Essential Research: gender equality and Australian history

Not the Eden-Monaro by-election news: an Essential Research poll, electoral reform in South Australia and election day roll management potentially to go digital.

Three entirely unrelated bits of information that don’t involve the Eden-Monaro by-election, for which another dedicated post is assuredly not far away (the most recent, and its attendant discussion thread, is here):

• This week’s Essential Research poll looks at indigenous issues and gender equality, finding broadly liberal viewpoints prevailing in each case. On the former count, most agreed that indigenous Australians and Pacific islanders had been “forced to work in Australia in conditions that amounted to slavery”, but 42% agreed that “many of the new cases of Covid-19 in Victoria have been from people who attended the Black Lives Matter protest” compared with 37% who believed it to be false. On gender equality, majorities somehow managed to agree both that there was “still a long way to go” and that it had “already been mostly achieved”, though a lot more emphatically in the former case. Respondents were also asked who got paid too much (bankers and lawyers) and too little (nurses and teachers).

Tom Richardson of InDaily reports on an imminent package of electoral reform in South Australia, which may include the introduction of optional preferential voting. Labor leader Peter Malinauskas has accused Premier Steven Marshall of a move to “rig the next election”, and invoked the bogey of “the polarisation of our democracy in the way we have seen in the United States”. Malinauskas’s real concern is more likely to do with Greens preferences, the system having raised no such concerns for the Labor governments that introduced them in New South Wales and Queensland, back when its main impact was to weaken intra-Coalition preference flows in three-cornerned contests. The Greens have also declared their opposition, which would leave its upper house fate in the hands of the three survivors of the Nick Xenophon disturbance. The government’s reforms may also include crackdowns on corflutes (which seem to be particularly popular in South Australia) and dissemination of how-to-vote cards at polling booths.

Justin Hendry of IT News reports the Australian Electoral Commission is looking into a full rollout of the electronic certified list system for marking off voters, which operated at around 10% of polling places at last year’s election. This replaces the more familiar method of paper lists marked off by pencil, which offer no guarantee the prospective voter has not already voted somewhere else beyond the requisite verbal assurance. As such, it can genuinely help prevent multiple voting, unlike a lot of other supposed electoral reforms that are invoked in its name. However, it may also constitute a point of vulnerability to nefarious actors.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

3,724 comments on “Essential Research: gender equality and Australian history”

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  1. Zerlo
    “Nath is Shorten’s most devoted fan.”

    Maybe that’s why Shorten wore a mask? He’s tired of being followed by adoring fanboys like nath, so he went out incognito. Plus, it hides his “handsome” features (as noted by nath).

  2. Melbourne residents in coronavirus hard lockdown fear a lack of access to mental health and addiction services

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-07/health-concerns-rise-in-coronavirus-melbourne-tower-lockdown/12427940

    He said the community was frustrated with the lack of information, and frustration was quickly turning into anger.

    “There’s absolutely no trust,” Mr Dini said.

    “We should have seen buses and cars full of healthcare and mental health workers and social workers, not the police.”

    He said there were many people in all the towers that struggled with addiction and needed immediate access to methadone and clean syringes.

    “At this stage, we know some people who use drugs and substances and have been locked away and will go into withdrawal which could spark domestic violence,” he said.

    “We need people to make mental health calls; we are asking for counsellors to share their numbers so people can call them directly.

    “I’m scared the longer we go, the more [mental health] problems we are going to have.”


  3. nath says:
    Tuesday, July 7, 2020 at 10:44 am

    Pegasus. No doubt. Fortunately I’m around and firmly in charge of the Shortenwatch Initiative.

    I am surprised Margaret Simons broke the news, surly your admiration is so deep you would be in full stalking mode.

  4. “ the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said at a briefing on Monday afternoon: “I think the world is looking at us as a leader in Covid-19.”

    Correct Kayleigh. Just not in the way you think. …

  5. I know I’m only a lurker here but this is beyond the pale.

    Nath wrote:

    She also wrote about Shorten years ago:

    “Bill Shorten likes to be liked, and he is good at it too. He is handsome, smart, boyishly charming and a reflex flatterer. He is almost a flirt.”

    Respectfully, what kind of sick fuck has a quote like that on standby to post on a forum that will influence absolutely nobody in the country any further on what they already think and feel about Bill Shorten?

    I’m not a mental health expert but, seriously, I think you need some help.

  6. So peg, do you think assuming a staged photo op without evidence is a good thing like Nath’s doodles, or a bad thing when the usual suspects do it? Why the inconsistency?

  7. frednk. It took me 3 minutes and a google search to do what I just did. I can take care of Shorten and his pathetic ploys in my spare moments.

  8. Melbourne residents in ‘hard lockdown’ say they pleaded for more help three months ago

    Authorities ‘failed to listen’ to several calls for cleaning and resources

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/07/melbourne-residents-in-hard-lockdown-say-they-pleaded-for-more-help-three-months-ago

    But residents and relatives of those in “hard lockdown” said they had been calling for more resources for their estates back in March when Victoria first went into stage three restrictions.

  9. I’m assuming PM still under doona as he was when I posted yesterday? Bookies paid out, “Thankyou linesmen, Thankyou ball boys(yes I know, sexist) “ just waiting for those bloody great corflutes the Libs put up disappear !

  10. Philip Cornish
    @pkcornish
    ·
    44m

    One of the ironies of the current situation is Melbourne is that some of the drivers of these developments in the first place was to clean up slums and promote healthier better housing

  11. Margaret Simons generating some #bringbackbill activity:

    Plip Torm
    @MortPhil
    Replying to
    @MargaretSimons
    and
    @billshortenmp
    Onya Bill. True colours always come shining through.
    #BringBillBack
    @billshortenmp

  12. Andrew_Earlwood

    “The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said at a briefing on Monday afternoon: “I think the world is looking at us as a leader in Covid-19.”

    Correct Kayleigh. Just not in the way you think. …”

    😀

    Better watch out US, Brazil is nipping at your heels.

  13. A Labor rat? Peter Khalil, member for Wills on twitter

    MEDIA RELEASE: Public housing lock-down shines light on disadvantage. I grew up in public housing & know first-hand the challenges residents face. It is upsetting & concerning that these vulnerable people are experiencing the state’s harshest lock-downs. Interviews: 0421 334 938.

  14. Doctors working in major Sydney and Melbourne hospitals fear an escalation of coronavirus outbreaks spread by healthcare workers, accusing hospital administrators of “bullying” those who demand protective masks – including on COVID-19 wards.

    Three doctors who spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs said nurses, physicians and ward orderlies were being forced to work in unsafe conditions, with contaminated bins “overflowing” and access to masks restricted.

    Hundreds of healthcare workers are among the 8586 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia to date, including 88 in NSW and 216 in Victoria, where recent infections have been detected in nurses and other workers at the Northern Hospital, the Alfred, the Epworth and the Royal Melbourne.

    A specialist doctor at a major Melbourne public hospital said medical staff anxious about contracting SARS-CoV-2 and unable to access hospital supplies were forbidden from bringing their own cloth or surgical masks to wear.

    Those who defied management and wore masks were subject to “black stares” and rebukes, the doctor said.

    “None of us signed up for these jobs in order to die on the frontline. We’re not soldiers,” the doctor said.

    https://www.theage.com.au/national/doctors-bullied-by-hospital-administration-for-asking-to-wear-masks-20200703-p558v2.html

  15. Watch out Albo:

    Zana Trenerry
    @petuniasweetpea
    Jul 5
    I miss Bill! #bringbillback
    @AustralianLabor

    Zana Trenerry
    @petuniasweetpea
    3h
    I miss Bill! #bringbillback

  16. 7 new cases in NSW today all returnees but one had already left quarantine when he developed symptoms and has gone back into isolation

    No mention of the cases in Albury

  17. ThorylJohnson
    @JOHNO_74
    Replying to
    @bruce_haigh
    I agree
    @AlboMP
    far to soft for a leader. He got to stop being Mr Nice guy and give it to this Gov or better still #BringBillback

  18. Lizzie
    Yep that was why they were built and its fair to say it differently worked to help transform Melbourne but they also highlight the problem with simply lumping a large group of people together when that includes many people with underlying issues.

  19. Khalil on twitter

    1/2 LISTEN: While I completely support the need for a strong health response I am deeply concerned about the effect this hard lock-down will have on already disadvantaged residents. Listen as I discuss with @sandyaloisi on @abcnews
    this morning.

    2/2 The bigger issue here is how everyone, fed, state & local govts, engage with ppl who live in public housing. It’s been woefully inadequate & inappropriate for years & this crisis is shining a spotlight on it. Let’s use this opportunity to act by increasing funding & resources

  20. If Morrison is away on holiday (rumoured to be Hawaii), he hasn’t placed MickMack in charge, because he wants us to believe he’s still at his post. I’m waiting for one of the brilliant investigative journalists to reveal the truth.

  21. Kakuru
    says:
    Tuesday, July 7, 2020 at 11:11 am
    How may sock puppets do you have nath, in your #bringbillback crusade?
    _______
    I must admit that a 3rd concession speech is a delicious prospect…..

  22. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jul/06/tiktok-may-be-data-collection-service-disguised-as-social-media-liberal-senator-says?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_b-gdnnews&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1594021583

    ‘Liberal senator Jim Molan made the comments to Guardian Australia after Nationals MP George Christensen accused TikTok of being “used and abused” by the Chinese Communist party and called for it to be banned. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has also urged caution on people handing over their data to the app.’

    boewar and co would love this (because it’s anti Chinese).

    The liberals all know about data, stolen data, spy networks, spy satellites, listening onto the international cables.

    Spy base in Australia.
    The National Security Laws for spying.

  23. lizzie: “Philip Cornish
    @pkcornish
    44m
    One of the ironies of the current situation is Melbourne is that some of the drivers of these developments in the first place was to clean up slums and promote healthier better housing”

    I don’t know about that, but most of the tower blocks did replace late Victorian housing in which families lived in cramped circumstances: often more than one family to a house. The rather paradoxical result is that the numbers of residents per square mile is actually lower in some of the tower blocks than had been previously the case on the land where they now stand.

    One theory that used to do the rounds was that Henry Bolte loved the tower blocks because they would concentrate a large group of rusted-on Labor voters in 2-3 electorates.

  24. nath @ #3060 Tuesday, July 7th, 2020 – 10:29 am

    Kakuru
    says:
    Tuesday, July 7, 2020 at 10:06 am
    “And a nugget for those of you who like to make this an argument about @billshortenmp, though you weary me. He was there last night, and was one of the people who was getting it sorted out. No media. Nobody would know this if I didn’t tweet it.”
    I vaguely recall nath mentioned it. Typical nath – he’s always singing the praises of Bill Shorten.
    ___________________________________
    Margaret Simons wrote that. The free lance journalist who just happened to take that photo and post it when Shorten arrived at the towers yesterday. She also wrote about Shorten years ago:

    “Bill Shorten likes to be liked, and he is good at it too. He is handsome, smart, boyishly charming and a reflex flatterer. He is almost a flirt.”

    So she clearly knows Shorten and is a supporter who would like him back as leader. The fact she called him handsome……well….

    So now it’s a crime in the nathiverse to like and admire Bill Shorten!?!

    Just to be crystal clear, nath has today, and this shows his perverse fixation on Bill Shorten, either dragged out of a folder this description of Bill Shorten by Margaret Simons, from years ago, or trawled the internet this morning to come up with it so that he, as the Bill Shorten-fixated miscreant that he is, could post it on PB today.

    Just think about that for a moment.

  25. The number of active cases has fallen to 5; meaning that one of the community cases detected in the last 28 days is now considered false positive

  26. Zero:’Nath is Shorten’s most devoted fan.’

    Now that you mention it, it is so obvious. Why didn’t I see this before. The fact that he can’t stop talking about him shows the infatuation!

    I guess, the unrequited love explains the material Nath uses. He is desperate to get Shorten’s attention and will try anything to get it.

  27. The G

    Labor MP Peter Khalil, is now being attacked on social media for his comments (as reported by Luke Henriques-Gomes) questioning the ‘hard’ (police detention) lock down of 3000 residents in nine Melbourne public housing towers.

    We demand politicians speak their minds, and represent their constituents instead of their party lines, and when they do, they are accused of working against the party.

    It is possible to question an extreme ‘public health’ measure, which has not been applied anywhere else, other than to residents of public housing (so far) and not be a traitor to your party.

  28. nath @ #3081 Tuesday, July 7th, 2020 – 10:54 am

    frednk. It took me 3 minutes and a google search to do what I just did. I can take care of Shorten and his pathetic ploys in my spare moments.

    Ah, I see. Simply a Bill Shorten-fixated miscreant. Seems the Local Member can’t do their job anymore because you will be subjected to the spiteful (most probably jealous) Vinegar Verde Tits Brigade.

  29. The G

    The federal government should provide funding to leaders of culturally and linguistically diverse (Cald) communities to help ensure vital public health messages reach all communities, the opposition says.

    Labor is today calling on the government to make communications grants of up to $5,000 available to Cald community leaders and providers, saying the Covid-19 pandemic “is a difficult time for all Australians and it’s essential everyone know how to look after themselves and those around them”.

    The grants would aim to break communication barriers within existing official health information, provide translation of important messages, and build resilience and improved engagement with emerging Cald communities. Labor says the grants – worth $500,000 in total – should be directed at smaller, grassroots organisations.

    Guardian Australia reported yesterday that residents inside the nine public housing towers under “hard lockdown” in Victoria translated an information sheet about the restrictions and public health measures needed to contain Covid-19 into 10 different languages, distributing it within the affected buildings via social media and text messaging in just 24 hours.

    The call for grants follows a report by the national Covid-19 health and research advisory committee that argued “community representatives and trusted intermediaries that have long track records and capacity to engage with groups at high risk are essential to Covid-19 communication efforts”.

    Labor’s immigration spokesperson, Kristina Keneally, said the grants would provide “more resources to translate and print Covid-19 newsletters, publications, signage, websites, advertisements, brochures, video, radio and public service announcements from existing official information services”. Successful applicants could also participate in Covid-19 training offered by local, state or federal governments.

    Keneally said in a joint statement with her Labor colleagues Andrew Giles and Anne Aly that the Morrison government needed to “better support Cald communities and engage with community leaders who represent emerging communities during this public health emergency”.

    “We must ensure no one is left behind during this ongoing pandemic – a virus does not check someone’s cultural background before it infects them.

  30. I don’t know why the cops are getting bad press at the high rises. From what I see on to, they are just standing in groups out front having a chat.

    It shows me police command are not on top of this. Poor deployment of resources and everyone collecting some easy overtime.

  31. Yes Peg,

    One need only scroll past a few of the moribund and inane comments from the Laborite cabal on PB to see some of the clearest examples of hacks getting upset and triggered by actual local members actually speaking or acting on behalf of their constituents. Rather than just repeating whatever major party trope is on the media talking list that they’ve been given permission to speak on that day.

  32. Disappointing to see free sausage rolls are described as disgusting. What do these tower people eat normally – fillet steak with truffle sauce?

  33. Oakeshott Country
    Given that NSW has pretty much got it under control what is you view on this sort of stuff being printed by the age:

    Three doctors who spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs said nurses, physicians and ward orderlies were being forced to work in unsafe conditions, with contaminated bins “overflowing” and access to masks restricted.

    https://www.theage.com.au/national/doctors-bullied-by-hospital-administration-for-asking-to-wear-masks-20200703-p558v2.html

  34. To be fair , i do not think shorten would be appeasing the media , Labor would be attacking the incompetence of Morrison and co, day after day there would likely be no rest , what’s currently happening

    Labor attacks for 1or 2 days, than nothing

  35. Don’t you just love the way Pegasus treats us here on PB like a ward full of Alzheimers patients who can’t click over to The Guardian and read it for ourselves?

    I guess when you don’t have an original thought in your own head that’s the best you can do by way of a contribution. Bless!

  36. Good Morning

    Pegasus

    It’s good to see real representation from Labor.
    As Khalifa says it’s not party political. It’s not about attacking whatever level of government. It’s about representing your constituents.

    We have even had posters on here attacking the validity of complaints pretending an MP would fake a note dropped from a window rather than address the issue.

    It’s amazing to me that Labor partisans attack people saying we need a care led approach not a force led approach. As if that’s saying let the pandemic rage.

    The truth is we know the LNP would be worse. So raising these issues is not party political.

    Apparently representing your constituents is politicising the pandemic.

  37. MB

    Most political comments on twitter should be taken with a grain of salt.

    Ditto for the countless unsubstantiated claims made on PB by some of the most prolific posters on PB day in, day out.

  38. TV showing the near empty pantry of a flat dweller. Only a few items of food in it from donations. Never seen a pantry that clean. Strange that this pantry only has food that was donated, surely there should have been some other items in there, like a salt shaker.

    I’m calling it fake news to embarrass Chairman/Slack* Dan.

    *Not sure what discription we are using today.

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