There are two situations vacant currently in the federal parliament: member for Eden-Monaro, with Mike Kelly’s successor to be chosen at a by-election on a date to be determined, and Victorian Greens Senator, with Richard Di Natale’s vacancy to be filled by a party membership ballot following a timeline I’m not privy to. The latest developments on these fronts are as follows:
• With Andrew Constance now in the rear mirror, the Liberals are going through a preselection process that has brought them to the closure of nominations, with the candidates not yet formally announced. David Crowe of the Sydney Morning Herald reported three likely starters: the presumed front-runner, Fiona Kotvojs, who ran in 2019 and remains popular in local branches; Jerry Nockles, an international relations expert and former Navy seaman; and Pru Gordon, a manager at the National Farmers Federation. Canberra news magazine CityNews reported that names being tested in Liberal polling included Nichole Overall, a Queanbeyan freelance journalist. Please note that there’s a dedicated Eden-Monaro by-election thread below this one.
• The Victorian Greens have attracted nine nominees to fill Richard Di Natale’s Senate vacancy, and helpfully laid them out on their website. The highest profile is human rights lawyer Julian Burnside, who ran unsuccessfully for the party in the seat of Cooper at last year’s federal election. However, Noel Towell of The Age reported in March that Lidia Thorpe, who won Northcote in a by-election in November 2017 but failed to retain it at the general election a year later, is also rated highly. The report said the same of Huong Truong, who held an upper house seat in Western Metropolitan region in the nine months before the election, but she is not among the nominees.
Yabba
Scriptsafe works perfectly on Chrome and I’m never bothered by ads.
The problem with Australia betting its continuing existence on the US is Trump.
Beyond that, one of the large US social moves that enabled a Trump presidency was war weariness.
The US Alliance has gone from being somewhat rational to clutching at straws.
Tasmania zero!
🙂
Only 8 cases in Australia today (same as 23rd and 27th April before the nursing home and abattoir clusters). And all confined to Sydney/Melbourne. Progress methinks.
Of course that depends on one’s personal point of view, doesn’t it?
But why does Google always come up in discussions involving the app?
We know tracking and tracing for crass commercial purposes is annoying, but since the app doesn’t do any of this, what’s the problem?
No-one has yet been able to tell me what kind of tracking is in the app that makes it so frightening that people are prepared to risk their lives and the lives of others by avoiding it.
Is there anyone here who misses out on a free flu shot, or who avoids a hospital emergency service because there is NOT a 100% guarantee they’ll get better, or not be infected?
It is the style of criticism that is my major concern. I have never heard Morrison talk about the rapture or the other more bizarre “end of times” theology but a constant theme on PB is that his policies are tailored to the coming apocalypse that he will escape.
Albo on the other hand believes that salvation only comes through drinking blood. His policies are therefore obviously designed to encourage vampirism.
BB there is nothing in the app to fear other than it won’t assist in its defined purpose. The upside is worth downloading the app.
Blobbit
I almost wept when I saw they way they had changed the wording of the GPL.
I think they have no idea of the philosophy behind the Free Software Foundation and GNU movement, making quality software freely available to everyone who respects GPL, and making your money out of providing support for implementing systems for government / corporations etc. who could afford to pay for support.
It is not as if it is inimical to capitalism. Make something freely available (just like a patent) and charge according to commercial usage.
Actually, after writing this, I fear the Federal Government lawyers understand very well the intent of the GPL, but have figured only a few nerds / geeks on sites like pollbludger would understand the travesty of the free sharing of essential code that this represents, and that we can be swatted away like small buzzing insects.
Oakeshott Country
says:
Albo on the other hand believes that salvation only comes through drinking blood. His policies are therefore obviously designed to encourage vampirism.
_______________________________
Which reminds me. What do you get when you cross an Anglican and a Mormon?
Somebody who knocks on your door for no particular reason.
Do you mean “won’t assist” as much as some people hope it will (or might), or “won’t assist” in tracking down even one single infection chain? 100.00% useless?
Bucephalus:
Both phones involved in the contact need to be running the App.
Each has a probability of 25% of doing so, so the probability that both are would be expected to be 25% of 25%, i.e. a little over 6%
For various reasons, I would expect takeup of 25% to capture 10 to 12%of contacts, better than 6% (mainly because people who are likely to have contacts are more likely to be running the App)
BB won’t assist to the level where it makes a difference.
EGT, I ask again: have you personally installed the app?
Douglas and Milkosays:
Monday, May 11, 2020 at 7:27 pm
“I do not believe that when Morrison appears on stage with Brian Houston (of Hillsong), and they give the pseudo-fascist salute while “praising” that they are unaware of the symbolism.”
Utter unmitigated crap.
BB I don’t believe it will be 100% ineffective.
Oakeshott Country @ #1155 Monday, May 11th, 2020 – 5:43 pm
I never read back over comments but very occasionally you see a comment upon logging in (like the above) that makes you truly wonder WTAF has gone on during the day! 😆
I actually hope it will never have to be used but that’s hope not reality.
Douglas and Milkosays:
Monday, May 11, 2020 at 7:30 pm
“The whole Catholic education sector!”
There’s going to be a shed load of ALP voting Catholics surprised by your categorisation of them as anti-ALP.
You should ask the Victorian Catholic Education sector about that in particular.
Once again – utter unmitigated crap – again.
Bushfire Bill:
I installed it a couple of days after release, I then forgot to foreground it while at chemo (my only contact) so “user error” I guess.
I’ve never objected to what it does, but instead to what it doesn’t do.
EGT yes it’s just one tool that may help. Nothing will work more than people taking personal responsibility amid respecting everyone else.
Nothing’s perfect, I guess.
Bucephalus
Yep,that’s Hillsong all right.
Poroti is that crap or clap?
One can be treated with antibiotics, the other you’re stuck with..
No the one where you wave your arms around and crap your hands together.
As we steadily progress towards opening up the country again, I am anticipating the state and territory government responses to future COVID-19 outbreaks, is namely of local or regional scale lock-downs.
The precedent being is the Tasmania Liberal Party government’s lock-down of the whole North-West of the state, forcing 5000 people (Health workers and their families) into quarantine. That was done response to a COVID-19 outbreak in local hospitals.
As I said earlier
Under an competent federal government, and authorities doing there job properly
there would be no need for the covid safe app
Those who are in the database of being infected with the corona virus , should not be in the public , they should be monitored by the authorities and being in insolation until cleared.
The only reason why the Covid app is here ,
Picking up the incompetence of the authorities for not doing their job properly , by not keeping those infected with the corona virus and in the database ,be in insolation.
davidwh
Hmmm,not sure how “If you’re happy and you know it crap your hands” would sell 🙂
Well, the debate swirls back and forth about The App.
The argument which does not hold water for me is the one about…………wtte….”What are you worried about? Google/Apple/Uncle Tom Cobbley and all have your details so that is life”. Point being of course, is that these large corporations are not the government, and while the likes of Microsoft basically owns my computer now, I can always get rid of it if I have to.
Once the government has its hooks into you it is another matter.
I smile at those who think The App is kind of benign helpmate but somehow MyGov is the personification of government evil. And, where are all those Liberals who just could not come at an Australia Card those years ago because they were worried about Big Brother government in those days? – Labor of course………………………….
Serenity Now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeSjt7cqq-k
Yep may be a hard sell poroti
‘poroti says:
Monday, May 11, 2020 at 8:24 pm
davidwh
Hmmm,not sure how “If you’re happy and you know it crap your hands” would sell ‘
haha. Good one. Kindy teachers everywhere will now have to restrain themselves from subverting the established order.
Scott @ #1176 Monday, May 11th, 2020 – 6:23 pm
I sorry, but that’s rubbish.
The app is just a sensible tool to help track down possible infections.
It doesn’t replace anything we already have, it just adds another layer to the manual interview and contract tracing that’s currently done.
It certainly isn’t the wonder tool that Morrison likes to make out, but it has its place.
4 corners on the US shit storm.
Recommend viewing to the right wing zealots around here..
At least Barney didn’t say it was crap. 🙂
The evangelicals are the groupers of contemporary politics. In the 1950s religious conservatives failed to colonise Labor. The fundamentalists have re-organised and cloned themselves inside the LNP, which is now a front organisation for an uneasy compromise between the Evangelicals and the Corporatists. Neither of these sects is really representative of contemporary culture….will be interesting to see how Liberalism is reshaped by them in the post-pandemic context.
Bushfire Bill @ #1154 Monday, May 11th, 2020 – 7:41 pm
I was not talking about the app, at all. Just Google Analytics, and ads in general.
As far as the app goes, my personal opinion is that it will be a waste of time and effort, because of limited effective takeup, and a high degree of uncertainty in the process of creating actual information from the maelstrom of data which it will attempt to gather.
Data is noise until it is refined, collated, verified and analysed. Information is that entity on which rational decision making can be reliably based.
davidwh
Mind you he did nae clap either 🙂
Say 100 people are in a crowded train carriage, for a 20 minute trip.
25%, or 25 of them have the app.
One person with the app is infected, and infectious, but has no symptoms.
EGT says the chances of two people with the app installed being proximate to each other are 1/4 * 1/4 = 1/16, or around 6.7%.
But in this case the chances are 1/4, because everyone with the app – all 25 of them – is stuck in that carriage (I’m assuming the “1.5 metre” distance the app is supposed to be limited to is approximate, and that contacts involving longer distancing might be picked up too).
Furthermore, I’d also assume that regular train travellers would be more likely to use the app, say 40%? That would mean 40 potential bluetooth handshakes on one trip.
Now say the symptomless traveller travels that trip 5 days a week. Discarding repeat customers who always sit in the same seat in the same carriage, you’d have to think that number might increase to 50 or even 60 contacts over the week before the traveller exhibited his first symptoms.
Importantly, those who had the app would be able to be tested and isolated sooner than the original carrier, thus slowing down or stopping at least the commuter arm of that infection tree.
I always thought that simply assuming all contacts were 1-on-1, and unique, rather than as part of a crowd was a flawed way of looking at the alleged deficiencies of the app.
And, of course, once word got out that the 8.15 from Penrith to Central was a known hotspot, you wouldn’t need the app to want to be tested, and quick.
And then you’d probably get the app, even if you tested negative. With a lot more doubters taking the plunge, once word got out that the app was detecting infections and helping to stop their spread.
Where’s the flaw there? Not nit-picky flaws, but REAL flaws.
What I’m getting at is that, in a way, the app IS like a virus: eventually one infected installer is going to find another installer, and exchange a kind of bluetooth DNA.
Yes that is one circumstance BB. Then there are shopping centers, supermarkets, chemists etc
Well, this should be interesting.
Buce
“I’m not saying that Border Force didn’t stuff up in that case. We will have a clearer picture once the Inquiry is completed.”
Indeedy. It was a clear failure of whatever system there is that’s in place. Part of that is probably going to come down to the lack of clarity around who had responsibility. There’s clearly issues there on the basis of what’s come out so far.
Cud Chewer @ #1186 Monday, May 11th, 2020 – 8:38 pm
Just disgraceful. And Trump is at the controls of that shitshow, doing naff all.
The impressive thing about Four Corners is that practically every American in it is caring and thoughtful.
We see Trump and the crazies he enables. We see Trump and the crooks that flock to the White House.
But there are lots of decent Americans we never, ever get to see or hear.
I would say it’s a pretty plausible one: not just standing next to one person, but standing next to 99 other people, with 5 chances at repetitions and new handshakes.
Thousands of people use public transport. Thousands more will be attending restaurants and sporting events, just to name two other “crowd” situations, once restrictions are lifted.
As the app bites, I predict much greater support for it. 5 million already and they haven’t even started the notification system yet. Wait until it saves a few lives.
You’d be a mug not to install it, unless Google scares you more than the possibility of death does.
What I’m suggesting is that the situation has changed: we can’t afford to luxuriate in the old rules and cautions.
“Give me liberty, or give me death,” is a nice slogan, but in the end it’s just a slogan.
frednk:
I’ve not read the COVIDSafe code, but that’s how BlueTrace works – server is involved in issuing the “TempID” (or whatever it’s called).
Server involvement is (arguably) needed because:
– server can sign the ID, so that if it is later uploaded by the phone user, it can be verified as being a real ID, rather than a forged ID that is part of an attack on the system. Moderate argument for this; counter is that a one-time key is needed from the public health authority in any event (to stop bogus reports of infection from holders of valid ID) and this would also stop the attack (more efficiently…)
– server can encrypt other stuff (that only it can decrypt) in the ID, e.g. the post code, phone number and five million copies of the name Scott Morrison. Assuming one is going to record this at all, then it is arguably better protecting of privacy to keep it in the encrypted ID, rather than in a table key by the ID. Weak to moderate argument for storing this at the time of ID generation in my view
The “advertising” is just ill informed – no-one is trying to do anything “wrong”, “malicious” etc, they’re just not very good at it (because it involves science and engineering and they’re mostly lawyers and marketing people).
The Apple-Google API will behave more or less as advertised; likewise the NHSX app mostly does (but has some problems that will need the Apple-Google framework to fix)
David wh:An early election, don’t believe it will happen, would be a disaster. We have enough to deal with already. Won’t happen.
————————-
Almost certainly won’t happen. It would mean a separate half Senate election in 2022 unless the Government could engineer some double dissolution triggers. That alone would take months.
boerwar
Yep, it has been one of life’s great mysteries to me to reconcile the wonderful generous people ( in other words like every other peeps in the world) I met and stayed with in the US with the sort of people that keep getting elected.
Should hit 1,000,000 tests this week
Trump and his risible corrupt cronies do not represent the silent majority. Fortunately.
I was bored so decided to read bludger from 11/3/20. Travel ban from Italy just enacted. No calls from anyone to shut down all travel. Common themes was toilet paper, Sanders, and Pell. Billie mentioned a couple of times to ban travel from US, both after reports of an unhinged Trump tweet. Otherwise, it was all about stimulus and possible recession, no calls for locking down completely.