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.
C@t,
It’s probably the same thinking that used to motivate parents to send their kids to ‘measles parties’ in a deliberate attempt to infect them. A ‘let’s get it over and done with’ approach.
Every day business reporters get rooolly excited about tiny shifts in the share market. At last the coronavirus is giving them something to be excited about. This is their time to shine!!
Ante Meridian @ #151 Friday, February 28th, 2020 – 12:06 pm
I don’t know that’s the smartest idea. I just read that Iran’s Vice President, a woman who sits very close to the President, Hassan Rouhani, at the Cabinet table, has been confirmed as suffering from Coronavirus. She was sitting near him as recently as yesterday! I don’t think contracting a potentially fatal virus as a middle aged adult is exactly the sort of thing that should be encouraged like a Measles Party for kids.
From the Sydney Morning Herald, Coronavirus blog:
Gee if only they had listened to the predictions about climate change. From a 2002 World Health Organisation report:
” Beyond the early recognition that such changes would affect economic activities, infrastructure and managed ecosystems, there is now recognition that global climate change poses risks to human population health.”
lizzie says:
Friday, February 28, 2020 at 11:43 am
Antony Green
@AntonyGreenABC
·
3m
If the public elect a bad government then that’s a choice the public must wear until the next election. Why does everyone keep wanting to install constitutional coups as a normal part of our democracy? Vice-Regal intervention should only be in extra-ordinary circumstances.
———————————————————
But in Australia’s constitution the Governor General has the power in a democracy to dismiss a government who is damaging the country in a corrupt behaviour .
So what is the point of the Governor General if he/she is not allowed to do their job , yes dismissing a prime minister or government.
Maybe there should be a democratic referendum , asking the Australian Public do they want the Governor General to intervene and dissolved the current parliament
I’m getting more than a little bit of schadenfraude from the thought that a guy who believes he is is King of the World, is being brought down to earth by a teeny tiny virus he cannot control. 😀
At least the Iranian President is leading from the front.
Scott
Isn’t that an election??
I was under the impression that a cash transaction occurred when you are paid while making the purchase (as opposed to a credit transaction, when you are paid later).
So my question is would a bank transfer be regarded as a cash transaction? I can see people using over $10,000 in a bank transfer for things like cars, school fees and of course tradies.
I suspect the new legislation is aimed at payments using the folding stuff.
I would prefer the government to make coins illegal.
lizzie says:
Friday, February 28, 2020 at 12:15 pm
Scott
Isn’t that an election??
—————————
Yes Lizzie , if the majority of the public in the referendum wants the corrupt government to be dismissed , the governor general is forcing the wish of the public, not a coup
In Australia when we elect a bad government and have to wear it until the next election, at least that’s only three years. Spare a thought for the countries with four or even five year terms.
PeeBee
Then the cheapest price for anything would be $5.
I wonder who is encouraging the Andrews government to approve Uber-helicopters over Melbourne. Noise pollution to the max.
Lizzie, EFT means thing can be priced less than $5.
But if you don’t use a EFT, then you pay $5 without getting change.
Trump Throws A Fit Because Nobody Took His Coronavirus Press Conference Seriously
Donald Trump’s press conference on Wednesday did nothing to calm the fear that many Americans have about the coronavirus outbreak that has now reached U.S. shores.
On Thursday, the president threw a fit that his made-for-TV coronavirus press conference wasn’t viewed favorably by the public, blaming the media for not raving about how “calming” it was.
“It would be really nice if we could be recognized by the press fairly,” Trump whined. “I gave a press conference yesterday that was really a very good press conference, and some people thought it was great.”
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/02/27/trump-throwing-a-fit-because-nobody-took-his-coronavirus-press-conference-seriously.html
phoenixRED @ #167 Friday, February 28th, 2020 – 12:29 pm
PeeBee
Our coffee shop won’t do tap and go for less than $6. My bank transfers have to be more than $10.
“Always a tweet”
***
Check out this gem from half way through election night 2012. Obama ended up winning both the popular vote and the electoral college once counting was finished, unlike Trump four years later.
And we sell goods for 50 cents and up at the Op Shop.
Dr. Dena GraysonVerified account @DrDenaGrayson
Infections in #Italy and #Iran *more than doubled in just 2 days* with ~900 #coronavirus cases combined. People who recently visited continue to seed new #CoronavirusOutbreaks elsewhere. #Kuwait has 43 new cases, all tied to Iran.
#SouthKorea (largest #CoronavirusOutbreak outside #China) has 256 new #coronavirus cases (total = 2,022). Officials plan to test *200,000 members* of a church that’s now a #COVID19 hot zone.
⚠️#Nigeria confirms 1st #coronavirus case in sub-Saharan #Africa, an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and just returned from Milan to Lagos (population: 21 million).
Coronavirus Live Updates: Cases Soar in Italy, Iran and South Korea as Alarm Grows
The virus sweeps the globe, with cases in at least 48 countries
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/world/coronavirus-news.html
With the exception of 2004, the last time a GOP candidate won the popular vote was in 1988.
Scott – what legal precedence do you have to support your claim that the current government is corrupt and that the GG has the power to dismiss them?
C@tmomma @ #124 Friday, February 28th, 2020 – 8:13 am
CSL this week:
24/2 -3.25%
25/2 -0.45%
26/2 -4.14%
27/2 +2.22%
28/2* -1.69%
* With 3.5 hours of trading left.
For the month of February 2020 (so far) -0.47%
For 2020 (so far) +12.63%
Since IPO (1994) +40,236.36%
Time is money. 😉
(Sources: Commsec, Yahoo Finance, personal records.)
DISCLOSURE: I own the princely amount of 32 shares in CSL, purchased 28/12/2016 for $100.38 (including brokerage). Share price performance as at close of trading yesterday+216.3% (+43.89% p.a.). Total Return (share price plus dividends received during that time frame) +220.95% (+44.56% p.a.).
C@t and Lizzie, you both raise good points, but I still hate them.
Scott – you don’t even appear to understand the Parliamentary process to organise a Referendum. Perhaps you could explain how you see that being organised by the current Parliament.
lizzie
Uber has always been pretty aggressive at seeking regulatory approval for its services. In many cases it has simply started operating, arguing that its new type of service was not covered by existing regulation.
I do not see any difference here.
In case anyone is wondering, these things will make ZERO difference to surface traffic congestion. The capacity of 1000 one person helicopters is the same as a single lane on a surface road. Relative to the 900,000 + person movements in the Melbourne CBD it will not make a disernable difference. It will be expensive, exclusive travel for a techno elite.
PeeBee
Because of my rheumatic hands, I cannot handle coins without dropping them, but still need them occasionally. For me, tap and go solves much social embarrassment.
PeeBeesays:
Friday, February 28, 2020 at 12:21 pm
The main problem with coins are their size, especially the 20c, 50c and $1.
Looking for a good coronavirus tracker? This website is aggregating global statistics and links..
https://bnonews.com/index.php/2020/02/the-latest-coronavirus-cases/
I have just read this article about the Monetary cul-de-sac that the world has gotten into since the GFC and the timidity of Central Banks to start raising rates again, instead even cutting them further as they are strong-armed by loud-mouthed Populist Authoritarian leaders. It has left them with virtually nowhere to go now that a real shock to the global economic system, Coronavirus, is occurring. If you have the time, read it:
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/in-the-eye-of-the-storm-global-economy-is-heading-for-a-sudden-halt-20200226-p544ej.html
Jaeger says:
Friday, February 28, 2020 at 6:23 am
The data suggests that more than 0.5 million people are infected with the virus.
What data? The official tally is less than 100,000 – mostly in China.
The official data is incomplete. There are cases that are asymptomatic and will therefore not present for testing. These cases can be asymptomatic for an unknown number of days during which they will be infectious. There are new cases identified that have no known direct connection to any already-identified case. This means the virus is not contained but is spreading socially.
The rate of re-infection is said to be about 2.5, which should mean the number of cases would double every 7-10 days or so. But the number of new cases identified outside China is doubling almost every day, suggesting the actual number of cases would be 10-15 times greater than the number that have been clinically identified. It’s also possible that the rate of transmission from some individuals will be much higher than 2.5. For example, around half the cases identified so far in Korea have been indexed to a single individual.
Consistent with this, the social-media claims in China suggest the actual number of cases is also 10 times higher than the official number.
The fact is that right now no-one knows what the number of cases is but we can readily conclude the offical tally cannot include all cases…not by a very long shot.
Socrates @ #146 Friday, February 28th, 2020 – 8:50 am
There are only two things that motivate movements in the stockmarket:
1) Greed
2) Fear.
Obviously #2 is the prevailing emotion right now.
The Efficient Markets Hypothesis is blatantly crap. If it were true, any given company’s share price would remain flat until such time as the company makes an announcement to the market, such as annual profit, change in business outlook, etc. Then it should move up or down according to whether the news is good or bad.
For actively traded shares the price changes from day to day. Occasionally it might be flat from one day to the next, however that is the exception rather than the rule.
Leaving aside possible pandemics, how can a company’s shares be worth more (or less) than they were yesterday if there isn’t any news from the company? The fluctuations are due to the above mentioned motivators, not from anything rational such as “efficient markets”.
Danama,
Your knowledge of the economic theory of efficient markets appears to be as weak as your knowledge of the need for reconstructive breast surgery.
lizzie says:
Friday, February 28, 2020 at 11:16 am
@cheryl_kernot
·
1m
Imagine what Commonwealth Serum Laboratory current share surge could be adding to Budget bottom line – if only it hadn’t been privatised! Not to mention benefit of public ownership in current health crisis. #auspol
————————————-
If CSL was still a government department then it would be smaller because it would not be exporting to the US or elsewhere and regardless of who owns something does not prevent the state from taking certain actions. CSL would love to produce a vaccine.
Bucephalus says:
Friday, February 28, 2020 at 12:50 pm
Scott – you don’t even appear to understand the Parliamentary process to organise a Referendum. Perhaps you could explain how you see that being organised by the current Parliament.
———————————————–
Section 128 of the Constitution specifies that alterations to the Constitution cannot be made without a referendum.
The way to stop the governor general from using the power to dismiss prime minister or government ,is by a referendum
so until then
The calls for a governor general to dismiss a corrupt / lawbreaking government is democratic under Australia’s constitution
The Up Shut Australians?
Bucephalus @ #186 Friday, February 28th, 2020 – 10:19 am
Your knowledge of my level of knowledge appears to be on par with your knowledge about everything else (ie somewhere around zero).
FML
George Conway
@gtconway3d
·
20m
It’s unfortunate for the nation that the public-health professionals find themselves having to contend with
@realDonaldTrump
’s personality disorders while they are combating a dangerous infectious disease.
Quote Tweet
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
· 31m
“Anti-Trump Network @CNN doing whatever it can to stoke a national Coronavirus panic. The far left Network pretty much ignoring anyone who they interview who doesn’t blame President Trump.” @trish_regan @FoxNews Media refuses to discuss the great job our professionals are doing!
Coronavirus versus Capitalism..
(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc has barred more than 1 million products from sale in recent weeks that had inaccurately claimed to cure or defend against the coronavirus, the company told Reuters on Thursday.
Amazon also removed tens of thousands of deals from merchants that it said attempted to price-gouge customers. The world’s largest online retailer has faced scrutiny over the health-related offers on its platform, and earlier this week Italy launched a probe into surging prices around the internet for sanitizing gels and hygiene masks while it battled the biggest outbreak in Europe.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-amazon-com-idUSKCN20L2ZH?taid=5e587c7ef3794d0001183a00&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
The problem with Donald Trump is that he sees everything through the prism of Reality TV. That if he gets the optics right, everything else will follow.
The Coronavirus takes no notice of Donald Trump, Fox News or any other of his propaganda outlets.
DP is right about the market.
A share price is not necessarily the value of a business but what the market thinks. A greedy market will push a share price higher and a fearful market will push a share price lower. The media would be better to report company news than the day to day change in share price.
Scottsays:
Friday, February 28, 2020 at 1:21 pm
You didn’t answer either questions:
1. What legal precedence do you have to support your claim that the current government is corrupt and that the GG has the power to dismiss them?
2. You don’t even appear to understand the Parliamentary process to organise a Referendum. Perhaps you could explain how you see that being organised by the current Parliament?
Just because you don’t like the politics of a decision by a Minister doesn’t mean it is corrupt.
There is no basis for the GG to dismiss anyone.
You don’t know how a Referendum is arranged or how this Parliament would do so.
Stop making a fool of yourself.
Danama,
Your explanation of the EMH wouldn’t even get a single mark in an assessment for Economics 101.
Resubmit.
Mexicanbeemer
Many argue that all information is reflected in the price and therefore that is all that matters.
Whilst the world is panicking about coronavirus and plunging stock markets, Turkey (a NATO partner) and Syria (a Russian vassal) are escalating the shooting.
Btw, this is the Turkish state media’s summary, so take with a grain of Trump salt..
“Turkey early Friday carried out missile attacks on targets in Syria’s central Hama, northwestern towns of Nubl and Zahraa, as well as in regime and Russian bastion, Latakia, in response to the Assad regime airstrike that killed 22 Turkish soldiers.
The military also pounded Assad regime targets with artillery along the frontline in Idlib.
Earlier in the day, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan convened an emergency meeting over tensions in the war-ravaged Syrian city.
Security sources told Daily Sabah that all ministers and senior officials, including the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief Hakan Fidan, were present in the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Communications released a statement on the Turkish offensive against Syrian regime forces.
It said Turkish forces have neutralized at least 1,709 Assad regime soldiers, as well as 55 tanks, three helicopters, 18 armored vehicles, 29 howitzers, 21 military vehicles, six ammunition depots, seven mortars and four Soviet-made DShK heavy machine guns.“
https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/turkey-hits-russian-assad-regime-bastion-latakia-in-western-syria/news
Bucephalus @ #196 Friday, February 28th, 2020 – 11:02 am
Your assessment of my “explanation” wouldn’t get a single mark at any half decent primary school. I didn’t explain it, I merely pointed out what utter bollocks it is.
The peloton ain’t the place to be – from Guardian blog
“Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish are among riders who will be tested for the coronavirus after the UAE Tour was cancelled on Thursday when two participants contracted Covid-19.
The final two stages of the race were due to take place on Friday and Saturday but the race was abandoned when the Italian duo were taken ill. All riders and staff were confined to their rooms at the Crowne Royal Plaza Abu Dhabi Yas Island, with concerns that the potential outbreak could now extend to the UCI world track championships in Berlin after some riders who took part in the early stage of the UAE Tour already in Germany.”