigieg would increase military spending, should he become President of the United States, these are the facts:
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/11/18/military-times-questionnaire-mayor-pete-buttigieg/
Back in my day government would act on expert advice, says Nick Greiner
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/back-in-my-day-government-would-act-on-expert-advice-says-nick-greiner-20200211-p53ztf.html
citizen @ #452 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:31 pm
Sounds like Wayne Swan not wanting to say, was it Surplus or Deficit, I can’t remember? 🙂
Kakuru @ #393 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 4:44 pm
So, as Dorothy once said, “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Guytaur!”
Pegasus @ #459 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:37 pm
In other words, Parliament these days is corrupt.
Kronomex
Do you have the same damning assessemt of, for example, Labor Jackie Trad in Queensland?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-02/jackie-trad-sells-gabba-investment-property-for-undisclosed-sum/11569088
Buttigieg Confirms Status as ‘Austerity Candidate’ With Call for Democrats to Prioritize Reducing Deficit
At a town hall in Nashua, New Hampshire Sunday, former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg drew criticism from progressives and economists when he told the audience he would prioritize reducing the deficit if he wins the presidency in November.
“It’s not fashionable in progressive circles to talk too much about the debt,” Buttigieg said. “I think the time has come for my party to get a lot more comfortable owning this issue.”
In embracing the frequent Republican talking point, Buttigieg was “not-so-subtly letting his billionaire donors know he’ll cut Social Security and Medicaid,” tweeted actor Rob Delaney, a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Medicare for All proponent.
Republicans frequently portray large deficits as a Democratic phenomenon and blame the party for spending too much taxpayer money on social welfare programs, but as Sahil Kapur of NBC News pointed out, the national debt has risen under Republican presidents who cut taxes for corporations and raised military spending, while it fell under the two most recent Democratic presidents.
“It’s ‘not fashionable in progressive circles’ because progressives are rejecting the bogus arguments about debt and deficits that have been used to undermine the progressive agenda for decades,” Stephanie Kelton, an economics professor at Stony Brook University and adviser to Sanders, told NBC.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/09/buttigieg-confirms-status-austerity-candidate-call-democrats-prioritize-reducing
Sigh, what is new with the crooks and scumbags in the LNP –
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/11/matt-canavan-leaves-two-properties-worth-more-than-1m-off-2019-declaration-of-interests
No more hidden corruption, now it’s there for all to see and they don’t give damn because they’re in charge and screw everyone else.
—
For a long time Cabinet minister, Canavan has been remarkably sloppy. That twice he’s been caught out this week, leaving aside getting to kill off the Guardian FOI request that one suspects wasn’t just for giggles.
Amusing that so many bought the ‘resigning to support my mate Barnaby’ excuse. Also darkly amusing that the line is being sold that he has a bright future ahead of him. Such is the modern LNP.
C@tmomma @ #456 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:35 pm
According to the Politico.com guide on candidate’s policy views Buttigieg wants to boost the defense budget. Maybe you should take that up with them if you think they are wrong? I have read those comments of Buttigieg before and to me they sound more like the vacant scribblings of a Gwyneth Paltrow-type wellness guru than considered policy befitting a possible future President. But that is just my opinion, not a statement of ‘fact’. 🙁
Firefox @ #464 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:47 pm
Austerity policy is bad news for the minority 99%
no, i mean “modern” liberals. i don’t know if any liberal is game to call themselves a “moderate” after turnbull, bishop, j., et al. jumped or walked the plank.
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/11/modern-liberals-dave-sharma-and-tim-wilson-rebrand-over-climate-change
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/08/zali-steggall-urges-modern-liberals-to-support-her-proposed-climate-change-bill
its day two of what is going to be a campaign. i signed the petition, along with 20,000 others concerned citizens who signed it since it went up on the weekend. i signed up to a newsletter to keep informed about what actions are planned that i can participate in & what more i can do to put pressure on “modern” liberals & other climate reactionaries in parliament. i am not a member of the greens, i’m a concerned citizen & i would like see this work here like its working in the uk & new zealand. how about you ? would you like to help ? -a.v.
Right wing governments do left wing stuff for their friends.
‘Green New Deal’ Explained: The Radical Overhaul Hoped To Transform Australia
https://10daily.com.au/news/politics/a200210govzs/green-new-deal-explained-the-radical-overhaul-hoped-to-transform-australia-20200211
Rex Douglas
I don’t think he has any real interest in the 99%, after all they’re not to be found in wine caves.
Bellwether @ #464 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:49 pm
As I pointed out, what is that ‘increase in military spending’ all about? Does Politico detail it? Pete Buttigieg’s answer to the Military Times does. He also made this specific statement:
Also he talks about investing more in AI than the most expensive ships and planes and putting units out into the field. That sounds suspiciously to me like he will spend less, not more.
But what would I know? I’m only quoting his specific words in answer to the specific military spending question. I should bow down before Politico instead. 😐
av
If you persist in posting be prepared to have to say this over and over and over again in response to claims you are. These claims will be primarily aimed to discredit you and everything you say because, you know, teh evil Greens.
Bellwether @ #469 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:57 pm
What a puerile comment.
You do know that, after the Iowa Caucuses, Bernie Sanders celebrated in the swankiest venue in town compared with the other candidates? But that’s okay with you because he’s Bernie and it’s probably some lolworthy comment about capitalism, or something. 🙄
Rex Douglas :- ” I think the majority of urban Australia is in a self-induced state of denial re the catastrophic events and destruction caused by global heating. It’s scary.”
they need to be awakened from their “dogmatic slumber”. -a.v.
“ Some in the room saw Sanders as the true unity candidate. Conor Hannon, a 23-year-old political science student, said he would vote for Sanders in the primary, then probably vote for the Green Party if another candidate won the nomination.
“He’s not loyal to the party, but when has the party ever been loyal to us?” Hannon said.”
So, a Republican and Trump enabler.
Firefox @ #415 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 2:45 pm
Well, well, well. Turns out Sanders and Warren are closer to the centre than either Biden, Buttigieg or Klobuchar.
Just shows you how far to the right their supporters on here are if they consider the last 3 to be “centrists”.
I agree with Bellwether – as I alluded to earlier — one’s opinion as to who is good/bad, right/wrong, right wing/left wing — is all in the eye of the beholder
We watch from afar and make pronouncements according to what we believe should be correct according to our individual outlook. But we aren’t living it. Just as many here are not from far North Qld and cannot comprehend how they could have voted as they did — while they cannot understand our stance — same principle.
We can offer opinions — but they say more about who we are as individuals than what is happening on the ground half a world away.
C@tmomma @ #470 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:59 pm
Politico.com’s guide is a valuable public service, I hope it is reasonably accurate. Who has time to chase down the minutae of every candidate’s policies, especially one your not personally interested in? So, you might delve deep with you preferred candidates, maybe Buttigieg, Biden or Klobuchar. I have looked more deeply into the policies of the progressive candidates. You probably aren’t interested in what they are offering just as I’m not particularly interested in the policies of the establishment candidates. I would like to see a President Sanders, you may hope for President Buttigieg. Why there has to be so much antagonism I don’t know. 🙁
thanks for the tip, Pegasus. i’m an anarchist so i’m used to being misrepresented. sticks & stones, etc., eh. -a.v.
Another challenge for Morrison?
Re the Voter Compass, it depends upon the scale. If it is intended to cover the entire spectrum, then Stalin and Pol Pot would be in the top left corner, someone like Pinochet would be very close to the top right corner, with Hitler at the top of the Y-axis (centrist economically, extremely authoritarian).
So the “Liberal” party’s centre of gravity is firmly planted in the authoritarian right quadrant, but except for a few individuals it is not near the outer edges. The Republicans are further towards the top right corner. The main Democrats are in the right quadrant but close to the Centre. These days Labor is close to the Centre, with the Greens in the bottom left.
av
I married an anarchist. A few decades later we are both members of the Greens.
Steve777 @ #480 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 7:18 pm
Morrison would be in a paid ad below the compass.
lizzie
Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 6:20 pm
Comment #443
“And furthermore” he said, hitching up his 1946 model “Police and Firemans” bright red trouser braces, “the non existent jobs definitely require an honours standard of both written and spoken English”.
Those leaners set to be denied their boozing and drugging pleasures because of the taxpayer friendly “Fuck You Very Much You No Hoper” card should be denied the right to vote.
Goodnight all. 📺 💤
P.S. I’m all for education although not a fan of the LNP “Artful Dodger” model scams.
Citizen @7:14. Seven years since the last national anti-racism campaign was launched by the Gillard government, he will say the government must renew its commitment to anti-racism and equality, “remembering that the standard we walk past is the standard we accept”.
Well that ain’t going to happen.
1. The dogwhistle is a key weapon in the Coalition’s armoury.
2. Right wing authoritarians see life and society in terms of hierarchies. Fundamentally, they don’t see inequality as a bad thing.
The bottom right of the political compass is mostly vacant. It means handing over the place to the silverback gorillas / playground bullies. Any society constituted in these terms quickly moves into the top right quadrant.
Simon Katich @5:29pm
Don’t get me wrong about this Simon. I actually want to see a full east coast HSR network (and then some). However, where we are going to get the most social and economic return on investment from HSR is
1: Within Sydney itself
2: In the corridor between Newcastle and Wollongong
3: In the corridor between Brisbane and the Gold Coast
One can then argue about Geelong, Canberra etc.
The way to make HSR happen is to stage it so that each stage makes sense on its own merits. And each stage gains from previous stages. Eventually as the industry matures and people become familiar with high speed rail, its pretty much inevitable that the interstate linkages will occur. Indeed, that’s what happened with the existing rail network.
The way to kill HSR is to insist it be an intercapital network before it can be anything else and then leave everyone with sticker shock. This is exactly what the fools who did the 2013 Study accomplished. And poor Albo is still trying to flog this turkey.
At no stage have I said that HSR cannot compete with air travel. What I have said is that the focus on competing with intercapital air travel is a peculiarly Australian obsession.
I’ve also made the point that the best use of HSR is not replacing intercapital air travel. Rather, where you get the greatest social and economic return on investment is where HSR is directly competing with car travel – and obviating road costs. Also, the best return on HSR is where it is driving new economic activity by not just competing with cars, but cutting transit times so much that people can now do things that were previously impossible. That’s a direct parallel to why things like the Newcastle to Sydney freeway made a lot of sense in its day. You introduce a new (and disruptive) technology and you get economic benefit.
I also see regional cities that will benefit. Next on my list would be extending the HSR line that has already been constructed to Wollongong (via Wilton), to Canberra. I also have a lot of sympathy for a Melbourne to Albury route and possibly this can be done as a series of incremental upgrades.
When you get to that point, you then stand back and look at the missing section between Goulburn and Albury and ask yourself the question “Can the incremental cost in connecting Goulburn to Albury be justified in terms of bringing online intercapital traffic?”. And the answer at that stage is probably yes, because you’re looking at the incremental costs and incremental benefits. You’re basically building on what has already been built. Again the big mistake with previous efforts was to identify competing with intercapital air travel as the be-all and end-all. End result: sticker shock.
Have a think about the M9 Outer Sydney Orbital. That caused a stir recently and to hose that down they opted for 10 km of very expensive tunnel (under flood plain) in the west of Sydney. They have gazetted enough land for an 8 lane motorway. Why so big? Well the reason is that the M9 is actually the first stage in a motorway that will run from Newcastle to Wollongong. Its not a local road. Its part of a grander vision. And the road builders don’t want it known just how much it will eventually cost.
In the view of (what was then) the RMS, the M1 Newcastle to Sydney (and also Picton Road) will reach capacity in the next few years. Their only response – since its the only thing they know how to do – is to build yet another motorway. But what they really don’t want you to know is that the whole thing is going to cost $30+ billion dollars. Including some fairly monumental (and environmentally damaging) sections taking it across the Hawkesbury.
This is how to get HSR done. Build the core and then extend. Solve one problem at a time and the most interesting problem is actually about how to fix Sydney’s rail network. Hence my re-post.
Shopping at a supermarket today I asked the check-out person why the shelves were uncharacteristically bare in some sections. She told me that people of Asian appearance were buying certain products in bulk. She didn’t elaborate. Items such as hand sanitizers, sanitized face wipes were unavailable, as were a number of other items. I recall at some point in the past that bulk supplies of formula were purchased when supplies were short in China.
Alfred,
I’m a Labor supporter. So i’m used to being misrepresented. sticks & stones, etc., eh. -a.v.
That’s a laugh given Greiner’s involvement in Infrastructure NSW and his advocacy of roads over rail. During his time they came up with the infamous Sydney CBD bus tunnel.
I must say, an anarchist relying on petitions to achieve political change seems a little counter intuitive.
DP,
Kobulchar is roughly in the same position on the compass as Labor was in 2019.
zoomster @ #485 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 7:41 pm
Taking advice from the Greens is another sign of something unradical imho.
i’m a conservative anarchist, i can do whatever the hell i want. -a.v.
If you want a right winger, why not go the whole hog and vote for Trump.
good luck to you both, Pegasus ! -a.v.
The interesting thing about the chart is how it shows where America itself lies!
alfred venison @ #488 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 7:53 pm
But, you do it with a conscience?
A message from #scottyfrommarketing
https://youtu.be/6BmbvTvFQ3g
a.v
Well, yes.
But you’re here casting judgement on posters who aren’t answering your questions the way you want them answered, which seems a bit authoritarian to me.
GG
He does it while conscious.