The Australian reports the latest Newspoll has the Coalition’s two-party lead unchanged at 51-49, with both major parties down a point on the primary vote, the Coalition to 42% and Labor to 34%. The Greens are up two to 12% and One Nation are down one to 4%. Scott Morrison’s approval is unchanged at 66%, and his disapproval is down one to 29%; Anthony Albanese is respectively down three to 41% and up one to 38%. Morrison’s lead as preferred prime minister is now 56-26, out from 56-29. The BludgerTrack leadership trends (see also on the sidebar) have been updated with these numbers. The poll was conducted online from Wednesday to Saturday, from a sample of 1512.
UPDATE: The Australian has helpfully published a PDF display of all the poll results, including for a suite of questions on coronavirus and its foreign policy implications. Opinion was divided as to whether the World Health Organisation (34% positive, 32% negative) and United Nations (23% positive, 21% negative) had had a beneficial impact on the crisis, but quite a lot clearer in relation to “Xi Jinping and the Chinese government” (6% positive, 72% negative) and “Donald Trump and the United States government” (9% positive, 79% negative). Further results are available through the link.
Bucephalus:
[‘So many people don’t seem to understand how our Constitution or Federation works.’]
Please stop the condescension.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2020/jun/10/the-toppling-of-statues-overseas-might-give-australia-pause-to-reconsider-who-we-celebrate#comment-141458701
Bucephalus @ #1598 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 6:39 pm
Michael Moore seems to makes films for their emotional impact, not necessarily truth.
I don’t really understand his political views (what non-American can really understand the politics of any American?) but he gets so many significant things fundamentally wrong in his latest film that it is hard to believe he did any research at all, and has not simply decided to spruik a particular line – either because it makes more impact, or because it makes more profit.
Bucephalus @ #1593 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 4:28 pm
Some people seem to be sharp on certain details, when it suits them, but ignorant of how it actually works and comes together most of the time.
When we return the taxing power to the states and do not have a vertical fiscal imbalance then it will not matter so much that the PM is a lying corrupt fool who fails to lead and blames others.
Our son and his family have just arrived at their apartment at the embassy in Beijing after an exhausting journey. Last night they were put up in a less than salubrious hotel near the Beijing airport to await clearance from their Covid-19 tests. Here is the menu for the minibar. Some interesting items available in the rooms.
pukka @ #1596 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 6:37 pm
Mundo remembers all this.
Never understood why Labor couldn’t defend itself effectively.
Still don’t.
In the public mind ‘pink batts’ is a by word for total clusterfuck.
Nothing will change that now.
I heard some tory use ‘school halls’ as a perjorative the other day on the telly with a Labor operative on the same panel.
Said nothing.
Nada.
Nyet.
Zero.
So very happy for a distant relation of mine – Harley Bennell. What a story of persistence. Everything crossed that it goes well from here (except against WCE – he should be rested for that).
mh
Unfortunately the AWM has become a Coalition toy.
At the moment a uniform worn by B R-S holds pride of place just opposite a sort of shrine within the shrine of various sets of medals among which in each set there is a VC. I seem to recall that there is a citation in each case.
The name of B R-S has now been linked to, I believe, something like 7 allegations of war crimes.
B R-S has stoutly defended his innocence and has taken court action to protect his good name.
No charges have been laid. No trials have been held. No convictions have been recorded.
B R-S is, therefore, innocent.
Colston’s statue was chucked into a river. It took centuries, but there it lies: in the mud.
I look forward with intense interest to observing the fate of the uniform.
WeWantPaulsays:
Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 6:50 pm
“When we return the taxing power to the states and do not have a vertical fiscal imbalance” – that could easily be fixed by fixing the GST – move to 100% of the tax base instead of half and allow States to keep 100% of there GST.
BK
haha. No Pangolin patties or Ghost Bat Chips.
Was the ‘mouth rinse’ actually alcohol?
boerwar @ #1600 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 4:41 pm
I think that is a bit unfair.
So let me just add within that three point structure:
1. The time to talk freedom of speech and human rights is before you do 30 years of making your economy dependent on the trading partner you now want to give lectures to.
Freedom of speech, where such freedom exists and it has not ever really been a Westminster / Australian thing, is freedom from criminal repercussions from ones own Government and even then not freedom from consequences. There has never ever been a concept in international trade and relations that says you can just bag your trading partner and they should take it. It is an absurd frame in this context.
2. Abbott welcomed Xi into a joint sitting of Parliament as a good and close friend, that might have been a time to mention anything we were really concerned about. Since then we have seen a steady line of LNP types, including Turnbull trying to use anti-Chinese racism for domestic political purposes, including the disgraceful leak of classified information to topple Dastyari (not a sad thing of itself but a pretty dodgy method). Trump actually came relatively late to the party and his weird trade war with China kind of confused things rather than clarified anything.
3. The targetting of Australia is not accidental, our Government has been goading them for many years in a clearly racist way for domestic political purposes. We sided with the US and said stupid things about their border disputes and rights to build little fake islands to expand their territory. We went out on our own against Huawei, again largely for domestic political purposes when even the US was not doing so. And while the US did deliberately sit back and watch China steal IP from all over the world, they did later come to regret it, and they actually do have a telecommunications industry that has fallen well behind Huawei which they are trying to protect, we don’t even have that, our participation is insane. Also it is basic power politics, the US is much bigger than us and while China has and will no doubt in the future take aim at the US, with Trump as leader we in Australia make a really soft target. You want to make you point, express power but without actually enraging the USA, hit Australia’s economy. We have painted a target on our back and begged to be slapped around, and the only surprising thing is how very restrained and proportionate the Chinese punishment for our behaviour has been.
Bucephalus @ #1609 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 4:57 pm
The country did fall for the stupidity of the GST fixes everything con once, lets not be so stupid again.
Barilaro gives Berejiklian a wack on closures.
All class.
WeWantPaulsays:
Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 7:04 pm
” lets not be so stupid again.”
Definitely – don’t let idiot non-Government Senators bugger it up again.
Nice turn of phrase from Chalmers, satirising ScoMo, regarding the withdrawal of benefits from workers on JobSeeker:
“You’ve had a go, now off you go!”
So, Bucephalus implicitly demeans other posters for not being up to speed with the nature of the Constitution, the federation but leaves it there – convincing not, bringing to mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCRZZC-DH7M
WWP
‘There has never ever been a concept in international trade and relations that says you can just bag your trading partner and they should take it. It is an absurd frame in this context. ‘
1. Uh, the ‘bagging’ consisted of calling for an enquiry into the origins of the Virus.
2. I don’t understand what point you are making in this point. How does that relate to the right of Australian prime ministers to make public statements?
3. China has a pattern of abusing economic power for political purposes, of genocide against the Uighers, of unilateral grabbing contested islands and militarizing them, of persecuting Tibetans, of executing political enemies of Xi under the guise of rooting out corruption, of exploiting a massive prisoner population for forced organ removal and slave labour, of supporting mass murdering megalomaniacs like Kim Il Jung, of depriving the citizens of Hong Kong of their democracy and of their human rights, and of militaristic sabre rattling.
And your summary is that we are goading them. Think about that for even a nanosecond.
As for Sam…
Dastiyari went, as he should have, because he took a $30,000 backhander and then used his position to tout the justice of such wonders as the military occupation of contested islands.
BK
How much is 38 in Aussie dollars?
BB
Yep. Great line.
Bucephalus @ #1614 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 5:07 pm
The flaws in the GST were not introduced by the democrats, who should have honoured their promise to the electorate and opposed it. Their subsequent decimation was entirely deserved.
The flaws were that it just was never ever going to do all the things stupid Costello promised.
Bushfire Bill @ #1615 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 7:11 pm
‘satirising ScoMo’ is the way to go.
Shellbell @ #1619 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 7:14 pm
After the latest China bagging? About A$13 billion.
mundo @ #1621 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 7:15 pm
Labor needs to let Chalmers off the leash let him have his head and see if he can do any real damage.
Shellbell
About A$7
boerwar @ #1617 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 7:14 pm
Poor ol’ Sam, if he’d been responsible for Robodebt he’d be sitting pretty.
Bushfire Bill @ #1620 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 7:11 pm
However, I’m predicting nath will find much to be unimpressed by with Dr Chalmers. Just waiting patiently for that inevitability. 🙂
The full sentence was
‘You’ve had a go, now off you go to Centrelink.’
‘Michael Moore seems to makes films for their emotional impact, not necessarily truth.’
Like Liberal campaign ads. Works a treat.
BK wrote:
Maybe I shouldn’t venture a comment regarding Chinese establishments, but reading a menu outside a Chinese restaurant in Burwood, Sydney, that includes “Stir fried fungus with pig testicle” IS a bit off-putting to Western tastes.
Granted: they probably didn’t expect I’d wander in off the street for a feed.
P.S. the same restaurant urged patrons to “Please don’t bring your own food”!
I wondered what could possibly beat pig testicles?
BB
Culinary cousin to the Prairie Oyster.
boerwar @ #1628 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 7:22 pm
Not quite as snappy.
Should have run it past Adman, he’d have advised them to drop the centrelink bit.
As you know I have been saying the left movement in the States is growing.
Apparently Fox’s Tucker Carlson thinks it’s much bigger than I ever claimed. In his latest comments about Black Lives Matter he claimed the left has taken over the Pentagon.
Paddy Manning has also noticed Scott’s smugness:
https://www.themonthly.com.au/today/paddy-manning/2020/10/2020/1591767993/corona-smug
boerwar @ #1618 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 5:14 pm
1. The bagging has been extensive, consistent and racist since the racist furore around the Port of Darwin lease. The corona virus stuff has just been stupider and more racist than most.
2. The Australian PM can make any statement she or he wants in the national interest, abusing the regional superpower is within their purview and rights, if they want that super power to view them very negatively, and to treat them like a hostile regional annoyance.
3. You are in for a shock when you read about colonialism, and the US use of power around the world leading up to and including an illegal invasion and destruction of Iraq.
Yeah China does bad things.
We cage refugees in concentration camps and attack the most vulnerable Australians.
The US doesn’t all sorts of really bad things at home and abroad, see illegal destruction of Iraq. See mass extrajudicial executions of people just for being black.
The ability to make credible and sensible pleas for good behaviour is diminished by two things:
* the kind of stupid racist partisan behaviour we’ve seen from the LNP, and
* the weakening of international concensus and institutions.
Who actually would bring credibility to investigate corona and bring international pressure on China? Well WHO actually.
What did our stupid racist muppet of a Govt do?
They undermined WHO, and made a loud chest thumping demand of China, as a stand alone country, or as a vassal slave / sacrificial lamb for the USA.
Again we are lucky China has been so proportionate and restrained in its response we have been so very very very stupid in ours, and sacrificial lambs, well they get sacrificed, it is part of the job description.
It vacillates, Shellbell.
FWIW, I don’t hold the Greens responsible for Doig’s behaviour.
They might want to have a look at their vetting processes but that sort of stuff would be extremely difficult to pick up.
I don’t know whether rock spiders still get the treatment that they used to but, were I Doig, I would be giving that particular matter some careful consideration.
WWP –
This is not the promise that the Dems made at the 1998 election. This has been pointed out before.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Democrats#1997-2004:_Meg_Lees,_Natasha_Stott_Despoja_and_Andrew_Bartlett
“attack the most vulnerable Australians” by spending $30 billion annually on them.
“We cage refugees in concentration camps”.
Utter rot – perhaps you could ask an actual concentration camp survivor what they are really like compared to the facilities provided by Australia.
guytaur @ #1635 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 5:27 pm
😆 😆
NZ is good – yes?
Let’s be like NZ – yes?
They have GST on 98% of the tax base – Domestic Rent is about the only thing excluded.
You pay a fee everytime you go to the GP.
Bucephalus @ #1642 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 5:35 pm
I didn’t realise that there was only one kind of concentration camp.
WeWantPaul : i dunno. its not just one federal election to cancel or postpone & reschedule, its 50 separate state elections run on the same day. it wouldn’t be martial law imposed uniformly across the country, but in 50 separate state jurisdictions. so i don’t think that’s likely, but, hey, i could be wrong, why not. but watch that space, eh.
however, declaring/tweeting, for example, that a supreme court finding against an administration claim that “massive voter fraud” occurred in a crucial swing state(s) is “invalid”, while at the same time calling on willing/republican state governors to move their national guards to d.c., is an extreme scenario for sure, but, according to steve vladeck at lawfare, the movement of state national guard units to d.c., to be placed under federal command there, does appear to be supported by legislation as it stands today. initial responses by other law professors/practitioners at Vladeck’s twitter feed this morning agreed with him that it is an “unsettling” loophole & the legislation needs amendment urgently. -a.v.
https://twitter.com/steve_vladeck
WWP
‘1. The bagging has been extensive, consistent and racist since the racist furore around the Port of Darwin lease. The corona virus stuff has just been stupider and more racist than most.”
What is racist about calling for an inquiry into the origins of the Virus?
‘2. The Australian PM can make any statement she or he wants in the national interest, abusing the regional superpower is within their purview and rights, if they want that super power to view them very negatively, and to treat them like a hostile regional annoyance.’
Morrison called for an inquiry into the origins of the Virus. I am glad that you support his democratic right to do so and that you support the human rights involved in an individual having the right to call for an inquiry. Very glad. I am assuming on that basis that you condemn outright Xi’s attempt to shut Morrison up. This is not only an assault on Morrison. It is an assault on your freedom of speech and mine.
‘3. You are in for a shock when you read about colonialism, and the US use of power around the world leading up to and including an illegal invasion and destruction of Iraq.’
Haha. I have been part of, and have studied intensively and extensively, colonial history all my life. There is absolutely nothing that would shock about colonial history. That settled, what has that got to do with the choice we face: buckle to Xi’s economic blackmail or shed our human rights?
Saying that the US has done similar things is true. But that is deflection, is it not?
I go back to the original question: Do you think Morrison, on behalf of the Australian people, should buckle to Xi’s economic blackmail? Do you accept that this would diminish both our human rights and our democracy?
Rex Patrick on twitter
“The Government and Labor just voted down a Senate inquiry into Australia’s relations with #China. There was full Crossbench/Greens support. I thank Liberal Senator Fierravanti-Wells for crossing the floor for the first time in 15 years and voting for the inquiry #auspol”
———–
Senate Inquiry Into Australia-China Relations
https://rex.centrealliance.org.au/media/releases/senate-inquiry-into-australia-china-relations/
C@tmomma says:
Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 7:18 pm
However, I’m predicting nath will find much to be unimpressed by with Dr Chalmers. Just waiting patiently for that inevitability.
________________
You must have looked over his book too!
Pegasus @ #1648 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 7:44 pm
Now why would LibLab not want any link$ exposed I wonder …? 😆
Not in enough comic strips in it?
boerwar @ #1645 Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 – 5:41 pm
I’m going to agree to disagree with you on the freedom of speech thing. I just don’t think it is what you think it is, I don’t think your base concept exists and I don’t think even if it did it would apply in the way you suggest.
The very worst and least defensible take on free speech seems to be where you are coming from. It seems to be the news corp frame, where if Andrew Bolt can’t say whatever he wants it is a gross denial of free speech but if a young Western Australian woman, or a sports broadcaster dare express a fact you don’t like they get sacked and driven from the country. It isn’t free speech at all it is an exercise in power disguised as free speech. That seems to be what you are saying.
When our PM says the stupidest racist idiot things it is free speech that MUST be given free reign and be free from consequences. When Xi says something it is blackmail that MUST be STOPPED.
If I was to apply the news corp model of free speech it is China that gets to say whatever they want and Australia that is destroyed if we step even a sentence out of line. That is just how power works in that model.
Ignoring the free speech stuff, and I think it should be ignored, you seem to come at the underlying international relations and commerce problem like there is some globally accepted and enforceable standards of behavior, such that relative power is irrelevant.
Now I’d be first to signup for a world like that, but it is NOT the world we have.
If anything we and the US have been tearing down the global consensus not building it up.
But even if we hadn’t there was a huge amount of the global consensus that the US pretty much just imposed on the world. eg IP rules. Even if we and the USA had worked very hard to build and strengthen international institution and consensus , there was always a risk as some point a super power like China is, or soon will be, would decide it needed rebuilding.
But right on the dawn of an age of Chinese power we and the US and the UK have been doing all we can to destroy international consensus and the institutions. It is like we are setting the table for them to do just whatever they want.
International relations and trade has always been about power. It was power that allowed us and the US to just kill 100000s of Iraqi’s because we wanted to. Noone went to jail for war crimes even when the whole war was a crime. No because it was a good and just war, but because POWER.
China has POWER, we have next to none, power is gonna power, and if we continue to have leadership like the LNP has shown one day China will do to us what we did to Iraq and our neighbours will laugh and say ‘well they had that coming a long time, how stupid were they’.