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.
mundo
Nationals infighting continues as Government contends with shock Deputy Speaker vote loss:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-11/nationals-deputy-speaker-revenge-for-leadership/11952934
Rex Douglas
says:
Tuesday, February 11, 2020 at 12:30 pm
nath @ #205 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 12:17 pm
$15 billion to connect the Ring Road to the Eastern Freeway doesn’t sound like value for money to me.
Something has to be done. What do you suggest ?
____________________
They could improve PT in the NE to reduce pressure on the roads. A train line to Doncaster or Doncaster East would be better than this monstrosity.
Apologise if this has already been posted, but I believe it is typical of the cynicism that is in the community;
http://www.theshovel.com.au/2020/02/11/george-calombaris-government-assistance-toorak-croquet-duck-shooting-club/?fbclid=IwAR2xVxjiI0_iz0JtGIAs36p9YG7RLneq6sylUTN-JoG2WRpOOK4SZiRGvi0
Rex
‘Not if a few moderates cross the floor they don’t..’
I haven’t seen any heat being put on the Liberal moderates whose votes would be needed for this.
I’ve seen, on the other hand, lots of Labor bashing and accounts of posters contacting their local Labor members.
I’ve also seen – just up the thread – another one of your ‘same same’ posts, where you declare there is a ‘Lib-Lab’ cartel.
If the latter is the case, then more than a few moderates are needed to cross the floor.
So which is it, Rex – a conspiracy by both major parties, which means that no matter how many moderates cross the floor the Bill is knackered, or is one major party potentially on side and so (i) there is no cartel and (ii) only a few moderates are needed?
Your position at the moment appears to be contradictory, so I’d appreciate your clarification.
I’d also like to know what you’re doing to get those few moderates on side – have you emailed some of them, for example? Rang their offices? – because I don’t see how abusing Labor does that job.
sprocket
You are still in mourning RDN is no longer leader of the Greens party. Being robbed of your meme “Dirty Dick” would have that effect.
Bandt displays passion, and communicates clearly. He has more ‘mongrel’ and politial nous to push back against his detractors and, therefore, is not such a soft target. How sad for you.
Boerwar.
Exactly.
It would seem the greens offer is to flood PB with anti labor nonsense.
nath @ #252 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 1:07 pm
That train line is long overdue too.
While PT is crucial, I think people will continue to want the private space of their vehicle to travel.
The increased use of EV’s will benefit the environment so a motorway of some form to connect those roads is needed in my opinion.
Peg
I am on the record saying we should give Adam Bandt clean air to recalibrate the Greens, which I sure he can do with the support of all progressives.
Pegasus
“$15 billion to connect the Ring Road to the Eastern Freeway doesn’t sound like value for money to me.”
For the cost of North East Link Melbourne could build two new metro rain lines equivalent to the NW one recently built in Sydney, or five LRTs equal in size and complexity to Sydney SE LRT. That is, around 60 to 70 km of LRT track or 50km of Metro track. More than enough to do BOTH the Airport rail line and Doncaster.
Mike Cannon-Brookes says Zali Steggall’s bill could repair Australia’s reputation on climate
Exclusive: Atlassian co-founder says the MP’s bill is the exact type of action we need and deserves bipartisan support
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/11/mike-cannon-brookes-says-zali-steggalls-bill-could-repair-australias-reputation-on-climate
zoomster @ #254 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 1:12 pm
Labor members are binded to a vote, so the Labor ‘friends of coal’ would be required to vote for Steggalls bill if Butler can convince the majority of the Labor caucus and a few Lib moderates to vote for it.
Rex Douglas
says:
The increased use of EV’s will benefit the environment so a motorway of some form to connect those roads is needed in my opinion.
______________________
The Liberals East-West tunnel was a better option than this. Of course politics makes that impossible now.
Socrates @ 1:19pm
Contains a quote by nath not me.
continue to engage = generally pay no notice to
Pegasus @ #263 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 10:21 am
That goes without saying! 🙂
Peter Lewis on the latest Essential poll
Budget ‘surplus’ and coronavirus: Morrison is caught between a slogan and a hard place
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2020/feb/11/budget-surplus-and-coronavirus-morrison-is-caught-between-a-slogan-and-a-hard-place
nath @ #262 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 1:21 pm
That deal was a dud economically.
Sending vehicles around the city instead of through it seems to me to be a better option. I’m no expert in this area though.
shellbell @ #264 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 1:23 pm
Correct.
shellbell @ #264 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 10:23 am
Or fix any flaws as with the Medevac Bill. 🙂
The Guardian
In a press conference with Greg Hunt, updating the nation on coronavirus (five cases have recovered) Professor Brendan Murphy, the chief medical officer has warned against xenophobia when discussing the health pandemic.
Rex I don’t think it was the worst idea. The NE Link will solve one problem: journeys from the West and North to the East and SE will be easier. The problem is that nothing is done about the dead end at Hoddle St. It will probably lead to an ever greater bottleneck at Hoddle St and into the CBD. This is why I support a train line to Doncaster, not only will it reduce pressure on the Eastern it will reduce pressure on the inner city.
The Guardian
As the minister said also, our risk population is people who have come from China from February 1. Not people of Chinese background.
People who have come from China, whatever their background is. And we are very concerned about xenophobia and any sort of racial profiling which is completely abhorrent.
Rex
‘Labor members are binded to a vote, so the Labor ‘friends of coal’ would be required to vote for Steggalls bill if Butler can convince the majority of the Labor caucus and a few Lib moderates to vote for it.’
But you were saying Labor was part of a Lib-Lab cartel. Now you’re saying Labor has to make a decision either way. So there’s no cartel.
You keep claiming you’re misrepresented by me, but when I ask you to clarify your thoughts you don’t make much use of the opportunity.
I take it, however, that you’re withdrawing your comment that Labor is part of a cartel.
Now, what actions are you taking to put pressure on the Liberal moderates?
nath, that train line is a must
Things must be looking bad for Morrison if he is contemplating using a couple of royals as human bushfire shields. He must have been shocked when the presence of his wife proved ineffective during his visit to Combargo.
zoomster @ #273 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 1:32 pm
There’s most definitely a fossil fuel cartel – and their numbers are crucial to Morrisons and Albaneses grip on their party leadership positions.
We just need a majority of parliamentarians to over-power them rather than capitulate to them as Morrison and Albanese have done.
lizzie @ #206 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 12:20 pm
How the Morrison government views meetings of the Indigenous Advisory Group:
Victorian Greens and the North East Link
An Alternative Vision for a more liveable North East:
https://ourliveablecity.org.au/north-east-link/
At $15.8 billion, the North East Link will be the world’s most expensive road per kilometre, yet it won’t fix Melbourne’s traffic problems.
With that kind of money, there are better longer-term fixes that will have a greater impact while improving the lives of residents in the North-East.
Why a road alone won’t work
Building roads encourages cars: research in Melbourne and other cities shows traffic is induced when new urban toll roads and freeways are built.
Communities will be divided: Regardless of which route is chosen, communities in the northeast will be physically divided by a 6 lane road.
Traffic will be funnelled onto on-ramps: local roads will be congested more than they are now due to commuters trying to access the toll road.
Trucks will avoid tolls: trucking companies have already said they are deliberately rat-running to avoid tolls on CityLink. Why would they do otherwise on the North East Link?
Environmental and cultural sites will be damaged: all of the routes require the destruction of some green space.
Trucks carrying dangerous goods will still use Rosanna Rd and other existing routes: placarded loads are not allowed in tunnels.
The modelling used for the project is dodgy: the Labor Government has not released the full traffic studies or modelling assumptions.
HC Love judgment is very long.
For people who like this sort of thing, the minority (persons of aboriginal descent can be aliens) consisted of three of the four most senior judges (Kiefel CJ, Gageler and Keane JJ) ie two ALP appointments.
Majority included all Abbott/Turnbull appointments plus Bell J.
shellbell
Thanks for the facts.
Pegasus @ #280 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 10:52 am
So you now understand the complexities of the case?
All shellbell did was make an interesting observation.
Pegasus
Sorry for the wrong attribution; agree with your summary of NW Link.
NE Link is not for the residents. There is a tidy construction contract for the winning bidder, another large budget public project for the CFMEU to get construction workers better paid than junior doctors, and of course Transurban will pick it up in the end for half the price, making their shareholders a nice profit too. Both Labor and Liberal vested interests benefit from such projects, which is why they are hard for citizens to stop.
Nath
“The increased use of EV’s will benefit the environment so a motorway of some form to connect those roads is needed in my opinion.”
No. The GHGs from the construction alone will be thousands of tonnes. As Pegasus said building more freeways does stimulate more driving. EVs are less harmful for the environment than petrol or diesel cars but they are not zero harm unless the power supply is renewable, so still far worse than any rail alternative.
Impressive numbers.
Shellbell
Kiefel CJ appeared black letter in her judgement. I’m sure Gaegler would be too.
Are the majority more ‘Michael Kirby’?
BinTB
In the context of all the complaints about wtte the stacking of…with Coalition mates…his observation is salient, don’t you think? (rhetorical question)
Socrates @ #283 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 2:05 pm
My preference is for Govt to fully fund new road infrastructure and toll it to pay for.
IMO, Ken Wyatt should resign and so should all Indigenous peeps currently being silenced by Morrison.
looks like steggall’s bill is already effective in sorting parliament’s reactionaries from parliament’s not reactionaries & it hasn’t even been tabled & the public campaign hasn’t started yet. -a.v
Socrates
says:
Nath
“The increased use of EV’s will benefit the environment so a motorway of some form to connect those roads is needed in my opinion.”
No. The GHGs from the construction alone will be thousands of tonnes. As Pegasus said building more freeways does stimulate more driving. EVs are less harmful for the environment than petrol or diesel cars but they are not zero harm unless the power supply is renewable, so still far worse than any rail alternative.
___________________________
those aren’t my words. I’m against the link
Albo is right.
If you want real action on climate change vote Labor.
If you want obstruction and fucking around vote for the Liberals, Nationals and Greens.
Staggalls’ Bill is effective at just the one thing: demonstrating that Albo is right.
If you want climate action, vote Labor.
If you want grandstanding, vote Indie or Greens.
If you want obstruction, vote Liberal or Nationals.
albo is right to take steggall’s bill seriously. he understands this is not the sort of bill to be a jerk about. -a.v.
nath @ #290 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 2:11 pm
They’re my words.
We can’t just eliminate cars. Sure we can improve PT and we should.
Rex
“My preference is for Govt to fully fund new road infrastructure and toll it to pay for.”
That is a separate issue. The question of who pays for it is relevant if it is worth building. My point is that the project should not be built. Other options could relieve the area better at less cost. Even if government built this one, it would still be a bad idea.
Another point not mentioned yet (and almost never modelled by road authorities) is the traffic impacts during congestion. They will be hideous. Materials deliveries alone will create thousands of extra truck movements per day into that area for several years.
alfred venison @ #293 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 2:14 pm
😆
Bandt is effective at just the one thing: demonstrating that a single seat in the House is a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Of course if Bandt were to lead the Greens voters to take up the Greens New Deal CO2 Emissions ZeroHero strike he would actually do something useful in the real world.
But don’t hold your breath.
He is trying to fool the Greens into thinking that they can have their cake and eat it too.
Sprocket
I don’t think the labels work very well to be honest. The judges just seem to go where their intellectual rigour takes them.
A Google search does not yield any academic articles entitled “The Kiefel High Court” which seeks to study its composition and patterns. That is a bit surprising.
There is one article about how they discuss their judgments more than used to be case so as to achieve unanimity. This ain’t an example of that.
My impression is that this is a quiet High Court, operating more at the nuts and bolts level than its predecessors, exemplified by the big increase in criminal cases
This judgment is about as exciting as it has gotten.
Boerwar @ #291 Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 – 1:12 pm
So for grand climate action, vote 1 Indie, 2 Greens, 3 Labor, and put the Libs last.
You said it. 🙂
Albo is right.
If you want climate action, vote Labor.
Rex
“We can’t just eliminate cars. Sure we can improve PT and we should.”
Nobody is suggesting eliminating cars. The point is that the overwhelming evidence is that building roads like that does not eliminate traffic congestion. See “The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion: Evidence from US Cities”. https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.101.6.2616
Cities with good PT still have cars. Though they tend to have far more one car households than two car. That also saves residents a lot of money.