For all that our world may have changed over the past three weeks, Newspoll has not: The Australian reports the latest result has Labor’s lead steady at 51-49. There has, however, been primary vote movement in favour of the major parties, with both up by two points: the Coalition to 40%, Labor to 36%. The Greens are down one to 12%, One Nation unchanged on 4% and others down three to 8%.
As with Essential Research, Scott Morrison has recovered somewhat from his post-bushfire slump, with his approval rating up three to 41% and disapproval down five to 53%. He now holds a 42-38 lead over Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister, who led 41-40 last time. Albanese’s net rating has also improved, his approval rating up one to 40% (The Australian report says down three, but I believe it has its wires crossed from the preferred prime minister movement) and disapproval down four to 40%.
In other findings, 75% support the government’s decision to abandon a budget surplus in favour of economic stimulus; 51% believe the federal government has managed preparedness for the crisis well; 66% are satisfied with federal and state government efforts to inform the public about the virus; but only 47% feel the same way about managing its economic impact.
UPDATE: The Australian’s reportage rather downplays the fact, but the poll found only 33% were satisfied with the economic response of governments (the question emphasised “both federal and state”) to the coronavirus outbreak, with 47% dissatisfied. The 75% rating in favour of stimulus did not relate specifically to the government’s policy, but to the general notion that “the Morrison government should provide a stimulus package to safeguard the economy”, with only 14% favouring the alternative option that it “should prioritise its promise to deliver a budget surplus”.
For the other questions, 76% of respondents were worried about the economic impact of the outbreak, versus only 20% for confident; 51% were worried, and 47% confident, about the preparedness of the public health system, for which 51% were satisified with the federal and state government response and 33% dissatisfied; and 63% were confident, and 35% worried, about “the amount of information available to Australians about how to protect themselves”, for which 65% were satisfied and 28% dissatisfied with the federal and state government response.
The poll was conducted Wednesday to Saturday from a sample of 1501.
M
There have been death threats made in relation to the Afghanistan War investigations.
Given what looks like psychopathic behaviour of some, as well as the skills training that goes with the job description, I would be taking the death threats very, very seriously indeed.
Combo of moral courage and physical courage required.
Rare.
True hero.
New Zealand gives Morrison & Frydenberg a lesson in providing an economic stimulus:
Boerwar @ #1149 Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 – 1:58 pm
As long as powerful warmongers continue to teach a culture of war and conflict to the next generation, madness such as these crimes will continue.
E. G. Theodore @ #1140 Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 – 1:42 pm
Do we not have the technical ability to produce washable/re-useable suits and masks with simple instructions ?
There was one single solitary chicken breast fillet left on the shelf today at Coles.
So I bought it. 😀
Who would argue with Nicholas now about MMT. We’re all about to be doing it I think.
Maybe we’ll just pretend to borrow the money from Mars, then quietly zero the debt a few years down the track. That’ll keep the books in order.
Hopefully some of the economic rebuilding gets spent on renewables.
Lots of promising work being done by several countries to get a vaccine and/or meds up and running. I am quietly optimistic.
Jacinda Ardern puts Scott Morrison to shame.
Re the Frydenburg judgement, due any minute now, I’ll be interested to see the reasons for the decision.
Woolworths were at it again today with their utter incompetence.
Brilliant strategy of opening the doors for the elderly and frail when the shelves were still empty.
Their lack of preparation and conduct has been scandalous.
Rex Douglas says:
Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 2:09 pm
Do we not have the technical ability to produce washable/re-useable suits and masks with simple instructions ?
In Rexology, Rinse and Repeat is always a winner
RI @ #1158 Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 – 2:15 pm
good one briefly 😆
IT is clear that responding to a pandemic is an area of knowledge Australia is proving to be not an expert in. One aspect I have been perturbed by is the lack of clear information on using public transport. Here we could learn from Asia, where they have been dealing with both viruses and crowded public transport for years. This article by a Chinese Australian academic suggests what precautions we should be taking. It is far more detailed and comprehensive than anything I have seen produced locally.
https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2020/03/17/ticket-to-safer-public-transport-during-pandemic/
Our government is going to save us from deaths, apparently.
Boerwar:
[‘Combo of moral courage and physical courage required.
Rare.
True hero.’]
Sure is. You’ve got to wonder about his mental health. He’ll certainly be ostracised by the SASR, hopefully nothing worse.
I have been receiving coronavirus updates from a Shenzen (China) supplier of CNC metalwork for parts from the lenses I used to manufacture. Although I no longer use their services, we keep in touch.
At first the updates were pretty dire. But this is the latest one:
There is hope.
“I’d get more insight from the publican at my local drinking establishment.”
Then go there Rex. Go blow the froth of a few beers, and help the economy.
😉
That hunt wouldn’t be telling us porkies ??
Confirmed cases hit 375, tests administered exceed 30,000
Health Minister Greg Hunt said Australia was testing at “one of the highest rates of any country in the world,” both on per capita and incident bases.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/nsw-government-s-2-3-billion-plan-to-rescue-the-economy-20200316-p54aoj
Joshy is in the clear.
Case against Frydenberg thrown out with costs awarded against the utter plank who tried it on. I hope he is bankrupted and his attempt to asset strip prior to the loss is thwarted.
The Federal Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, finds in favour Frydenberg.
[The federal court dismissed Staindl’s petition and ordered him to pay costs.]
Maybe he can recover this back via his defamation suit versus the PM
Lizzie
Its OK. Everyone can just charge it to their parliamentary expense card. Doesn’t everyone have one? Matthias always approves everything.
On the Courier Mail:
“Our government is going to save us from deaths, apparently. ”
What a relief! Imagine the death toll here, if Scomo was not in charge, and we only had doctors and nurses making the decisions on public health.
Frydenberg link:
https://www.smh.com.au/national/josh-frydenberg-eligible-to-sit-in-parliament-court-20200317-p54ax5.html
“If panic buying or cooking isn’t your thing, caterers have had their businesses slow down/come to a screeching halt as events are cancelled. Perhaps give a catering company a call & see if they’ll do meals for you to have at home?”
This is splendid advice. I’ve ordered a tray of canapes for dinner. If I’m not back in time from fox hunting, the butler can eat them.
Hollie Hughes’ idea has merit.
Some people will take what steps they can to keep local businesses going. Our local Italian restaurant is offering free delivery etc.
“ Case against Frydenberg thrown out with costs awarded against the utter plank who tried it on. I hope he is bankrupted and his attempt to asset strip prior to the loss is thwarted.”
You are a charming brute ain’t you Bukkake
shellbell @ #1178 Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 – 2:37 pm
I guess they can make their own pasta.
My brother-in-law makes pasta, among other things, for a catering company.
We’ve cut almost all elective surgery in our practice and we’re going to start looking at three staff redundancies next week. I have no faith in any stimulus package from Morrison.
I bet Buce was all for the courts testing the Dual Citizenship of the federal Labor & Greens MPs.
Yes, but where can you buy the flour?
So Morrison unilaterally made changes for the next parliamentary sitting and was then challenged by Labor. Was Morrison hoping to sneak through a bit of extra legislation like the religion bill or the attack unions bill?
Dio
Is SA health looking for staff of the type you are having to lay off?
Andrew, the little turd is vexatious litigant who deserves to be punished severely.
I had no problem with them going Joyce and the others who clearly were still foreign citizens but this was beyond the pale.
It’s all a puzzle.
My daughter just received a parcel from China which was ordered in January. Initial inquiries indicated the factory was closed but presumably they are now back in production.
A news item today said China has maintained imports of iron ore so hopefully production will rebound before too long.
After the Danes yesterday the Norwegian govt has set out what it will do for workers affected by #COVID19:
– Full pay for those laid off for 20 days.
– Self employed get 80% of their average income the last 3 years – ceiling 600k NOK (£48000).
– Money for all carers of Covid patients.
shellbell @ #1178 Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 – 11:37 am
So, businesses that make their money providing meals for dozens, if not hundreds of people at a time are going to survive making a banquet for a family of four or five people.
Yeah, nah.
“Rakalisays:
Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 2:51 pm
After the Danes yesterday the Norwegian govt has set out what it will do for workers affected by #COVID19:”
Amazing what an economy based on oil production can finance.
RI says:
Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 12:43 pm
beguiledagain says:
Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 12:31 pm
And did YOU see the interviews with the voters who were openly hostile to Sanders’ health policy?
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Given what’s happening in the United States and the entire world right now, only the terminally stupid would be hostile to Sanders’ health policy.
US voters are obviously loathe to put their medical security in the hands of the Feds. They may not like what they have (or don’t have) at present. But they are obviously very reluctant to abolish it and replace it with a State-run system. Considering the shambles that US government appears to be, who can blame them?
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As one of the true foot-soldiers for progressive causes, I’m surprised you have swallowed the right-wing hostility to universal, single-payer health and hospital insurance. To be fair you may be just stating what opponents are saying.
“In the hands of the Feds,” “State-run system.” Do you really suggest that basic health and hospital care can not be delivered by governments? What other basic services do you think the government should get out of?
You seem to be conflating the principle of access to health care as a right rather than a privilege dictated by your credit card, with the ineptitude of the shambolic Trump administration and other conservative governments that see society as an economy and not a community.
I’d like to see the result of polls which ask U.S. citizens whether they would like to see a truly universal health care system with coverage equal or better than they now get from their employer or the sharks in the private insurance industry. In other words the Bernie Sanders policy.
The idea that people would get less coverage than they do now is a right-wing furphy.
Ask that question over the border in Canada and you will find the overwhelming majority of Canadians support their full-on, no co-payments, no-gap, no bills system. Medicare is invariably cited by Canadians as the feature of their lives that make them Canadians and differentiate them from the U.S.
If the Bernie Sanders health policy works for Canada, as it has without controversy for more than half a century, why would it not work in the richest nation on the planet. And don’t just give me the right-wing Kool-aid of “socialized medicine.”
shellbell
“Is SA health looking for staff of the type you are having to lay off?”
SA Health has no money and isn’t employing anyone other than spin doctors.
Diogenes:
Given people who have worked in healthcare in any role whatsoever (inc admin) will soon be in short supply, it ought to be a complete no brainer for the government to second them in parallel with working out what they will do. That would be State government and specific to people currently working in healthcare, not a broader Commonwealth scheme.
guytaur says:
Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 12:49 pm
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/coronavirus-spain-nationalises-private-hospitals-emergency-covid-19-lockdown-2020-3?r=US&IR=T
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That raises an interesting question for Wombat.
If you have private health insurance, does that give you a leg-up in the system and mean that you might have a better chance of getting a ventilator than if you were in the public system?.
How does our two-tier health system work in a pandemic?
There are a bunch of businesses making scores of meals for purchase by the busy and the indolent families.
Amazing what a government that collects all the tax it is entitled to, doesn’t fritter it away on sports rorts, corrupt business transactions, donations and grants to its political mates, doesn’t cut taxes for its mates and has a vision for its future, can finance.
Blobbit
Amazing what an economy based on oil production can finance.
———-
But Denmark’s economy is not financed by oil.