An institute you can disparage

A poll for the Institute of Public Affairs shows mixed views on the ABC, but it may be showing its age. Also featured: updates on by-elections in the Northern Territory and Queensland.

Way back between December 6 and 8, an online poll of 1016 respondents was conducted by Dynata for the Institute of Public Affairs covering myriad issues, results of which have been apportioned out piecemeal ever since. The latest serving seeks to counter the consistent finding of other pollsters that the nation’s most trusted news organisation is the ABC. The results have naturally been received with skepticism in some quarters, although asking respondents if they feel the ABC “does not represent the views of ordinary Australians” only seems dubious in that it’s framed in the negative for no clear reason. The poll found 30% in agreement with the proposition versus 32% who disagreed, leaving 38% on the fence.

The result has been elevated to a vote of no confidence in the organisation by Coalition Senator James McGrath (who I suspect might be surprised if he learned how many of its critics are on the left), while a News Corp report seizes on the result for the 18-24 age cohort to suggest the ABC has lost the esteem of the young. The latter overlooks a sub-sample size that would imply an error margin upwards of 10%. The survey period also predated the worst of the bushfires, which have presumably been good for the broadcaster’s public image. Previous results from the survey have covered the date for Australia Day, local councils making political statements and the powers of unelected bureaucrats and removing references to race from the Constitution.

Some news on state (and territory) affairs, including updates on two of the three by-election campaigns currently in progress, guides to which can be accessed on the sidebar:

• The Northern Territory by-election for the northern Darwin seat of Johnston will be held on February 29, an unwelcome development for Michael Gunner’s struggling Labor government ahead an election on August 22. Much attention was focused on the Greens’ decision to put Labor last on its how-to-vote cards, but it may also prove consequential that the Country Liberals have Labor ahead of the Territory Alliance, the new party formed by former CLP Chief Minister Terry Mills. The party’s candidate, Steven Klose, has been boosted by suggestions the party could emerge as the official opposition if it wins the seat, since it would have three seats to the Country Liberals’ two if Mills is joined by Klose and Jeff Collins, an ex-Labor independent who says he is a “50-50 chance” of joining the party. Tune in to the blog on Saturday for live results reporting with more bells and whistles than you might think the occasion properly demands.

• Labor’s candidate for Queensland’s Bundamba by-election will be Lance McCallum, a former Electrical Trades Union official and current executive director of the Just Transition Group, a government body to help energy workers whose jobs might be lost amid the transition to renewables. Michael McKenna of The Australian ($) reports McCallum was nominated unopposed after winning the endorsement of the Left, to which the seat is reserved under factional arrangements. A rival candidate for the Left faction’s ballot, Nick Thompson, had the backing of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, whose state secretary Michael Ravbar has disputed the legitimacy of the result. The only other known candidate is Sharon Bell of One Nation, who was the party’s federal candidate in Blair last year. No word on a Liberal National Party candidate, but The Australian reports the party is “expected to run”, despite the 21.6% Labor margin. Nominations close on Tuesday.

• A Tasmanian parliamentary committee report has recommended restoring the state’s House of Assembly to 35 seats, from which it was cut to 25 in 1998. Each of the state’s five electoral divisions have returned five members under the Hare-Clark proportional representation system, compared with seven seats previously. An all-party agreement was previously in place to do this in 2010 and 2011, before the then Liberal opposition under Will Hodgman withdrew support as a riposte to government budget cuts. No recommendations have been made in relation to the Legislative Council, which was cut from 19 to 15 in 1998, except insofar as the committee considered the possibility of it have dedicated indigenous seats.

Also, note below this one the latest guest post from Adrian Beaumont, covering recent developments involving the nationalist Sinn Finn party in Ireland and the far right Alternative fur Deutschland in Germany, along with yet another election in Israel.

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.

1,556 comments on “An institute you can disparage”

Comments Page 24 of 32
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  3. Ray (UK) @ #941 Sunday, March 1st, 2020 – 12:38 pm

    NT by-election, preferences

    Antony Green posted this last night, all though this is only pre-polls

    Scored preference flow data from pre-polls. Greens split 56% Labor, 44% Territory Alliance, CLP 48% to Labor 52% TA, Braedon Earley 30% Labor 70% TA, Independents split 50:50 #ntpol #JohnstonVotes So Green voters only just favoured Labor and HTV had an impact

    The value to Labor of the Greens posture in the NT was not in the prefs that flowed from the Greens to Labor. The value was that the Greens conspicuously opposed Labor, in turn encouraging prefs to flow to Labor from the Right. The more the Greens do to attack Labor – to distinguish themselves – the better it will be for Labor. The more the Greens assault Labor the deeper will be the alienation of Labor voters from Green themes. This can only be an electoral advantage for Labor.

    The Greens are a committed anti-Labor voice. The more that voters appreciate this the easier it will be for Labor to restore its plurality. Labor should not miss any opportunity to put distance between itself and the Greens.

  7. Socrates @ #1154 Monday, March 2nd, 2020 – 5:47 am

    Morning all. Covid19 spread is gathering speed, finding chinks in the international health armour. If we are to beconsistent, we should be banning flights from Italy, which has announced almost as many new cases as China in the past day. As usual we will wait till after the USA does something.
    https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/italy-s-coronavirus-cases-soar-to-more-than-1100-as-top-us-agency-says-cancel-all-travel-20200301-p545op.html

    Jeez, those Populist Authoritarian Right Wing governments, like in Italy and America; Populist Authoritarian Theocratic governments, like in Iran and America; and Populist Authoritarian Left Wing governments, like in China, are really showing us how their new way of governing countries is a goat track!

  10. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    Bevan Shields tells us how the Italian coronavirus cases are surging and panic has set in across Europe. The Louvre has been closed.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/louvre-closed-as-italian-coronavirus-cases-skyrocket-and-panic-sets-in-across-europe-20200302-p545v1.html
    According to Matt Wade the coronavirus and bushfire emergencies could cut economic growth in NSW to the slowest rate in nearly three decades.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/twin-shocks-to-hit-the-nsw-economy-hard-20200301-p545t0.html
    The former chair of the Global Health Council talks about the mentality that left the world vulnerable to the Covid-19 epidemic and what can be done to minimise its effects
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/the-worst-case-scenario-for-coronavirus-dr-jonathan-quick-q-and-a-laura-spinney
    The coronavirus outbreak has reminded us of the importance of public health responses in managing the spread of disease writes Hassan Vally as he reminds of how smallpox, seatbelts and smoking were 3 ways public health has saved lives from history to the modern day.
    https://theconversation.com/smallpox-seatbelts-and-smoking-3-ways-public-health-has-saved-lives-from-history-to-the-modern-day-128300
    ‘Disgusting’ Asian markets selling bats are to blame for the coronavirus, according to multicultural affairs minister Jason Wood. But the former cop’s Facebook post has sparked condemnation from Labor, which has accused him of “fear mongering” when Australia should be trying to unite to fight the virus threat writes Sam Maiden. Wood never did strike me as being the sharpest tool in the shed.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/03/01/jason-wood-asian-markets/
    Michael Pascoe reasons that the RBA shouldn’t cut rates in the fight against coronavirus.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2020/03/01/pascoe-rba-coronavirus/
    Greg Jericho gives us the truth about budget surpluses. It’s revenue, not spending, that counts he says.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2020/mar/01/the-truth-about-budget-surpluses-its-revenue-not-spending-that-counts
    The Communications Minister says content obligations need to be updated if local producers are to survive and thrive in the age of global streaming services.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/paul-fletcher-warns-laws-must-change-to-save-local-film-and-tv-from-sharp-declines-20200301-p545pj.html
    Shaun Carney explains how these aren’t the best of times for left-wing parties in large parts of the developed world. He looks at how Albanese is positioning Labor in these circumstances and warns that leaving the heavy lifting for later carries a lot of risks.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-is-still-leaving-the-heavy-lifting-for-later-20200228-p545f1.html
    Shane Wright explains how small and medium-sized businesses are expecting the summer’s bushfires to hit their bottom lines for the next year as higher costs, low customer confidence and disruptions to travel weigh on their ability to survive.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/small-business-expects-fire-impact-for-another-year-20200301-p545r8.html
    Hundreds of farmers and small businesses have been left in limbo as bushfire relief payments slow to a crawl, with the Commonwealth and Berejiklian governments blaming each other for the delays.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/bushfire-relief-for-business-farms-slows-as-politicians-bicker-over-rules-20200301-p545r5.html
    And Daren Gray writes that economists are saying federal stimulus measures worth up to tens of billions of dollars are needed economists say as they warn more Australian companies are likely to announce profit warnings due to coronavirus.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/call-for-billions-in-stimulus-with-warnings-of-more-profit-downgrades-20200301-p545py.html
    Ross Gittins examines the drivers for Australia’s dismal productivity performance.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/productivity-problem-start-at-the-bottom-not-the-top-20200301-p545qx.html
    Rob Harris reports that in a speech today Scott Morrison will force every Commonwealth agency to put greater value on buying recycled content as he foreshadows further government intervention to build a market for the nation’s waste sector ahead of a looming export ban.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-flags-recycle-product-push-as-export-ban-looms-20200301-p545sq.html
    In a rather downbeat contribution Sean Kelly looks at Morrison’s response to the coronavirus issue and how he might handle climate change.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-tough-response-on-coronavirus-plays-to-the-pm-s-strengths-20200301-p545pe.html
    Anthony Galloway writes that lenders missing out on lucrative green energy loan contracts have accused a Commonwealth body that injects billions of taxpayer dollars into renewable energy projects, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, of having a sweetheart deal with one company and locking others out of the market.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/clean-energy-finance-corporation-accused-of-favouritism-20200301-p545rk.html
    Americans could hopefully rely on the federal government to provide accurate information about a global health emergency. Unfortunately, they can’t writes Matthew Knott.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-s-post-truth-presidency-collides-with-a-global-health-emergency-20200301-p545sc.html
    A second potential agent of a foreign power has been caught up by the government’s controversial register to counter foreign influence, as the Morrison government looks to beef up its national security laws.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/register-catches-another-potential-agent-of-foreign-influence-20200301-p545rx.html\
    Law professor Beth Gaze opines that the exceptions for religious organisations in proposed in the latest religious discrimination bill are too wide.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/exceptions-for-religious-organisations-in-proposed-bill-are-too-wide-20200227-p5452h.html
    This guy has other ideas.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/scare-campaign-against-bill-uses-hypotheticals-but-real-people-need-its-protection-20200301-p545qq.html
    Australia’s internet speeds continue to lag behind that of other nations, says Laurie Patton who declares that the NBN offering is not good enough for 21st Century Australia.
    https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/nbn-offering-not-good-enough-for-21st-century-australia,13647
    Peter Fitzsimons says that Jacinda Ardern was right to call out Morrison for deporting ‘Aussie’ Kiwis.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/ardern-right-to-call-out-morrison-for-deporting-aussie-kiwis-20200228-p545fw.html
    Bryce Edwards says taking on Scott Morrison over deportees is a win-win strategy for Jacinda Ardern.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/mar/02/taking-on-scott-morrison-over-deportees-is-a-win-win-strategy-for-jacinda-ardern
    Kaye Lee writes that the appalling behaviour of politicians must stop.
    https://theaimn.com/the-appalling-behaviour-of-politicians-must-stop/
    In support of the release of her new book Sam Maiden tells us about the operations of Labor and Liberal dirt units.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/03/02/bill-shorten-dirt-unit-bronwyn-bishop-choppergate-sussan-ley/
    The SMH editorial says that practical proposals for reforming the criminal justice system to improve prospects for child sexual abuse complainants are both welcome and necessary.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/timely-moves-to-ease-legal-burden-on-child-sexual-abuse-victims-20200301-p545td.html
    Unsurprisingly, Clive Palmer will fight fraud charges claiming they had “no merit”, were a “nonsense” and that the corporate watchdog was an “embarrassment”.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6656286/palmer-attacks-asic-over-fraud-charges/?cs=14231
    Adele Ferguson reveals that Alinta Energy was sold to a Chinese company on the condition it protected its customers’ data but leaked documents reveal the privacy promise may have been broken.
    https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/credit-cards-addresses-and-phone-numbers-vulnerable-more-than-one-million-energy-customers-privacy-at-risk-20200228-p545bw.html
    The Australian Financial Review attacked Senator Rex Patrick this week after Patrick attacked Energy Australia chief Catherine Tanna, suggesting she step down from the board of the Reserve Bank for running a company whose tax haven structure helped it pay zero tax on $30 billion of income. Michael West corrects the record.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/tanna-taxation-correcting-the-fin-review-and-energy-australia/
    Royce Millar writes that the Andrews government is bracing for potentially damaging revelations and the possible naming of a senior government figure in connection to a controversial rezoning push in Melbourne’s south-east, when the anti-corruption watchdog resumes its hearings into the Casey land scandal on Monday.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/i-ve-got-dirt-andrews-government-braces-as-casey-corruption-hearings-resume-20200229-p545li.html
    Trump’s comments on the spread of the virus have lent weight to the perception that he’s minimising the potential for harm in search of political gain. Here his remarks are fact checked.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/fact-check-trump-s-unreliable-comments-on-the-coronavirus-20200301-p545qy.html
    Poor Harvey!
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/2020/03/01/harvey-weinstein-hits-rock-bottom-in-guarded-nyc-hospital-cell/

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe

    Peter Broelman

    Matt Golding



    Mark David


    Glen Le Lievre

    John Spooner goes to China.
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/2d5f341b62cc127848f20a5f8681ced3?width=1024

    From the US



  11. Kevin Bonham
    @kevinbonham
    ·
    10h
    False. The right to free speech does not include the right to not be criticised in parliament, nor the unconditional right to an award. Nothing in the motion said Arndt’s comments should have been illegal or prevented her commenting in response.
    ***

    Sky News Australia
    @SkyNewsAust
    · 18h
    Outsiders host @rowandean says while he was “deeply disturbed” by Bettina Ardnt’s comments on Hannah Clarke, he thinks the Senate motion to condemn her was a “complete violation” of freedom of speech.

  13. Dr Jonathan Quick

    The problem is bad information. As my students often remind me, news tends to be behind paywalls, while fake news is free.

  14. Morning all, thanks BK.

    I’ve got a friend who has booked a trip to Europe including Italy with her husband in a couple months, and coronavirus has thrown their plans into chaos. Flights keep getting changed or cancelled, it’s unclear whether travel insurance covers the cost of these changes, and they lose money if they cancel altogether. Worse is that she was really looking forward to the trip, their first to Europe.

  15. This by Shaun Carney encapsulates Labor’s current weakness, for me. The first shock of loss led to an over-reaction and negated all the policy work that had been done.

    Although the ALP’s primary vote of 33 per cent at last year’s election was very poor, it’s still only eight seats short of a lower house majority. But Albanese has gone out of his way to portray the election loss as a disaster, the ALP’s worst outing in 100 years – which it was not: Labor suffered a net loss of one seat and the government made a net gain of one, giving it a majority of just two seats.

    By framing the election result this way, Albanese has from the beginning denied himself the opportunity to establish a coherent and potentially damaging story about the government. Just imagine if, rather than implicitly boosting the government’s sense of legitimacy, he had started by borrowing from the opposition leader’s playbook that Tony Abbott followed so well after the Coalition’s 2010 election loss.

    If Albanese had argued from the moment that he took over as leader that the government had fibbed its way to re-election – about the economy, about its competence, about climate change, about its honesty – and that it had only just got over the line and was a shaky proposition with a tiny lower house majority, that would have left all of Labor’s options open. He could have built up a narrative and progressively exploited it.

    Many subsequent events would have fed into this narrative: the continuing revelations of sports rorts, the shaky prospect of a budget surplus, the Prime Minister’s loss of the vote for his preferred deputy Speaker due to several National MPs siding with Labor. Instead, Labor’s attacks look disjointed and more like politics-as-usual.

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-is-still-leaving-the-heavy-lifting-for-later-20200228-p545f1.html

  18. l

    Carney shows zero self-awareness. His is behaving like a player – basically a pseudo political adviser to the Leader of the Opposition.

    Policy can go hang, according to Carney.

    What deprived Labor of the 8 vital seats was that it was tarred with the Greens’ policies brush in rural and regional seats. Here are the practical consequences of just some of the Greens’ rural and regional industries.

    1. Pulling GMO cotton and GMO canola.
    2. Reducing irrigation by at least 605,000 megalitres
    3. Piling on ecosystem service obligation regulations.
    4. Closing feedlots.
    5. Closing piggeries.
    6. Closing down aquaculture.
    7. Closing down the uranium industry.
    8. Closing down the coal industry.
    9. Closing down the live export trade.
    10. Closing down defence industries.

    Beyond that, Labor failed to develop simple and direct messages about its reforms which enabled paid liars to spread paid for lies about Labor’s policies.

  19. ‘Sky News Australia
    @SkyNewsAust
    · 18h
    Outsiders host @rowandean says while he was “deeply disturbed” by Bettina Ardnt’s comments on Hannah Clarke, he thinks the Senate motion to condemn her was a “complete violation” of freedom of speech. ‘

    Like, Arndt can say what she likes. Dean should be able to write what he likes. And the Senate should just STFU?

  20. Perceptive Sean Kelly:

    Without firm challenge, the Prime Minister is likely to succeed – again – in controlling the terms of the debate. One of the most depressing recent findings was last week’s Newspoll showing most Australians believe the severity of the fires was caused by hazard reduction failures. This is a myth, but one the Prime Minister has encouraged. The media should have done a better job of addressing the falsehood, and of directly contradicting the Prime Minister, but wishing doesn’t make it so. That this lie has now become accepted wisdom gives some sense of what Labor is up against.

  21. Although the ALP’s primary vote of 33 per cent at last year’s election was very poor, it’s still only eight seats short of a lower house majority. But Albanese has gone out of his way to portray the election loss as a disaster, the ALP’s worst outing in 100 years – which it was not: Labor suffered a net loss of one seat and the government made a net gain of one, giving it a majority of just two seats.

    Mumble wrote something similar just after the election. He said the media narrative usually shapes how parties respond to election results, or something.

  22. C@tmomma @ #1167 Monday, March 2nd, 2020 – 7:48 am

    Hundreds of farmers and small businesses have been left in limbo as bushfire relief payments slow to a crawl, with the Commonwealth and Berejiklian governments blaming each other for the delays.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/bushfire-relief-for-business-farms-slows-as-politicians-bicker-over-rules-20200301-p545r5.html

    Ah, so that’s how they do it! Buck passing until people give up.

    The only thing the Feds are interested in is their surplus. Slowing revenue distribution helps them achieve that objective.

  23. Boerwar

    Beyond that, Labor failed to develop simple and direct messages about its reforms which enabled paid liars to spread paid for lies about Labor’s policies.

    I agree. The messaging has been weak.

  24. It’s a small cog in the world scheme of things, but my water supply failed overnight. It’s always a shock to turn on a tap and nothing comes out. How spoiled we are. 🙁

  27. You’ve done it again BK.

    Lotsa good reading with the Dawn Patrol.

    Take a very large copper bottomed saucepan and place several smooth stones in the bottom, turn on gentle heat and then add 👇👇

    From the BK Files©.

    Peter Fitzsimons says that Jacinda Ardern was right to call out Morrison for deporting ‘Aussie’ Kiwis.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/ardern-right-to-call-out-morrison-for-deporting-aussie-kiwis-20200228-p545fw.html
    Bryce Edwards says taking on Scott Morrison over deportees is a win-win strategy for Jacinda Ardern.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/mar/02/taking-on-scott-morrison-over-deportees-is-a-win-win-strategy-for-jacinda-ardern

    Salt and pepper to taste

    Add 👇👇

    lizzie
    Monday, March 2nd, 2020 – 7:33 am
    Comment #1163

    Dr Jonathan Quick

    The problem is bad information. As my students often remind me, news tends to be behind paywalls, while fake news is free.

    Stir gently

    Pour in 👇👇

    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/editorials/managing-an-ungracious-guest/news-story/78bc4f8b72b6c54e4f80484eed4d971d

    Perhaps New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is feeling the pressure of the close election race she is facing across the Tasman. But her ungracious “do not deport your problems’’ com­ments as she stood beside Scott Morrison on the shore of Sydney Harbour on Friday were feeble and irritating.

    Most of the 1240-plus comments posted by our readers online thought Ms Ardern was out of line in trying to lecture her host. She told Mr Morrison he should not deport convicted Kiwi-born migrants if they had little or no connection with New Zealand.

    Mr Morrison played it cool, greeting his guest’s whinge with a smile and a restatement of Australia’s position: “If you’re a non-citizen, our very clear view — and our government is well-known for our clear views when it comes to issues of immigration and border security — if you have committed a crime and you’re not a citizen of Australia, then you have no right to stay.’’

    A few St Jacinda groupies in the Australian green-left media took her side, claiming she had “lashed’’ Mr Morrison’s “unfair’’ policies. Most Australians, however, and many New Zealanders who have taken out Australian citizenship, prefer to see no-hopers from across the ditch sent back if they break Australian laws.

    If we play our cards cleverly could we send some of our dinky di, true blue, home grown ratbag type politicians instead ❓

    You know how it goes pour out everthing apart from the stones which should now be soft. Eat stones.

    P.S. All the items are behind paywalls. How does the casual reader differentiate ❓

  28. One more critical thing about that little house in the gardens, later renamed “Cook’s cottage” to more accurately reflect established history. Cook never lived there. That Cook may have visited the cottage in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire – home to his parents, James and Grace, in their later years – is supposition. Historians have found no empirical evidence to support this proposition. There is no definite physical link between the great man and the building.

    A frenzy of commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Cook’s arrival is about to take place in Australia. Festivities include a $6.7m continental circumnavigation in the replica Endeavour (incidentally Cook never circumnavigated Australia) and $48m to update the Kurnell site (new visitor centre and another memorial) where Cook first set foot, his first act to shoot an Aboriginal man.

    There’ll be all sorts of hyperbole about Cook from his many prominent boosters, who include the prime minister, Scott Morrison – the member for Cook – who says of Cook’s arrival in 1770: “That voyage is the reason Australia is what it is today and it’s important we take the opportunity to reflect on it.”

    Let the discussion begin.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2020/mar/02/captain-cooks-cottage-the-place-he-didnt-ever-call-home

  30. For those interested in getting clear information about the current situation.

    Dr. Dena Grayson
    @DrDenaGrayson
    ·
    28m
    Friends, I will broadcast another LIVE video tonight on
    @Twitter
    around 6pm ET to discuss the latest news on the #CoronavirusOutbreak, what’s next, and what you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones.

    ICYMI: here’s last night’s video.

    #coronavirus #COVID19
    Quote Tweet

    Dr. Dena Grayson
    @DrDenaGrayson
    · 7h
    I spent years developing an #Ebola treatment. From the outset, I have been VERY concerned about the #pandemic risk for this #coronavirus.

    VIDEO answering your questions about the #CoronavirusOutbreak, and what you can do to protect yourself.

    #COVID19
    https://pscp.tv/w/cSpvSTFkdktPWlduZGtwUVh8MW1ueGVRZWVZeVJ4WEy-NjcZyokXi-WhZeBeTfcVE_DUI1MTRMclysz4hUho

  31. Interesting question of why entry from Iran into Australia hasn’t been banned except via quarrantine. Things may not be nice in northern Italy or South Korea but you can at least have some faith in their medical systems and transparency; Iran not so much.

  32. @Confessions, pass this onto your friends.
    If the insurance was purchased before the Corona Virus became a known event then the costs should be covered BUT deciding to cancel because of a personal concern won’t be.
    My Sister & Brother in law were on the Diamond Princess Asian cruise and because my Brother in Law was diagnosed before the flight back they are still in a Tokyo hospital. Insurance is covering all out of pocket expenses.

    https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/coronavirus-impacts-to-overseas-travel-insurance/ba6755a8-492d-43cf-b7d2-2cf776b41bb8

  35. Turkey has now rejoined the Syrian War in a big way. Its previous invasion of Syrian territory was to drive the Kurds from areas adjacent to the Turkish border:

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/turkey-destroys-syrian-army-targets-says-defence-minister

    The Turks have been trying to inveigle NATO to join the War but since the Turks have invaded rather than been invaded they have little hope.

    One of the Turkish weapons has been the threat to push around a million Syrian refugees across the border into Europe.

    Russia is now juggling trying not to get involved in a hot war with Turkey while continuing to use military means to foster the War objectives of the Assad Government.

    The Turks are by far and away the preponderant military force in and around the Idlib Province battlefields.

    One imagines that C19 testing is the least of anyone’s concerns in Idlib.

  38. Fess

    a couple of my extended family members were due to leave for the USA today.
    They had insurance that stipulated that no reason was required for cancellation.
    They have lodged their claim with insurer. Interesting to see exactly how much out of pocket they are going to be

  39. Johnston by-election shows voters may be turning away from Labor and the CLP ahead of the 2020 NT election

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-02/nt-johnston-by-election-wash-up-labor-clp-territory-alliance/12014852

    Even in victory, the Labor Government was humbled by a large swing away from party at the Johnston by-election. In distant defeat, the CLP Opposition’s primary vote crumbled.

    It all makes for what the ABC’s election analyst Antony Green says will be a “wild” Territory election come August.

    Labor’s candidate Joel Bowden won the Johnston by-election despite a 12.1 per cent swing away from the party, which had held the seat with a 14.7 per cent margin heading into the election.

    Territory Alliance — the newly-formed party lead by former CLP chief minister Terry Mills — was the main beneficiary of voters’ desertion of both Labor and the CLP.
    :::
    “This is not a splitting of the conservative vote, as some people would like to characterise it. This a whole new thing that has taken votes from both sides and given people cause for hope,” he said.

    Mr Mills — who has been courting Labor-turned-independent politician Jeff Collins to join his party — said the strong by-election showing could encourage other independents to consider joining Territory Alliance.

  40. “Orange clown pufferfish routine”. 😆

    This will be a deus ex machina test of Trump’s authoritarian behavior. Epidemics are not well suited to authoritarian regimes and propaganda, as we saw this week when Beijing’s use of propaganda tactics to suppress information about the outbreak failed spectacularly and when Iran tamped down news about the virus for political reasons even as it ravaged top officials.

    The reality of the coronavirus spreading will reflect poorly on Trump — his cavalier dismantling of vital government teams for health response and his disdain for experts and science.

    Trump tried to make federal agencies complicit on his fabulist hogwash about the size of his inaugural crowd and the path of Hurricane Dorian. It is unlikely that he will be able to keep his insatiable and insecure ego in check long enough to give the nation the facts, reassurance and guidance it needs about the infection.

    Trump is already doing his orange clown pufferfish routine, acting as though he knows more about viruses than anyone, just as he has bragged that he knows more about the military, taxes, trade, infrastructure, ISIS, renewables, visas, banking, debt and “the horror of nuclear.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/opinion/sunday/trump-coronavirus-response.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

  41. ABC RN Breakfast:

    Australian summers getting longer, data shows

    https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/australian-summers-getting-longer-data-shows/12015722

    New analysis by the Australia Institute has found that summer is now, on average, 31 days longer in our capital cities than it was in the 1950’s and 60’s, with winter about three weeks shorter.

    Guest: Richie Merzian, Director, Climate and Energy Programme, Australia Institute

  42. Vic:

    I don’t know the exact circumstances of my friend’s travel insurance, but when I spoke to her on Friday she was at her wits end. She said they’ve changed connecting flights twice now because of onward flight cancellations in Europe which is also impacting their accommodation bookings.

  44. Listening to Fran for half an hour this morning riding shotgun for her boy Scrotty….she was blasting away like Annie Oakley….didn’t hit a thing….

  45. The Viral Blame Game: Xenophobia, Attribution and Coronavirus

    https://theaimn.com/the-viral-blame-game-xenophobia-attribution-and-coronavirus/

    Moralising the way diseases and viruses are transferred is a very human, and particularly nasty trait. “We don’t need this kind of riff-raff on our shores,” screamed The New York Times in 1892 in response to Russian Jewish immigrants arriving at Ellis Island by boat. (The occupants hosted lice which, in turn, led to typhus).

    Italian immigrants in the United States would be also accused as being the bearers and spreaders of polio in 1916. Given that many, as a study by Alan Kraut from 2010 documents, lived in “tightly concentrated neighbourhoods, and because immigrants were viewed by many as a marginal and potentially subversive influence upon society, the incidence of Italian polio made a dramatic impact upon the imagination of a public already shaken by the virulence of the epidemic and the youth of its victims.”

    In more recent times, the jaundiced eye nervously looked to the origin of AIDs, seeing dark Africa, exotic primates, bestiality.
    :::
    Follow the virus, find the maligned scapegoat. For COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus), a not negligible spray of suggestions claim that China, from eating habits, to politburo to laboratory, is responsible for cultivation and transmission.
    :::
    Such accounts of attribution have paved the way of fanciful presumptions. As a group of 27 public health scientists wrote in rebuke in The Lancet, “The rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumours and misinformation about its origins. We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.” The point to keep reiterating, urged the authors, is that “this coronavirus originated in wildlife as have so many other emerging pathogens.”

    In the case of coronavirus, the xenophobes have come out barracking, and bigotry has taken root.
    :::
    In the detritus of the social media sphere, campaigns combating “coronaracism” have also found legs.

  47. Hey Bullshit Bill, you surfaced yet? I went a scrolling through last night’s verbal diarrhoea only to find this little mistruth:

    Itza Dream tells me I’m “old, pale and stale” for being concerned about the bullshit masquerading as sage advice coming from our “medical authorities”. At least I think that’s why he’s off with his Dymo labeller yet again. Maybe he just thinks it’s not cool, or a bit “Boomery” to be in the demographic that coronavirus is scything its grim reaper path through? Another socially responsible, issue aware, psychopath I guess, is our Itza.

    I’ve no idea nor care about who you’re referring to, except to point out that it’s not me. NOT ME. So shove your ‘pyschopath’ accusations into any orifice otherwise unoccupied with your own self-importance, while I remind you that the last time I made the mistake of addressing you, it was to ask for a reference to your bloated assertion that ‘no property with roof sprinklers has ever burnt down’ and for which I sensibly didn’t hold my boomery 71 yr old breath.

  49. Mike Carlton
    @MikeCarlton01
    ·
    7m
    John Howard committed us to the war in Afghanistan in 2001. The Taliban have now won it. 41 Australians killed, 261 wounded. Unknown suicides. The cost in billions. It’d be interesting to hear Howard explain what we achieved:

  50. David Lindenmayer and Doug Robinson:

    Logging is due to start in fire-ravaged forests this week. It’s the last thing our wildlife needs

    https://theconversation.com/logging-is-due-to-start-in-fire-ravaged-forests-this-week-its-the-last-thing-our-wildlife-needs-132347

    New South Wales’ Forestry Corporation will this week start “selective timber harvesting” from two state forests ravaged by bushfire on the state’s south coast.

    The state-owned company says the operations will be “strictly managed” and produce timber for power poles, bridges, flooring and decking.

    Similarly, the Victorian government’s logging company VicForests recently celebrated the removal of sawlogs from burnt forests in East Gippsland.
    :::
    However the science on the impacts of post-fire logging is clear: it can significantly impair the recovery of burned ecosystems, badly affect wildlife and, for some animal species, prevent recovery.

    We acknowledge that for safety reasons, some standing and fallen burnt trees must be removed after a fire. But wherever possible, they should remain in place.
    :::
    Indeed, the research shows post-fire logging is the most damaging form of logging. Logging large old trees after a fire may make the forests unsuitable habitat for many wildlife species for up to 200 years.

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