Two things:
• At Antony Green’s prompting, the Northern Territory Electoral Commission has published breakdowns of the various candidates’ preferences flows at Saturday’s Johnston by-election, providing measures of the impact of highly unusual preferencing behaviour by the Greens and the Country Labor Party — remembering that the Northern Territory prohibits dissemination of how-to-vote cards is the immediate vicinity of polling booths. Having done the unthinkable and put Labor last, the Greens’ preferences split 56.9-43.1 between Labor and the Territory Alliance, compared with my own rule of thumb that Labor gets 80% of Greens preferences when they are so directed and 75% when no recommendation is made. Note that this is the Territory Alliance rather than the Country Liberal Party, and that Labor’s flow would presumably have been somewhat stronger had it been otherwise. The CLP no less unusually put Labor second, and their preferences went 52.9-47.1 in favour of the Territory Alliance.
• JWS Research has released its latest quarterly True Issues report, confirming the impression of other similar polling that the salience of the environment and climate chnage spiked over summer. Respondents were separately asked to name three issues off the tops of their heads and to pick the five most important issues out of a list of twenty, with confusingly different results – environment reigned supreme in the first case, but in the second it trailed cost of living (which ranked low when unprompted) and health (second in both cases). Perhaps the most revealing point is that environment increased in the prompted question from 33% a year ago to 42%, while immigration and border security fell from 36% to 25%. The federal government was reckoned to be performing well by 28% of respondents, down two since the November survey, and poorly by 35%, up two. The survey was conducted online from a sample of 1000 from February 20-24.
When green growth is seen in the burnt areas will the alarm over AGW start to fade in voters’ minds?
The US Supreme Court has announced it will hear arguments for the latest Republican-backed challenge to the Affordable Care Act before the November election .. but judgement will not be delivered until 2021
Amy Klobuchar Drops Out of Presidential Race and Plans to Endorse Biden – NYT
Also on twitter, there are reports she will appear with Biden in Dallas tonight
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-drops-out.html
Interesting timing, 538 was forecasting her to win Minnesota tomorrow and she leads the most recent polls there
Appears to be another stalemate in Israel, with perhaps Bibi squeaking in.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party is projected to win the most seats in Israel’s election, according to exit polls.
Why it matters: The exit polls are not official results, but they project a strong performance from Netanyahu in Israel’s third elections in 10 months despite a looming corruption trial. Both Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, his centrist rival, failed to form coalition governments following elections in April and September.
By the numbers: The Channel 13 exit poll shows Netanyahu’s Likud party winning 37 seats and his right-wing bloc 60, just one short of the 61 needed for a majority.
Gantz’s Blue and White party receives 32 seats and his center-left bloc 52.
Avigdor Leiberman’s non-aligned party wins the other 8 seats.”
https://www.axios.com/israel-election-exit-polls-netanyahu-wins-eb6f6b94-37cb-43db-98b5-5319c98ac1ad.html
After 3 elections, still no clear result in Israel
3min ago
Kan exit poll: Likud to win 36 seats, right-wing to get 60
The following are the results of the Kan public broadcaster’s exit poll:
Likud: 36
Blue and White: 33
Joint List: 15
Shas: 9
United Torah Judaism: 8
Yamina: 7
Labor-Gesher-Meretz: 6
Yisrael Beytenu: 6
Right-wing bloc: 60
Center-left/Arab bloc: 54
Yisrael Beytenu: 6
Concern for the Environment has become like Concern for World Peace.
Everyone is for it. But, that is about as deep as it goes.
Once again, bread and butter issues dominate the actual consciousness of voters and drive voting decisions.
The NT poll seems to show that Labor can win without the hand break the Greens represent. This is because more moderate voters will consider voting for Labor if they are not associated with Greens nihilism.
Time for Mike Bloomberg to drop out. And Elizabeth Warren.
The NT vote also showed the majority of people who vote Green will put Labor second even if the HTV tells them to do otherwise.
6 people now dead from COVID-19 in America.
You’re doing a heck of a job, Donnie!
Wow. John Kerr was not only a Constitutional vandal, but a lecher as well..
Elizabeth Reid
“She also worked closely with the governor-general Sir John Kerr — a man whose legacy was defined by his decision to sack Whitlam as prime minister on November 11, 1975.
Now, for the first time, Ms Reid has detailed new claims of an unwanted sexual advance made by the (then) governor-general when she was an adviser to Whitlam.
Ms Reid spoke about the incident during an interview covering her early career in politics recorded for the new ABC podcast series, The Eleventh.
Her most serious allegation concerns a time when the governor-general, who had been drinking, tried to “make out” with her.
They were in a tight space, and he pressed his body up against hers.
“I mean, he was pawing me … with his hands and his body.”
“I had to get out of here to disentangle myself from it,” she said.
Reid said she distinctly remembered “a shuffle”, and feeling his undergarments through his shirt, “because I remember at one stage thinking, ‘Oh, oh, that man is wearing a corset.'”
These allegations were never put to Sir John Kerr, who died in 1991.
Ms Reid acknowledges that he is unable to defend himself.“
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-03/womens-adviser-elizabeth-reid-allegations-against-sir-john-kerr/11757584
C@tmomma @ #7 Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020 – 7:10 am
They are both playing spoiler roles now.
This is a genuine photo of Mike Pence with the Coronavirus Team. Praying. 🙄
lizzie @ #13 Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020 – 7:44 am
Scott Morrison. All show, no go.
C@tmomma says: Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at 7:26 am
Looking at the bald bloke (second from the right, back row) you can almost see what he’s thinking, “Oh, for effs sake! What the hell am I doing here!?”
C@t
The ABC made such a feature of it that anyone not aware of all Morrison’s little games would have thought it was a new program. I certainly wasn’t aware, since I ignore most of his promises anyway.
@Kronomox,
I think the bloke in front of the bald guy just farted…
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
Stimulus is only a matter of time writes David Crowe. He says the political about-face will be shameless. The party that flayed Labor for going into deficit during the global financial crisis is preparing to justify its own red ink by blaming trade wars, the drought, the bushfires and the virus.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stimulus-is-only-a-matter-of-time-20200302-p5465q.html
Peter Hartcher says that it’s no longer about preventing an Australian outbreak. Australia is now figuring out how to live with the COVID-19, rationing the virus to the capacity of the health system, preserving as much economic activity as reasonably possible in the process.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-may-be-beginning-to-learn-to-love-the-virus-20200302-p545zy.html
Professor Benjamin Cowie says governments and health systems are getting ready for what will become a significant challenge, but other sectors need to plan too. This is quite an interesting and sobering read.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/there-s-more-to-be-done-in-the-precious-time-left-to-prepare-for-covid-19-20200301-p545qt.html
Nine sport infrastructure projects were added to a spreadsheet of approved sports grants in the hours after the 2019 election had been called, Senate estimates was told last night. Oh my!
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6658646/nine-sports-grants-added-to-spreadsheet-hours-after-election-called/?cs=14350
ANAO executive director Brian Boyd told Senate estimates last night advised Estimates that between 8:46am and 12:43am on April 11 – by which point the election had been called and the government had gone into caretaker mode – that there were approvals for a further nine new projects sent to Sport Australia by the Minister’s office. Now THAT’s interesting!
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/senate-estimates-bridget-mckenzie-sent-several-spreadsheets-after-pmo-emails/news-story/1105ae7c31eae1c8363b053d1ff08f6b
A rather pissed-off Michael Pascoe goes back over the maths on government grant rorts and stops counting after $1.1 billion.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/03/03/michael-pascoe-liberal-grants-costs/
Anthony Galloway reports that the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s close relationship with fintech firm RateSetter will be investigated by the federal government amid concerns other green energy lenders are missing out on lucrative contracts.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/probe-into-clean-energy-finance-corporation-s-fintech-company-links-20200302-p545yj.html
Shane Wright turns to palaeontology to describe the budgetary and political situation the government finds itself in.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/dinosaur-of-a-problem-facing-the-morrison-government-20200302-p545wz.html
John Durie writes that Australian business leaders are unanimous in rejecting the value of another rate cut at this stage and in response to the virus, saying lack of funding is not the issue.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/leaders-dubious-on-benefits-of-more-interest-rate-cuts/news-story/80cfbec93d6654fff19fd5875010e00f
Paul Kelly says that the government seems to think the economy only has a coronavirus problem.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/coronavirus-why-its-vital-to-sing-from-same-economic-songbook/news-story/767fe91a14ab6a52b675c41a85efd127
Meanwhile coronavirus will slash 0.5 per cent off Australia’s economic growth this year according to new forecasts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/oecd-slashes-australian-growth-on-virus-fears-20200302-p54672
Coronavirus is the Coalition’s GFC – but will Morrison respond as Rudd did asks Greg Jericho.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/03/coronavirus-is-the-coalitions-gfc-but-will-morrison-respond-as-rudd-did
The Reserve Bank should hold off cutting interest rates on Tuesday and instead prepare the market for further easing, despite pressure building for co-ordinated central bank action to counter the coronavirus impact, economists say.
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/why-the-rba-should-hold-off-cutting-rates-20200302-p545y7
Two health experts in The Washington Post write “ . . . our underlying deep-seated social and economic inequities are likely to create unique vulnerabilities here. Add to this the current political climate – with low trust in institutions, scepticism (even disdain) for science, the expansion of anti-immigration policies and “post-truth” narratives – and we may have a recipe for disaster.”
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/the-coronavirus-could-hit-the-us-harder-than-other-wealthy-countries-20200303-p54689
In 2008, responding to the financial crisis, central banks helped avoid a Depression. Their ability to limit the economic fallout from the coronavirus is more limited writes Stephen Bartholomeusz.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/coronavirus-has-us-facing-a-global-recession-central-banks-may-not-be-able-to-come-to-the-rescue-20200302-p545zm.html
Australia now has a record number of underemployed workers, and total hours worked per person per month are also at an all-time low. Alan Austin reports on the latest jobs data ahead what many believe will be a dreadful week for the Government as a slew of economic data is about to be released and two-year bonds have just halved, hitting a record low yield of only 0.4 per cent.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/record-underemployment-as-government-braces-for-volatile-week-slew-of-new-data/
Phil Coorey writes that Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg like to assure us the economy will bounce back as soon as the coronavirus crisis passes. They are right. What they cannot predict is when that might be.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/the-economy-will-bounce-back-but-when-and-at-what-cost-20200302-p545wn
Paul Karp explains how Labor has labelled a cabinet committee with just one permanent member – Scott Morrison – an “abuse of process” that enables Morrison to call meetings protected by cabinet confidentiality, even if no other cabinet members are present.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/02/scott-morrisons-one-man-cabinet-committee-an-abuse-of-process-labor-says
Amanda Vanstone writes that the coronavirus issue has knocked a lot of paint off China’s image. She says it’s an humiliation of the highest order.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/pandemic-or-not-this-is-a-major-embarrassment-for-china-20200302-p545za.html
Jennifer Duke reports that Paul Fletcher has been urging the ABC to consider selling its capital city offices in areas such as Sydney’s Ultimo and Melbourne’s Southbank and moving to “purpose-built” facilities elsewhere.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abc-urged-to-consider-selling-inner-city-offices-20200302-p54635.html
Richard Denniss takes Frydenberg to task over his mocking of a wellbeing component in budgets.
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/the-treasurer-is-missing-the-mark-20200302-p545yi
A swathe of highly indebted companies faces an incipient funding shock and risk being shut out of the capital markets as the COVID-19 epidemic mushrooms into a global crisis, Standard & Poor’s has warned.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/coronavirus-could-set-off-a-dangerous-chain-reaction-in-markets-20200302-p545xc.html
Domenic Powell tells us that heads of Australian supermarkets have warned the coronavirus could affect stock of chocolate biscuits and chips as suppliers struggle to obtain certain packaging from China.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/no-biscuits-but-plenty-of-broccoli-food-packaging-a-main-coronavirus-risk-20200302-p5462g.html
Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who distinguished herself over the summer by suggesting “eco-terrorists” had started many of the nation’s calamitous bushfires, is now claiming ASIO is upsetting conservatives by warning about the rise of right-wing extremists. Tony Wright, like many of us, is singularly unimpressed by this scatterbrained senator.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/right-wing-senator-offended-by-asio-s-right-wing-extremist-warning-20200302-p5465x.html
John Lord gives us his second part of his perspective on Pentecostalism.
https://theaimn.com/pentecostalism-a-personal-perspective-part-2/
ASIO boss Mike Burgess has belatedly acknowledged that Right-wing extremism poses a threat to society — perhaps he might now tell us what he plans to do about it writes Mungo MacCallum.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/mungo-maccallum-asio-and-left-versus-right-extremist-threats,13650
The head of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has issued an unusually pointed communique regarding NSW’s inaction on its water sharing plans.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-under-fire-for-ad-hoc-non-transparent-water-management-20200302-p5464l.html
Nick Bonihady reports that the Governor-General will not use his power to unilaterally strip controversial sex therapist and commentator Bettina Arndt of her membership of the Order of Australia despite a bipartisan motion in Parliament calling for her to be expelled.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/governor-general-will-not-unilaterally-remove-bettina-arndt-s-order-of-australia-20200302-p5467q.html
The world may lose half its sandy beaches by 2100. It’s not too late to save most of them writes climate change professor John Church.
https://theconversation.com/the-world-may-lose-half-its-sandy-beaches-by-2100-its-not-too-late-to-save-most-of-them-132586
Margret Court and her husband Barry have set up a consul for Burundi, a regime suspected of persecuting gay people.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/margaret-court-s-church-set-up-consulate-for-anti-gay-african-regime-20200302-p5465m.html
According to researcher Elena Campbell adolescent family violence is a growing problem – and the legal system is making it worse.
https://theconversation.com/adolescent-family-violence-is-a-growing-problem-and-the-legal-system-is-making-it-worse-132663
Controversial changes to Sydney’s ferry services have been scrapped by the NSW government after a backlash to the plan from local communities and one of its own Liberal MPs.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/controversial-ferry-changes-canned-after-community-backlash-20200302-p5464i.html
Thousands of migrants were trying to find a way across Turkey’s western border with Greece yesterday, after Turkey opened its side of the frontier to migrants and refugees to leave the country for Europe. This is not going to end well as Greece beefs up it border protection.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/thousands-of-migrants-rush-border-as-greek-army-deploys-20200303-p5468c.html
Erdoğan is reaping what he sowed: Turkey is on the brink of disaster in Syria writes Simon Tisdall.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/02/erdogan-turkey-syria-assad
Exit polls from Israel’s third election within a year suggested Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies are ahead but still one seat short of a parliamentary majority needed to form a government.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/02/israel-election-round-three-begins-as-voters-head-to-the-polls
Apple gets a provisional nomination for “Arseholes of the Week” by agreeing to pay up to $500m to settle litigation accusing it of quietly slowing down older iPhones as it launched new models, to induce owners to buy replacement phones or batteries.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/mar/02/apple-iphone-slow-throttling-lawsuit-settlement
Cartoon Corner
Mark David
David Rowe
David Pope
Dionne Gain
Andrew Dyson
Cathy Wilcox
Matt Golding
John Shakespeare
Johannes Leak with an Israeli solution to Iran’s coronavirus situation. Complete with some racial stereotyping).
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/14573bfcb27cd6a4c5c521d3fa792300?width=1024
From the US
I was going to make some sort of disparaging comment about this rightwing religious nutjob but “Sigh.” will suffice –
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/02/liberal-senator-tells-asio-chief-his-use-of-term-rightwing-can-offend-conservatives
How very unsurprising –
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/02/vladimir-putin-submits-plan-enshrine-marriage-between-man-woman-russia
lizzie
Scrott is just demonstrating he believes in recycling 🙂
lizzie @ #16 Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020 – 7:52 am
That’s the essence of Scotty from Marketing. He has to be seen to be doing something every day. That’s the essence of Marketing. Play the ad every day so people get it and don’t forget it. So, if it’s a feel good thing like Plastic Recycling, then excite the Amygdala of the electorate with it and that will eventually wash away the bad feelings for Morrison.
Klobuchar out. Three down, two more (Warren and Bloomberg) to go.
Kronomex
Connie and Dutton – working together for the good of the far right wing.
weird listening to Winston Peters. He sounds like someone off ABC radio circa 1960.
C@t:
That Pence coronavirus meeting has only one woman. And I’d bet she isn’t one of the decision-makers, but a minute taker.
Buttigieg also endorses Biden.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-endorses-joe-biden.html
You wonder if Biden hadn’t won SC so convincingly and gotten himself back in the game whether the moderates would’ve pulled out.
“Klobuchar out. Three down, two more (Warren and Bloomberg) to go.”
followed soon after by Biden…
And then Sanders will be all that stands in the way of a Tulsi Gabbard presidency.
‘Stimulus is only a matter of time writes David Crowe. He says the political about-face will be shameless. The party that flayed Labor for going into deficit during the global financial crisis is preparing to justify its own red ink by blaming trade wars, the drought, the bushfires and the virus.’
Looking forward to Labor doing a bit of flaying of their own.
Does Labor do flaying?
Not too sure.
Of course he knew what he would be asked. I’d say he carefully prepared his defences, as he’d have to refer to his pollie masters before giving any answers.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stimulus-is-only-a-matter-of-time-20200302-p5465q.html
Somehow I get the feeling that the stimulus, if they are forced into a corner, from Grotty…Scotty from Marketing and Crony Corruption Co. Inc. will be a wonderful, marvellous, etc, etc, tax cut that will boost the economy and attempt to ressurect Jobson Growth from the LNP graveyard.
While the Russians would undoubtedly love a President Gabbard, she isn’t going to win the Democratic nomination, and is not going to win the presidency as an independent.
Kronomex @ #29 Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020 – 8:31 am
They won’t get away with it.
Labor will flay them for their shameless hypocrisy.
They’ll be a laughing stock.
Laughing I tells ya!
Australia’s top medical officers will meet on Tuesday to consider whether mass gatherings such as sporting events should be cancelled as the country grapples with the first two cases of community transmission of coronavirus.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee – made up of Australia’s chief medical officers – will meet to consider whether it was necessary to introduce bans on mass gatherings including large sport and entertainment events.
Catherine King MP
@CatherineKingMP
·
32m
Road rorts, sports rorts, drought rorts, regional rorts, environment rorts.
You name the rort – it flows back to this one-man Committee.
#auspol
Quote Tweet
Senator Penny Wong
@SenatorWong
· 1h
The PM has created a one-man Cabinet Committee: himself. He invites other people to it as he sees fit. It’s a trick so he can meet with anyone to discuss anything – and claim Cabinet secrecy. One more way Scott Morrison is dodging scrutiny and hiding information from Australians.
As we all suspected, Morrison is running government as if his most important goal is to keep us all in the dark. Watching Estimates questions is like watching the slow grinding down of a stone monument, while Cormann keeps trying to turn the machine off.
Kronomex @ #19 Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020 – 5:09 am
Poor little Connie!
It appears his comments touched a raw nerve.
Even though I could never see her advocating violence, these groups would cheer on many of her pronouncements.
lizzie @ #36 Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020 – 5:38 am
He has his Church and others as a model to work from.
Just grind people’s opposition into the dust and get complicit brainwashed individuals into your Holy Roller tent. That’s the Scott Morrison, modus operandi.
To be honest I would have been more shocked to discover that Sir John Kerr wasn’t a groper.
Public health, of course, might be part of Wellbeing, which Frydenberg and Morrison mock as unnecessary. All part of their dismissal of basic services as giving in to softies.
‘People are going to die’: Trump trashed for ‘sitting in front of the TV’ and whining about Fox News amid coronavirus outbreak
In an attack on his favorite news network today, President Trump took to Twitter and slammed Fox News for “working hard” to promote the “radical left.”
“@FoxNews is working hard pushing the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats,” Trump tweeted. “They want to be, unlike their competitors, @CNN & MSDNC (Comcast), Fair & Balanced. When will they ever learn. The Radical Left never even gave @FoxNews permission to partake in their low rated debates!”
Many of Trump’s supporters agreed with his sentiment and lamented that adversarial reporting against Trump from Fox is becoming more and more routine. But others pointed out that Trump is simply attacking the network for not consistently giving him the glowing coverage he’s used to from figures such as Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham.
– Donald watching Fox, tissues in hand, crying because he wasn’t on the screen for ten seconds.
– Dude, there is a pandemic. Shut off your fucking TV and talk to doctors, scientists, and health professionals. People are going to die because you are so fucking caught up in what is on FOX News! My GOD.
– Maybe during the onset of a pandemic, you should be making believe that you are actually working rather than broadcasting to the world that you are just sitting in front of the TV
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/people-are-going-to-die-trump-trashed-for-sitting-in-front-of-the-tv-and-whining-about-fox-news-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/
Bellwether
Alcohol, corsets, self-aggrandisement. Makes the right picture, doesn’t it!
lizzie @ #34 Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020 – 8:38 am
Won’t get away with it.
There’s an opposition don’t cha know.
Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #38 Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020 – 8:43 am
Want to read how modern churches operate? This story about the South Korean ‘Church’ at the centre of the Coronavirus outbreak is horrifying!
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/secretive-cult-behind-the-korean-coronavirus-outbreak-has-branches-in-australia-20200220-p542qg.html
These ‘Religions’ are just fronts for brainwashing that coerce with the Bible.
mundo,
Your Year 6 classes are about to start.
mundo
In the present political climate, it’s a question of who are the greatest rorters and truth-twisters, unfortunately.
Still a lot of denial on this site.
Let’s make it crystal clear.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/483944-rivals-worry-sanders-building-insurmountable-super-tuesday-lead
Edit: remember this holds true today. Biden’s strong wing has not changed the Super Tuesday lead for Sanders
I’m not sure if the Caretaker Conventions apply here.
After all, it was all part of their election campaign! 🙂
The Guardian blog