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.
meher baba, not to further cloud the figures, but you might find this site useful.
https://www.covid19data.com.au/
She has a section on overseas versus local transmission.
Cud Chewer @ #342 Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 1:13 pm
Don’t have to skim. Know it all off by heart. And you can be a heart-broken little Bernie Bros if you want. 🙂
There’s an excellent possibility that Biden will choose a Latina woman as his running mate, possibly from the Sun Belt.
If coronavirus surges and the US economy goes into a nose-dive, it won’t matter who the dems run, a Drovers Dog could win that election…
151 had “direct or indirect links to travel outside of Australia” (they don’t define “indirect” so I’m not sure whether or not it includes people who are close contacts of people who have traveled overseas)
My thoughts are that this might apply to Uber, Taxi or Coach drivers who, from the airport, transported carriers from the airport to home.
Cud Chewer
Does your interest in HSR extend out to the UK scheme?
HSR2 is planned to come through my village .. in fact by 2032 (they say) I will be able to look out over t’cutting from t’back bedroom window 🙂
Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere…
Still sends shivers up my spine that song.
Alpha Zero @ #354 Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 1:31 pm
They will simply have to run ads of Trump’s reckless statements about Coronavirus while everyone is isolated in their homes. 🙂
Though, on a serious note, I wouldn’t put it past Trump to declare a national state of emergency so as to enable him to postpone the election in November.
meherbaba
“I don’t want to be critical of the authorities all the time, but I’m finding the data being put out by the various state and federal authorities quite confusing at the moment.”
Frankly, even if it the data were accurate, I’m not sure any of these stats are actually useful to the general public. Do we really need to know how many people have tested positive? Or how many have died? How does any of this info help the situation?
Of course schools should be closed. The purpose is to slow or avert spread. Spread is the method by which the virus survives. Stop the spread and you stop the virus.
Kakuru @ #353 Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 1:31 pm
From Jennifer Rubin’s musings that I put up earlier:
Kakuru @ #359 Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 12:37 pm
One reason. Secrecy erodes trust.
Kakuru @ #359 Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 10:37 am
Largely it’s just disaster porn.
Ale
@aliasvaughn
·
2h
We’ve been telling you this for TWO DAMN WEEKS. you have WASTED precious time that could have saved lives AND trouble.
Quote Tweet
NBC News
@NBCNews
· 11h
Americans “should be prepared that they’re going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing” to fight the COVID-19 outbreak, Dr. Fauci says.
“If you let the curve get up there, then the entire society is going to be hit.” https://nbcnews.to/33hIlu3
Show this thread
meherbaba
“I don’t want to be critical of the authorities all the time,
Why not? Their prejudice, incompetence, stupidity, laziness, secrecy and cowardice are responsible for the pandemic. This did not have to happen.
This “under investigation” category has ballooned in the last few days. Its dodgy.
Its like they are going out of their way to not say “community transmission”.
They’re not saying it because they know the testing rules are broken.
Neither are you shit for brains pretending to be a prime minister!
https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/morning-shows/coronavirus-karl-stefanovic-rips-into-minister-as-schools-remain-open/news-story/ad6a1d3fcf2cd142a4110d009be409d3
‘Zeh says:
Monday, March 16, 2020 at 11:17 am
Woops – Someone has been playing some games https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Vatican City – 568,000 cases 892,045 deaths 157% mortality rate’
This is not a statistical oddity and it is a pity that disciples of the Devil have removed it from an otherwise credible site. There is a Lancet paper which demonstrates that post resurrection people can still get infected with the Virus. And so can die twice. The paper was Papa-reviewed and is therefore considered a matter of faith and morals and is infallibly true.
Boerwar @ #345 Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 12:18 pm
Most parents would have made arrangements for the school holidays, these may not necessarily be changeable at short notice. If they were relying on susceptible grandparents or whoever as child minders, the parents would need a lead time to make alternative arrangements. Many tradeooffs involved.
C@t
I really don’t deserve the snark. As for Biden, the best you can say for him, perhaps, is that the Democrat establishment will support him fully. That does not mean he will win. The whole argument over who was more likely to be elected (Biden vs Sanders) was hardly an open and shut case.
I think you should also reflect upon the fact that the US is a failing state. Its institutions are weak. It has starving people. It has sick people. It has a stagnating life expectancy. It has massive incarceration, principally of poor people. Its infrastructure is crumbling. C@t I’ve lived in trailer parks and slept with the homeless. Its a miserable, fucked up country.
Why not try to convince me that Biden will fix this? Because given his stated policy positions I have no hope for the US, apart from him having an epiphany or adopting more Sander’s – like policies.
Boerwar @ #368 Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 1:46 pm
imprimatur is the word
Sleepwalking the US in to a catastrophe.
Alpha Zero: “If coronavirus surges and the US economy goes into a nose-dive, it won’t matter who the dems run, a Drovers Dog could win that election…”
Not true. That’s the same line of arguing that had it that the Australian Libs were so bad last election, that Labor would be able to beat them with a platform filled with tax grabs.
To me, Biden seems a bit senile, but to many American people he seems to come across as being mature, kind, safe and approachable. The Dems will need to stay on that message by choosing a V-P who looks well and truly ready to become President any time from election day onwards. After all, Joe will be the oldest new President by close to a decade. If the V-P looks like any sort of a loose cannon, Trump and Co will have an open invitation to run with “vote Joe, and you’ll get Warren (or whoever)”. That would be really stupid politics IMO.
Late Riser
“One reason. Secrecy erodes trust.”
That is a good reason, I admit. But it says more about the lack of trust in government more than anything of epidemiological interest.
Also, tracking the spread of the virus could be of public interest. But I think the ‘body count’ updates are of marginal benefit. We don’t do this for seasonal flu.
kakuru: “Frankly, even if it the data were accurate, I’m not sure any of these stats are actually useful to the general public. Do we really need to know how many people have tested positive? Or how many have died? How does any of this info help the situation?”
A steady flow of accurate data will help to reduce unnecessary panic and also enlist the public’s active support for the measures being implemented. It’s pretty basic stuff.
If the published data were more accurate and informative the population would be more likely to hold the government to account. This is something they are keen to avoid. This emergency has developed because the government have been less than forthright and have been inexcusably feeble in their decisions. This continues.
Shame we don’t have a steady flow of data from an adequate level of testing..
Kakuru @ #345 Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 12:37 pm
Transparency should be the default setting. The question to answer is more “what good is served by keeping the facts hidden?” than “what good is served by publishing the facts?”.
Also, with external players like the WHO declaring an official pandemic it’s not like the Australian government can effectively hide anything. That horse has bolted. At best we’d end up looking like Russia. No one, least of all their own citizens, is going to believe that the “63 cases” number is credible.
According to Alan Jones corona virus is the same as climate change……a big hoax
https://junkee.com/alan-jones-coronavirus-global-warming/246942
I watched some of Biden vs Bernie debate
Maybe I just caught certain moments, but it appeared Biden was wiping the floor with Bernie.
1. Biden looks Presidential. Bernie looks like a dishevelled, red faced, arm waving ideologue.
2. For all Biden’s ‘gaffes’, Bernie did the whopper continually referring to the ‘Ebola Crisis’ currently facing the world.
3. On healthcare, Bernie got stuck in copays, big pharma, improbable scenarios. Biden said simply ‘in this crisis, nobody will pay anything to be tested, treated. We will pay their mortgages, their rents if they are sick. It’s a war. We don’t quibble about cost when we go to war’
4. On global leadership, Biden appeared a natural to bring the world together. Bernie had favourites.
5. Biden gave a prepared monologue, starting ‘If Bernie wins the nomination, I will fully support him, and urge all my supporters and all Democrats, all Americans to support him as well. I would hope Bernie would do the same, and his supporters.. Our biggest threat is an existential one – Donald Trump.’. Bernie however, could only trot out his catalog of healthcare, etc, etc
Just my nickel and dime’s worth
meher baba
“A steady flow of accurate data will help to reduce unnecessary panic and also enlist the public’s active support for the measures being implemented. It’s pretty basic stuff.”
You have more faith in the public than I do. Public announcements of the rising tally of those who have succumbed to COVID19 may or may not reduce unnecessary panic; I’m inclined to think it may not. But I also take the point that in the absence of constant mortality data, the vacuum will be filled by speculation and misinformation. I admit I’m torn on this one.
Usa has cut interest rates to zero and QE will be next. The next wave of austerity is coming to shit all over the poor again.
sprocket_ says:
Monday, March 16, 2020 at 2:01 pm
I watched some of Biden vs Bernie debate
5. Biden gave a prepared monologue, starting ‘If Bernie wins the nomination, I will fully support him, and urge all my supporters and all Democrats, all Americans to support him as well. I would hope Bernie would do the same, and his supporters.. Our biggest threat is an existential one – Donald Trump.’. Bernie however, could only trot out his catalog of healthcare, etc, etc
Makes sense. Bernie is not a Democrat. He’s a Trojan horse inside the Democratic House.
To me, Biden seems a bit senile
1. You obviously didn’t watch the debate just now, nor does it seem as though you have watched any long form speeches or conferences Joe Biden has done.
2. Are you reciting Right Wing talking points about Joe Biden on purpose, meher baba?
Ray
Yes I’ve been following it closely since 2012. There is a lot Australia can learn from it.
Stock market is arse again today, but it needn’t be a big deal. The mindset of the people driving the prices down is the same as those stockpiling shit paper. I do feel for those who were planning to retire very soon, because this sort of market puts a massive dent in their super, and they’ll either have less to live on in retirement or have more reliance on topping up with the age pension which, given the clowns in charge, is probably not a reliable source of income any more.
Some generalised non-specific advice, then:
1. Dividends don’t drop just because the share price does, which means there are some bargains out there. So if you can, keep some cash around for when things bottom out, you’ll be able to buy some good income streams for next to nothing. Remember also that nobody knows when the market will bottom out, although some liars claim to know.
2. Give the market at least 3 years to recover. Remember that you invest for the long term.
3. Don’t borrow to invest no matter how tempting the low interest rates look. Who do you think is panic selling at the moment?
4. Don’t sell anything unless you desperately need the cash, or if the company looks like it will go down the tubes as a result of whatever caused the crash in the first place (eg. some travel companies may go to the wall if they haven’t got a Plan B).
“ According to Alan Jones corona virus is the same as climate change……a big hoax”
Hmm. … What age group is Jones in? Does he have any preexisting chronic illnesses?
Oh …
Cud
Ah, so you’ll be familiar then with the route change – the fast track missing Sheffield and careening through South Yorkshire (including where I live) with not a stop in sight 🙁
China’s Manufacturing, Retail, Investment Suffer Historic Slump
China suffered an even deeper slump than analysts feared at the start of the year as the coronavirus shuttered factories, shops and restaurants across the nation, underscoring the fallout now facing the global economy as the virus spreads around the world.
Industrial output plunged 13.5% in January and February from a year earlier, versus a median estimate for a 3% contraction. Retail sales fell 20.5% in the period, compared to a projected 4% fall. Fixed-asset investment dropped 24.5%, versus a forecast 2% decline. The unemployment rate jumped to 6.2%, the highest on record.
Gross domestic product is now all but certain to contract in the first quarter compared to the same period last year — the first time that has happened since comparable data begins in 1989.
“Covid-19 made the economy stop, from factories to spending,” said Iris Pang, ING Bank NV in Hong Kong. “As the coronavirus spread to almost everywhere, global demand and global supply chains will take a hit and will feedback to China’s manufacturers and exporters in March and April.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-16/china-manufacturing-and-retail-contract-for-first-time-on-virus?srnd=premium-asia
Alan Jones – FMD
Sources are saying that SkyFoxNews and Murdoch outlets are being directed to lie from home
AJ is in self-isolation in Fitzroy Falls.
“sonar says:
Monday, March 16, 2020 at 2:00 pm
According to Alan Jones corona virus is the same as climate change……a big hoax
https://junkee.com/alan-jones-coronavirus-global-warming/246942”
Perhaps he and his followers (all in the most vulnerable age group) would care to deliberately expose themselves to the virus and see if he’s correct. The beneficiaries in their wills would probably appreciate the money and assets coming their way.
Barney in Tanjung Bunga says:
Monday, March 16, 2020 at 1:41 pm
Kakuru @ #359 Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 10:37 am
meherbaba
“I don’t want to be critical of the authorities all the time, but I’m finding the data being put out by the various state and federal authorities quite confusing at the moment.”
Frankly, even if it the data were accurate, I’m not sure any of these stats are actually useful to the general public. Do we really need to know how many people have tested positive? Or how many have died? How does any of this info help the situation?
Largely it’s just disaster porn.
Mass death is not usually thought of as a form of amusement. You’re confusing spectacle with information.
RI @ #394 Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 11:44 am
Really?
Have you told the news outlets?
Alan Jones is 78 and had suffered a number of health problems in recent years.
Climate Change is not a hoax.
Neither is COVID-19.
Don’t we have laws to deal with menaces to society like Alan Jones!?!
Jones is a public health menace. He will contribute to the spread of the virus and thereby to illness and death. He should be taken off air. If this isn’t done the broadcaster should have its licence revoked. This should happen today.
Jones is like a pyromaniac, who, seeing a fire has broken out, turns off the water supply to the hydrant and throws accelerant onto the flames. He should be taken off the air.
Ray
You mean the decision to make Sheffield a spur and move the mainline east?
My understanding is that they are still arguing about that.