Miscellany: issues polling, drug law reform, Eden-Monaro wash-up, NZ poll

Concern about the state of the economy pushes climate change down the issue agenda batting order; evidence of a trend in favour of legalisation of cannabis; and New Zealand Labour still on track for a landslide in September.

Beneath this post is the latest offering from Adrian Beaumont on the polling picture in the United States ahead of the November presidential election. Closer to home, a few items of poll-related news:

• Pollster JWS Research has published results of its occasional True Issues survey, in which respondents are prompted to identify the five most important issues from a list of 20. The key changes since the last survey in February are a 17% increase for the economy and finances to 52% and an 11% drop in environment and climate change to 31%. The result for health issues has in fact changed little over recent surveys, although it has gained the top spot in the latest survey with a three point increase to 56%, overtaking cost of living which is down six to 53%. Interestingly, defence, security and terrorism is up six to 26%, which I take to reflect growing nervousness about China. Various other questions on COVID-19 are also featured, including findings that satisfaction with federal and state government performance is at record highs, with both scoring 19% for very good and 39% for good. The report notes that strongest results for state governments were recorded in Western Australia (83% combined very good and good) and the weakest were in Victoria (57%), although this is going off small sub-samples. The poll was conducted July 1 to 5 from a sample of 1000, just as the breakout in Victoria was beginning to gather pace.

• The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has published the National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019, in which 22,274 respondents were surveyed by Roy Morgan between April and September 2019 about their use of and attitudes towards illegal drugs. On the latter count, it found a plurality in favour of legalising cannabis for the first time, with 41% supportive and 37% opposed, with support having risen from 21% since 2007. It also found 57% support for allowing pill testing with 27% opposed.

• Kevin Bonham offers an interesting look at the unweighted data on voting intention that Essential Research effectively provides in its otherwise voting intention-less poll results, by way of identifying the size of the subsamples in its survey question breakdowns (for example, in the latest polls you can see from the “base” rows in the tables breaking down responses by voting intention that the sample included 299 Labor voters, 420 for the Coalition and 108 for the Greens). Notwithstanding the lack of weighting, the results paint an intuitively plausible picture of collapsing government support at the time of the bushfires, a reset when COVID-19 first reared its head, and an ongoing surge in Coalition support on the back of its support packages and the largely successful efforts to suppress the virus. These movements are considerably more variable than anything recorded by Newspoll, which has maintained the unnatural stability that was its hallmark before the 2019 election, despite its methodological overhaul.

Some wash-up from the Eden-Monaro by-election:

• John Black, former Labor Senator and now executive director of Australian Development Strategies, offered an ecological analysis of voting patterns in the Eden-Monaro by-election in The Australian on Monday. This pointed to a strong age-related effect in which older areas swung Labor and younger areas swung Liberal. Labor-swinging areas were also low-income with large accommodation and food industry workforces, while Liberal-swinging areas were white-collar and with high levels of employment in public administration. None of this would surprise students of the electorate and the result, given the Liberal swing in Queanbeyan and the Labor swing along the coast.

• Counting in the by-election is nearly complete, with today being the last day that postal votes received will be entered in the count. The latest results are continuing to be updated as they come through on my live results page. With probably a couple of dozen postals to be entered in the count, Labor holds a lead of 764. Of remaining interest will be the distribution of preferences, presumably to be conducted early next week, which will offer some insight into exactly how many Nationals and Shooters preferences flowed to Labor – contentious subjects both on the conservative side of politics.

Meanwhile across the pond:

• Roy Morgan published a New Zealand voting intention poll this week that was shortly overtaken by events, with the conservative opposition National Party experiencing its second leadership change in two months earlier in the week. The poll had Labor down two points from the previous poll in May to 54.5%, National up half a point to 27%, the Greens up two to 9%, Act New Zealand up 1.5% to a new peak of 5%, and New Zealand First apparently headed towards extinction with a one point drop to 1.5%. The poll was conducted by phone from a sample of 879, but all we are told of the field work period is that it was conducted during June.

• Concurrent with the New Zealand election on September 19 will be a non-binding referendum on cannabis legalisation. Poll results on this question are all over the shop: one poll last month, by Colmar Brunton, had 40% for and 49% against, while another, by Horizon Research, had 56% for and 43% against.

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.

1,562 comments on “Miscellany: issues polling, drug law reform, Eden-Monaro wash-up, NZ poll”

Comments Page 9 of 32
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  1. The national cabinet is now part of our federation furniture – having replaced the 30-year-old Council of Australian Governments and shaken up the complex and confusing system of committees and small deliberative groups.

    The regular meeting schedule is now reduced to every second Friday, with no more than two hours of discussion using the familiar COVID-19 technology of teleconferencing.

    …In reality, the national cabinet is nothing more than a powerful adjunct to the executive government with the final say resting with the prime minister.
    According to constitutional law expert, Anne Toomey, the national cabinet’s legal status is that of a “cabinet office policy committee” with the PM its only permanent member and any decisions taken are subject to effective ratification or alteration by the federal cabinet – without reference to any of the other leaders.

    As Toomey observes: “The prime minister controls its membership, sets its agenda and determines when and where meetings take place.

    Where the committee cannot agree, the prime minister’s view is authoritative.”
    So much for reform of the federation.

    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/07/18/dennis-atkins-national-cabinet/

  2. Toomey should know by now that when the Coalition speaks of ‘reform’ the word is unlikely to be used in the sense of ‘improve’.

  5. I heard Boris Johnson saying that he hopes that the UK will be “back to normal” by Christmas, but he’s relying on businesses to work out how to keep their employees safe. He’s even worse than Morrison.

  7. Rashida Yosufzai
    @Rashidajourno
    An Aboriginal grandmother was jailed for six days in a maximum security prison because she sprayed her neighbour with a garden hose – via @westaustralian

  8. C@tmomma @ #406 Saturday, July 18th, 2020 – 5:45 am

    lizzie @ #405 Saturday, July 18th, 2020 – 7:37 am

    I heard Boris Johnson saying that he hopes that the UK will be “back to normal” by Christmas, but he’s relying on businesses to work out how to keep their employees safe. He’s even worse than Morrison.

    And when they’re not? He’ll just shift the goalposts again.

    It’s only a hope.

    More importantly he seems to think that things will go back to the way they were and has no plan to manage any change.

  9. Noah Shachtman
    @NoahShachtman
    ·
    6h
    EXCLUSIVE: Black staffers at Fox News confront their bosses: “They created a white supremacist cell inside the top cable network in America.”
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-staffers-erupt-over-tucker-carlsons-racism-say-bosses-created-a-white-supremacist-cell

    Noah Shachtman
    @NoahShachtman
    ·
    6h
    Replying to
    @NoahShachtman
    Lots of news in here, including that Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch *personally approved* Tucker Carlson’s on-air non-apology for his racist writer. https://thedailybeast.com/fox-news-staffers-erupt-over-tucker-carlsons-racism-say-bosses-created-a-white-supremacist-cell?ref=home
    cc: @oliverdarcy

  10. Zerlo @ #407 Saturday, July 18th, 2020 – 5:48 am

    Rashida Yosufzai
    @Rashidajourno
    An Aboriginal grandmother was jailed for six days in a maximum security prison because she sprayed her neighbour with a garden hose – via @westaustralian
    …

    Shit, I can’t even begin to imagine how much time I would have spent in prison if I’d been nabbed for this offence as a child.

  11. Nooooooo!!!!!

    Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced Friday that she is being treated for a recurrence of cancer, this time on her liver, but says she remains able to do her work on the Supreme Court.

    “I have often said I would remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam,” Ginsburg said in a written statement issued by the Supreme Court. “I remain fully able to do that.”

    Ginsburg, 87, the court’s oldest member, has battled cancer four times and has had other health concerns. She was in Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland earlier this week for an unrelated infection related to her gallbladder.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/ruth-bader-ginsburg-liver-cancer/2020/07/17/9742a598-c847-11ea-8ffe-372be8d82298_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_ginsburg-1225pm-1%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans

  12. “I don’t approve of human rights abuses.”

    ***

    Calling out human rights abuses committed by the Chinese government is fine and fair enough. They have plenty to answer for in that regard. They aren’t the only ones…

    However, you just come across as a massive hypocrite when you blindly support the ALP, considering Labor and the Coalition are responsible for the disgusting abuse and mistreatment of many innocent asylum seekers.

  13. War of the Worlds.

    First job – obliterate, defongerate, macerate, fold, spindle and mutilate all those involved in imprisoning the lady mentioned below by Zerlo.

  14. Confessions @ #411 Saturday, July 18th, 2020 – 5:55 am

    Nooooooo!!!!!

    Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced Friday that she is being treated for a recurrence of cancer, this time on her liver, but says she remains able to do her work on the Supreme Court.

    “I have often said I would remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam,” Ginsburg said in a written statement issued by the Supreme Court. “I remain fully able to do that.”

    Ginsburg, 87, the court’s oldest member, has battled cancer four times and has had other health concerns. She was in Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland earlier this week for an unrelated infection related to her gallbladder.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/ruth-bader-ginsburg-liver-cancer/2020/07/17/9742a598-c847-11ea-8ffe-372be8d82298_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_ginsburg-1225pm-1%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans

    This really highlights how ridiculous their system for the tenure and appointment judges is.

  15. Ewart Dave Trumpet
    @davidbewart
    ·
    11h
    It’s a good thing Scott Morrison doesn’t work weekends I couldn’t stand hearing from him at least until Monday

  16. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    A new coronavirus cluster emerged in a Sydney shopping centre on Friday night, hours after NSW announced tougher restrictions on gatherings at restaurants, weddings and funerals. This is getting serious.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/new-covid-19-cluster-found-as-nsw-tightens-rules-public-gatherings-20200717-p55d4i.html
    Not that things are getting any better in Victoria.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/the-fight-of-our-lives-doctors-call-for-virus-elimination-strategy-as-stage-four-restrictions-loom-20200717-p55d5g.html
    Almost 400 Victorian healthcare workers have tested positive to the virus since the start of the pandemic and hundreds more have been forced to isolate due to potential exposure.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/this-time-it-s-bad-healthcare-workers-on-edge-as-patient-numbers-surge-20200717-p55d15.html
    The Age’s editorial says accepting fault, finding solutions, being truthful and transparent, all need to be part of the response. It would ensure that in the eyes of the public, accountability takes precedence, no matter what the consequence.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/we-can-handle-the-bad-news-but-we-d-like-to-be-trusted-with-the-truth-20200716-p55cka.html
    We must hope that elimination can be the by-product of a good suppression strategy. But the cost of that may be a little less privacy in future says the editorial in the AFR.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/what-price-for-living-with-a-virus-we-can-t-kill-20200717-p55czy
    The New Daily explains how experts are calling for virus elimination in Victoria with a ten-point plan for a hard lockdown.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/coronavirus/2020/07/18/coronavirus-victoria-elimination-strategy/
    The AFR says the Commonwealth, Victorian and NSW governments face a critical 48 hours after Melbourne recorded three more deaths and the worst daily tally of the pandemic, while Sydney announced targeted measures to head off its growing outbreak.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/rush-to-regions-as-outbreak-threatens-to-spiral-out-of-control-20200717-p55cx9
    Melissa Davey explains why Australia’s second wave of coronavirus will be tougher to fight.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/18/a-wicked-enemy-why-australias-second-wave-of-coronavirus-will-be-tougher-to-fight
    Rick Morton goes into detail on how the second wave broke.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/2020/07/18/how-the-second-wave-broke/159499440010121
    A reconstruction of life in Wuhan has demonstrated the covert power of COVID-19, estimating up to 87 per cent of cases may have gone undetected in the early months because so few had obvious symptoms.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/wuhan-study-reveals-worrying-covert-spread-of-covid-19-20200717-p55cyy
    The debate between suppression and elimination of the disease is premature when we are in the throes of a major outbreak, declares the SMH editorial.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/call-the-policy-what-you-like-but-the-goal-is-to-stop-covid-19-20200717-p55d51.html
    While residents of Melbourne’s public housing towers were given no notice of an impending hard lockdown, concerns raised earlier to the DHHS and department of Housing about the threat posed by Covid-19 to those families were largely ignored, writes Santilla Chingaipe for The Saturday Paper.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2020/07/18/tower-residents-virus-warnings-unheeded/159499440010119
    David Crowe tells us Josh Frydenberg has promised a new burst of income support to add to $70 billion in JobKeeper payments amid fears of a new hit to the national economy from the Victorian spike in coronavirus cases.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/income-support-coming-as-frydenberg-says-victorian-outbreak-hurting-confidence-20200717-p55d2o.html
    When Scott Morrison muses about crossroads, he’s really pondering his own prime ministership opines Katharine Murphy in this long discourse.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/18/when-scott-morrison-muses-about-crossroads-hes-really-pondering-his-own-prime-ministership
    The cost to Australian taxpayers of negatively gearing rental properties had climbed to $13.1 billion ahead of the 2019 election, with new data suggesting Labor’s plan to restrict the practice would have affected thousands of voters in key parts of the country. Tax experts believe negative gearing costs this year will blow out as landlords absorb rent discounts or non-payments on their properties due to the coronavirus pandemic.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/negative-gearing-cost-reaches-13-billion-a-year-20200717-p55d06.html
    Anthony Galloway reports on Malcolm Turnbull saying Scott Morrison didn’t believe in a speech he gave warning against ‘negative globalism’, suggesting his successor was influenced by people in his office and right-wing commentators in the media.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/not-scott-s-view-turnbull-blasts-morrison-s-negative-globalism-speech-20200717-p55cyr.html
    George Megalogenis describes John Kerr as a political player who filled a power vacuum.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/kerr-the-political-player-who-filled-a-power-vacuum-20200717-p55d2u.html
    As it turns out, a youthful Tony Wright had access to Yarraluma during Kerr’s time there if 1975. He tells us a bit about it here.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/what-the-butler-saw-in-the-governor-general-s-bedroom-in-1975-20200716-p55cmj.html
    Dennis Atkins does not think that the national cabinet the best thing since federation.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/07/18/dennis-atkins-national-cabinet/
    In this long essay Shane Wright looks at Australia’s surplus fetish during hard economic circumstances.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/recession-busters-how-to-lift-the-nation-s-economy-20200715-p55c71.html
    And Peter Hartcher explains why he has put aside his long fiscal rage of the lack of surpluses.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/hey-josh-frydenberg-this-is-the-season-for-fiscal-rejoicing-20200717-p55d5f.html
    Josh Butler writes that the federal government is fending off pleas to act now and plug the “major gaps” in its coronavirus response before new lockdowns in Victoria – and potentially other states – start to truly bite.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/07/18/major-gaps-in-programs/
    Laura Tingle describes the unemployment train wreck that is emerging. She says this means people will find themselves living in what is officially classed as poverty, including more than a million children and this is not a number that should stay invisible.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/an-unemployment-train-wreck-is-slowly-emerging-20200717-p55czi
    Women in the workforce will be worse off as the government ends free childcare and JobKeeper support for the sector, with experts warning that some centres will be forced to close reports Gina Rushton.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2020/07/18/childcare-centres-financial-risk/159499440010128
    Cait Kelly reports that Desperate Australians stranded overseas say “only the rich” are making it home as airlines prioritise those paying more to fly business class. This follows the government’s move to clamp down on the number of people entering the country as coronavirus outbreaks continue to jeopardise health and maul the economy.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/coronavirus/2020/07/18/australians-overseas-coronavirus-flights/
    Clancy Yates tells us senior bankers are facing the grim reality that some borrowers who deferred their loan repayments might not come out the other side.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/safe-as-houses-no-more-as-banks-fear-spike-in-bad-loans-20200715-p55cd8.html
    In quite an interesting contribution Ross Gittins concludes, “Conventional economics doesn’t take much interest in morality. But economies where everyone sticks out for Number One stop working very well. And self-interest isn’t enough to solve a “wicked” problem like climate change.”
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/we-won-t-achieve-economic-reform-until-we-go-back-to-co-operating-20200717-p55czq.html
    The editorial in the Canberra Times says that climate change is our greatest threat and urges the government to respect the science on it just as it has with the pandemic.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6838483/climate-change-is-the-existential-crisis/?cs=14258
    The Australian’s Greg Brown reckons a growing number of Labor MPs are urging Anthony Albanese to adopt the Coalition’s 2030 emissions reduction targets, with one warning the party may never win another election unless it takes a more moderate position on ­climate change.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/alp-revolt-over-climate-policy-we-may-never-win-another-election/news-story/b5fcf0b12d642fced8425ff39aed1256
    As the Murray–Darling Basin continues to suffer through drought, irrigators in the northern basin are harvesting hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of water without needing a licence to do so reveals Kerry Brewster.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/environment/2020/07/18/floodplain-harvesting-nsw/159499440010127
    The CPSU’s Melissa Donnelly argues that now is the time to invest in, not cut, public sector jobs.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6833158/its-time-to-hire-not-fire-the-public-service/?cs=14350
    The Canberra Times outlines all the charges laid on Clive Palmer.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6838692/asic-reveals-claims-against-clive-palmer/?cs=14231
    Sean Kelly thinks we are nearing a historic moment, that a nadir of free speech is approaching. Debate is under threat, free exchange of ideas is ending. Things are getting worse.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/this-is-a-historic-moment-just-not-the-one-those-who-worry-about-cancel-culture-claim-it-is-20200717-p55d1t.html
    This is a moving contribution from John Silvester about po0lice deaths and disability.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/climbing-from-adversity-20200716-p55cjm.html
    Roy Masters writes that Australia’s top Olympic sports are over-governed and badly under-resourced compared to the major football codes, according to data compiled by Sport Australia.
    https://www.smh.com.au/sport/overgoverned-and-underfunded-the-bind-strangling-olympic-sports-20200717-p55d0a.html
    Investors are warning that any signs of backpedalling on stimulus by the world’s central banks will jolt financial markets and strangle recovery for a crippled global economy.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/markets-are-fearing-the-removal-of-the-world-s-economic-safety-net-20200717-p55cw5.html
    Sue Mitchell reports that kogan.com is facing millions of dollars in penalties after the Federal Court found the online retailer misled consumers over tax-time discounts, breaching Australian Consumer Law.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/kogan-com-misled-consumers-court-finds-20200717-p55d1b
    Professor Jenny Hocking’s victory in the release of the Palace letters is a significant one for truth and history, writes Tess Lawrence.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/jenny-hockings-heroic-palace-coup-is-a-victory-for-truth,14110
    John Lord sums up the tetters between a drunken Kerr and a British toff.
    https://theaimn.com/letters-between-a-drunken-kerr-and-a-british-toff/
    Meanwhile Karen Middleton reveals that the National Archives of Australia was urgently searching late this week for at least three missing letters sent between then governor-general Sir John Kerr and Queen Elizabeth II around the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2020/07/18/archives-searching-missing-dismissal-correspondence/159499440010118
    This pandemic has not bred abusive men, bored at home and looking for something to do. Rather, it has fanned the flames of anger and violence, writes mental health expert Zac Seidler.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/covid-should-spur-us-to-tackle-a-cultural-epidemic-men-s-violence-20200716-p55clz.html
    The Morrison government is set to launch an investigation into social media platforms such as TikTok, as concern grows about whether the Chinese company will be required to share users’ information with the Chinese government.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/tiktok-wechat-to-face-australian-social-media-security-investigation-20200717-p55d3y.html
    The AIMN’s Rosemary J36 issues a ‘To Do’ list for Scott Morrison.
    https://theaimn.com/a-to-do-list-for-scott-morrison/
    The London Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard explains how China’s V-shaped rebound must be taken with heaps of salt. The says its economic rebound is built on straw.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/road-to-nowhere-china-s-economic-rebound-is-built-on-straw-20200717-p55cvx.html
    Matthew Knott says that Trump is aware, despite his regular displays of bluster and bravado, that he is on track to lose to Joe Biden in a landslide unless he finds a way to change the trajectory of the contest.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-s-campaign-shake-up-leaves-his-biggest-weakness-intact-20200717-p55cvy.html
    Greg Sheridan explains how coronavirus has changed the world order.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/how-coronavirus-has-changed-the-world-order/news-story/cdebcb51e6ccda66d132465ea4d38715
    US coronavirus data will now go straight to the White House. Here’s what this means for the world explains disaster expert Erin Smith.
    https://theconversation.com/us-coronavirus-data-will-now-go-straight-to-the-white-house-heres-what-this-means-for-the-world-142814
    Trump will cling to power. To get him out, Biden will have to win big warns Jonathan Freedland. This is scary!
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/17/trump-biden-win-democrat-landslide
    Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she is receiving chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer but has no plans to retire from the US Supreme Court. Please Ruth, hang in there until the US rids itself of the cancerous Trump!
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/ruth-bader-ginsburg-says-cancer-has-returned-but-she-won-t-retire-20200718-p55d7a.html

    Cartoon Corner

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    From the US













  17. Firefox @ #412 Saturday, July 18th, 2020 – 6:00 am

    “I don’t approve of human rights abuses.”

    ***

    Calling out human rights abuses committed by the Chinese government is fine and fair enough. They have plenty to answer for in that regard. They aren’t the only ones…

    However, you just come across as a massive hypocrite when you blindly support the ALP, considering Labor and the Coalition are responsible for the disgusting abuse and mistreatment of many innocent asylum seekers.

    Why no mention of the Greens?

    If they had supported the Malaysia Solution, Labor would have felt no need to reopen the islands.

  18. Firefox @ #429 Saturday, July 18th, 2020 – 8:00 am

    “I don’t approve of human rights abuses.”

    ***

    Calling out human rights abuses committed by the Chinese government is fine and fair enough. They have plenty to answer for in that regard. They aren’t the only ones…

    However, you just come across as a massive hypocrite when you blindly support the ALP, considering Labor and the Coalition are responsible for the disgusting abuse and mistreatment of many innocent asylum seekers.

    Once again, the sanctimonious Greens are so far up themselves they are coming out through their teeth.

  20. “First job – obliterate, defongerate, macerate, fold, spindle and mutilate all those involved in imprisoning the lady mentioned below by Zerlo.”

    ***

    This is not the droid you are looking for. Move along 😛

  22. The first randomized clinical trial testing hydroxychloroquine as an early treatment for mild covid-19 found the drug was no better than a placebo in patients who were not hospitalised. Who would have thought?
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/07/16/hydroxychloroquine-studies-show-drug-is-not-effective-early-treatment-mild-covid-19/?utm_campaign=wp_to_your_health&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_tyh&wpmk=1&pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJjb29raWVuYW1lIjoid3BfY3J0aWQiLCJpc3MiOiJDYXJ0YSIsImNvb2tpZXZhbHVlIjoiNWVhMjI3NzI5YmJjMGYzYTc4ZjdlZDEzIiwidGFnIjoiNWYxMjBjODRmZTFmZjY1ODUxNDJkY2NkIiwidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2FzaGluZ3RvbnBvc3QuY29tL2hlYWx0aC8yMDIwLzA3LzE2L2h5ZHJveHljaGxvcm9xdWluZS1zdHVkaWVzLXNob3ctZHJ1Zy1pcy1ub3QtZWZmZWN0aXZlLWVhcmx5LXRyZWF0bWVudC1taWxkLWNvdmlkLTE5Lz91dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249d3BfdG9feW91cl9oZWFsdGgmdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImd3Bpc3JjPW5sX3R5aCZ3cG1rPTEifQ.nu5B4Y0NW-SS7jC8Kb8KG6fs3eloQ8W8sjhdJrFmEhY

  23. lizzie
    The Morrison National Cabinet by-passes an often overlooked concept called democracy. The NC is a innovative development established to facilitate dodgy decision making, lack of transparency and nepotism.
    The PM and NC wil continue to ‘make hay’, feeding ‘the chooks’ enough to keep them blissfully ignorant while wilfully acting outside the parliamentry process.
    Institutionalized suppression of a free press, with ‘commercial in confidence’ the rallying call.

  26. Katharine Murphy
    @murpharoo
    ·
    13m
    Statement coming soon on the cancellation of parliament on advice from acting CMO #auspol

  29. We still don’t know what’s wrong with Coleman.

    @AnodyneParadigm
    ·
    8m
    Caretaking the most marginal seat in the nation until next election.
    Labor held Banks continuously, from inception, for more than 60 years, until Coleman won it.
    Clearly, Coleman is not returning to parliament, and Morrison can’t hold the seat, so won’t commit to a by-election

  32. The War on China going well:

    The Spectator Index
    @spectatorindex
    JUST IN: IMF says US economy contracted by 37% in the second quarter of 2020

  33. lizzie

    I heard Boris Johnson saying that he hopes that the UK will be “back to normal” by Christmas, but he’s relying on businesses to work out how to keep their employees safe. He’s even worse than Morrison.

    It’s a pom tradition the ol’ ……..

  34. Funny how these people losing their homes to the sea are crying out for support from everybody (via the council). For years they had restricted access to these beaches from the same people they are now asking help from.

    Good luck with that.

  35. Confessions says:
    Saturday, July 18, 2020 at 8:38 am
    Cancellation of parliament.
    Refusal to hold a by-election.

    What is Scotty so afraid of?

    ———-

    The corrupt foreign media controlled and owned Lib/nats will blame Labor, and will get away with it

  36. PeeBee @ #434 Saturday, July 18th, 2020 – 8:40 am

    Funny how these people losing their homes to the sea are crying out for support from everybody (via the council). For years they had restricted access to these beaches from the same people they are now asking help from.

    Good luck with that.

    They’re a bunch of self-entitled Liberals who built multi-million dollar Malibuesque McMansions on the sand. Like children’s sand castles they deserve to have high tide reclaim them.

  37. “If they had supported the Malaysia Solution, Labor would have felt no need to reopen the islands.”

    ***

    The Greens do not support illegal policies which are designed to appeal to the racist far-right.

  38. Rick Morton:

    Increasingly, the story of coronavirus in Victoria, and across Australia, is one of a cataclysmic global event that has exploited existing failures in policy and governing institutions. It has been a stress test.

    Weaknesses – in the hospital system, in the use of private contractors to perform crucial work, in aged-care funding and staffing, and in the apparent inability of authorities to speak to migrant communities and the marginalised in ways that engage them – have been exposed.

    The virus is a deadly torchlight. In lieu of a vaccine, containment now can only be assured by dealing with the fault lines it has rendered visible.

    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/2020/07/18/how-the-second-wave-broke/159499440010121?cb=1595023389

  39. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/nasa-discovery-of-serpent-bearer-ophiuchus-puts-our-stars-into-a-new-perspective/news-story/a0231583140e935198fb23d9bb0d94f6

    Astrologers really should have seen this coming — space agency NASA has discovered a new star sign that has knocked the whole zodiac out of whack.

    The new, 13th sign is called Ophiuchus — Greek for serpent bearer — and falls ­between November 29 and December 17.

    Mr. S. Morrison will now be guided by his “starsign” of “Aries”
    which makes him
    “Brave, passionate and assertive”.

    That other “Scott” still making appearances on TV spruiking various commercial plans/plots and TV ads for TAFE are still appearing. I expect huge funding increases for TAFE any day now. 💰

  40. C@t

    Those “builders on sand” were stupid, as a chap said on 7.30 last night. They ignored a similar event in the seventies.

  41. The Greens were and remain on a unity ticket with the LibHeavy and the criminals who traffic humans. They all profit from the trade in refugees. The Greens, in particular, make windfall gains from the the political exploitation of the conspicuous punishment of refugees. They and their soulmates, the Liberals, ensured that humans would be trafficked into depravity. They love it. It makes them feel good.

    The Greens are utterly beneath contempt on this matter.

  42. The London Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard explains how China’s V-shaped rebound must be taken with heaps of salt. The says its economic rebound is built on straw.

    Now there’s “a hardy annual’. I have read the same claim about China after/during every economic ‘bump’ since the turn of the century (love using that phrase 🙂 ) . Yet here we are and there they still are …….but even biglier.

  43. Peter van Onselen
    @vanOnselenP
    ·
    6m
    Schools are safe, lockdowns aren’t necessary, but parliament won’t sit…

    PM says:

    “The Government cannot ignore the risk to parliamentarians, their staff, the staff within the Parliament, and the broader community of the ACT that holding a parliamentary sitting would create.”

  44. PM says:

    “The Government cannot ignore the risk to parliamentarians, their staff, the staff within the Parliament, and the broader community of the ACT that holding a parliamentary sitting would create.”
    _____
    Then the PM needs to implement a functioning parliament like the UK has done.

  45. lizzie @ #440 Saturday, July 18th, 2020 – 8:52 am

    C@t

    Those “builders on sand” were stupid, as a chap said on 7.30 last night. They ignored a similar event in the seventies.

    lizzie,
    Eddie Obeid used to have a weekender there and it’s how the name of ‘The Terrigals’ came to be! They all used to meet there in his house. However, he got out when he saw what coastal erosion looked like.

  46. Paddy Manning:

    Keen to put some prime ministerial distance between himself and Lockdown 2.0, Morrison has been at times in danger of looking like the prime minister of NSW. At a recent press conference, he thanked Victorians for “your patience” and “their patience”. Clearly, he would like everyone’s focus to remain on Premier Daniel Andrews, whose government has blundered badly with lax management of hotel quarantine for returning Australians.

    In this respect, the fast-and-loose national cabinet has proved a boon for Morrison, who has used the new structure to both corral the premiers and, when it suits him, play them off against each other or the Commonwealth itself. When it’s a good news story, the country’s first ministers are all in it together. When there’s a bad news story, Morrison flicks the hard questions to the states. It’s a clever trick.

    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2020/07/18/circling-sharks-and-political-distancing/159499440010137

  47. Firefox @ #437 Saturday, July 18th, 2020 – 6:44 am

    “If they had supported the Malaysia Solution, Labor would have felt no need to reopen the islands.”

    ***

    The Greens do not support illegal policies which are designed to appeal to the racist far-right.

    So the Greens don’t support making new laws.

    What are they in Parliament for then?

  48. Rick Morton:

    Increasingly, the story of coronavirus in Victoria, and across Australia, is one of a cataclysmic global event that has exploited existing failures in policy and governing institutions. It has been a stress test.

    Weaknesses – in the hospital system, in the use of private contractors to perform crucial work, in aged-care funding and staffing, and in the apparent inability of authorities to speak to migrant communities and the marginalised in ways that engage them – have been exposed.

    The virus is a deadly torchlight. In lieu of a vaccine, containment now can only be assured by dealing with the fault lines it has rendered visible.

    Bollocks. The virus is extremely well-adapted to human behaviour. Humans spread the virus. It does not spread by itself. As long as everyone buys into change, humans can arrest spread. To the extent that we fail to change we are accomodating the virus. We have failed to understand ourselves more than we’ve failed to understand the virus.

  49. grace pettigrew
    @broomstick33
    ·
    4m
    so essential workers must stay at work saving the rest of us, but politicians on full pay can stay at home under the doona because making laws or debating pathways to save the nation in a pandemic is cancelled .. and ‘national cabinet’ is only (video) meeting every fortnight

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