First up, note the new-ish posts below on a YouGov poll for South Australia and Adrian Beaumont’s latest on the US race.
• A federal by-election looms for the seat of the Queensland Groom, centred on Toowoomba. This follows yesterday’s announcement by Liberal-aligned LNP member John McVeigh, the member since 2016 and previously state member for Toowoomba South from 2012,. that he will retire due to his wife’s illness. With Labor having polled 18.7% of the primary vote in the seat at the 2019 election, it seems a fairly safe bet that they will be sitting this one out. To the extent that the seat has been interesting it has been as a battleground between the Liberals and the Nationals, most recently when McVeigh’s predecessor, Ian Macfarlane, had his bid to defect from the former to the latter blocked by the Liberal National Party administration in 2015. John McVeigh’s father, Tom McVeigh, held the seat for the National/Country Party from 1972 to 1988 (it was known until 1984 as Darling Downs), but it passed to the Liberal control at the by-election following his retirement.
• Roy Morgan has an SMS poll of state voting intention in Victoria, and while the methodology may be dubious, it delivers a rebuke to the news media orthodoxy in crediting Daniel Andrews’ Labor government with a two-party lead of 51.5-48.5. The primary votes are Labor 37%, Coalition 38.5% and Greens 12.5%. The results at the 2018 election were Labor 42.9%, Coalition 35.2% and Greens 10.7%, with Labor winning the two-party vote 57.3-42.7. The poll was conducted Tuesday to Thursday from a sample of 1147.
• An international poll by the Pew Research Centre finds 94% of Australians believe their country has handled the pandemic well and 6% badly, whereas 85% think the United States has handled it badly and 14% well, while the respective numbers for China are 25% and 73%. Twenty-three per cent have confidence in Donald Trump to do the right think for world affairs, down from 35% last year, equaling a previous low recorded for George W. Bush in 2008. Only 33% of Australians have a favourable view of the United States, down from 50% last year, a change similar to that for all other nations surveyed.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
According to David Crowe, the states will be encouraged to spend money as fast as possible to revive the economy in a federal budget plan to build on more than $54 billion in wage subsidies paid in just four months.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/budget-push-to-speed-up-states-spending-20200918-p55x3z.html
Paul Bongiorno goes into considerable detail in making the case against winding back JobKeeper.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2020/09/19/the-case-against-winding-back-jobkeeper/160043760010446
William Olsen explains how a thinktank has validated that JobKeeper and JobSeeker cuts are lethal.
https://theaimn.com/thinktank-validates-that-jobkeeper-and-jobseeker-cuts-are-lethal/
Sean Kelly accuses both Morrison and Albanese of cowardice when it comes to the subject of climate change.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/cowardice-what-morrison-and-albanese-have-in-common-on-climate-20200918-p55wxu.html
Scott Morrison’s plans for a new gas-fired power station will lock the country into a technology that is slow and inefficient, according to a member of the International Panel on Climate Change.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2020/09/18/solar-power-morrison-ipcc/
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted two decades of aged-care mismanagement, but at the heart of the sector is a pyramid scheme that exposes the taxpayer to billions in liability, explains Rick Morton in the second of his articles on this subject. It’s not a pretty picture.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2020/09/19/the-collapse-aged-care-part-two/160043760010442
Anthony Galloway reports that Australia’s cyber spy agency has abruptly cancelled a contract with the Australian National University to write its official history despite a military historian working for more than a year on the project.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cyber-spy-agency-dumps-military-historian-from-writing-its-official-history-20200917-p55wpo.html
Alexandra Smith tells us that John Barilaro will take a month of mental health leave after a torrid week in which the Nationals threatened to destroy the Coalition.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-deputy-premier-joh-barliaro-takes-a-month-of-mental-health-leave-20200918-p55x3v.html
Elizabeth Farrelly writes an open letter to John Barilaro with some good advice in it.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/dear-john-we-could-be-friends-but-you-ll-have-to-make-some-changes-20200917-p55wni.html
Visits between homes, in breach of Melbourne’s lockdown rules, have been blamed for sparking the fast-growing cluster in Casey. This goes to show how delicately balanced things are.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/two-people-in-casey-cluster-in-hospital-as-visiting-breaches-revealed-20200918-p55x34.html
Meanwhile The Age says that Dan Andrews’ marathon press conferences project an image of control, but that hotel inquiry is laying bare the mess among those charged with implementing quarantine.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/andrews-dreams-of-spring-while-haunted-by-the-nightmare-of-autumn-20200917-p55wj0.html
Peter van Onselen looks at how well equipped the Coalition is to move out of the effects of the pandemic.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/pragmatism-is-good-but-goes-only-so-far/news-story/d7a4d5390e4bd929bb813bc0595f2e1a
As Victoria battles the stubborn tail of its second wave of Covid-19, a confidential government document obtained by The Saturday Paper reveals that outbreaks of the virus have been reported in at least eight hospitals in the past week.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2020/09/19/confidential-document-reveals-healthcare-outbreaks/160043760010434
Adele Ferguson outlines a fiery speech made under parliamentary privilege by Greens MP Davis Shoebridge in which he rattled off a list of controversial contracts and behaviours and named Vivek Bhatia when he was inaugural chief executive of icare from 2015 to January 2018. This saga gets worse and worse by the day.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/link-drawn-into-icare-drama-as-new-ceo-takes-reins-20200918-p55x2i.html
Michelle Grattan says that it’s a small church that sings the gas gospel and she points to the Coalition’s hypocrisy.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6931688/its-a-small-church-that-sings-the-gas-gospel/?cs=14350&utm_source=website&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=latestnews
Paul Kelly thinks that Morrison faces a litany of obstacles in implementing his new gas policy.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/coalition-steps-on-the-gas-ahead-of-a-covidrecovery-budget/news-story/155f35d69d636a3af19f66dfc1f00be8
Laura Tingle writes that Scott Morrison and Angus Taylor have swooped in with plans that have managed to scare the power industry and the environmentalists at the same time. She says they have the wrong answer for an energy crisis that does not exist.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/the-wrong-answer-for-an-energy-crisis-that-does-not-exist-20200918-p55wvx
While the prime minister’s newly announced gas funding is politically useful – soothing the Coalition backbench and wedging Labor – it will imperil Australia’s climate targets, says Mike Seccombe.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2020/09/19/gas-plan-locks-decades-high-emissions-experts-warn/160043760010436
Premier Steven Marshall’s handling of the COVID crisis has dramatically boosted his own political fortunes, as the Liberals wrestle back a dominant election-winning 53/47 poll lead om SA.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/advertiseryougov-poll-premier-steven-marshall-surges-as-preferred-leader-libs-take-the-lead-as-sa-crushes-the-covid-curve/news-story/053060a0a1ce2c9c035bf375a75bfc8e
Jennifer Duke writes that Assistant Minister for Superannuation Jane Hume says industry superannuation funds need to remember their role isn’t to create jobs or push the climate debate. Not a very nice lady, this one.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/not-your-job-superannuation-minister-says-super-funds-forget-their-role-20200918-p55wyd.html
Meanwhile Macquarie Group’s CEO Shemara Wikramanayake says cash-strapped governments will need private capital to fund new public infrastructure essential to stimulate their COVID-hit economies.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/infrastructure-pandemic-splurge-needs-private-funds-says-macquarie-20200918-p55x18.html
Daniel Hurst reports that the Morrison government is coming under pressure to contain a blowout in processing times for citizenship applications, with the delays overshadowing the Coalition’s proposed revamp of the test to uphold Australian values.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/18/unacceptable-blowout-in-wait-times-for-australian-citizenship-causing-distress
New legislation affecting the roles of migration agents is a step backwards for industry professionals and will lower standards, writes Murray Hunter.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/thousands-of-registered-migration-agents-to-lose-accreditation-with-new-legislation,14322
Chip Le Grand explains how police have joined forces with Nicola Gobbo to savage the approach taken by the royal commission investigating the state’s worst legal scandal. They have accused the counsel assisting of a “flagrant breach of constitutional fairness”.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/police-gobbo-accuse-royal-commission-of-flagrant-breach-20200918-p55x4w.html
Dana McCauley explains how a nationally consistent approach to contact tracing based on the success of NSW will be rolled out across Australia.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/national-contact-tracing-system-aims-to-prevent-future-covid-19-spread-20200918-p55x0t.html
As more than 25,000 Australians wait for the chance to return home, at least one legal expert says the travel restrictions may breach the constitutional rights of citizens, explains Karen Middleton.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2020/09/19/australians-stranded-overseas/160043760010443
“Since when did old people’s lives become worthless?”, asks Sue Green.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/since-when-did-old-people-s-lives-become-worth-less-20200918-p55wy5.html
Josh Taylor reports on the inquiry hearing tha the infection-control issues at two Melbourne quarantine hotels that ultimately led to Victoria’s second wave of Covid-19 cases could have been foreseen with an “appropriate” focus on health.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/18/melbourne-hotel-quarantine-failures-could-have-been-foreseen-inquiry-hears
The editorial in The Age says that collective will is vital for Victoria’s long road back to revival.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/collective-will-is-vital-for-victoria-s-revival-20200918-p55ww1.html
With imports restricted as international borders closed, the coronavirus pandemic exposed Australia’s inability to manufacture what it needs, prompting an urgent debate about how the country can improve its economic security, writes Margaret Simons.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/economy/2020/09/19/moves-build-economic-security/160043760010447
Bruce Newton tells us that the PM has been rated a dismal failure by electric vehicle advocates.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/auto/2020/09/18/scott-morrison-electric-cars/
Julia Baird writes about an insidious form of domestic abuse – controlling behaviour.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-most-dangerous-form-of-domestic-abuse-is-not-a-crime-in-nsw-but-momentum-is-building-for-change-20200918-p55wxr.html
Tom Switzer reckons the good times with China are over and we should get used to it.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-good-times-with-china-are-over-get-used-to-it-20200917-p55wqs.html
A series of streets and laneways in Sydney’s CBD will be closed to traffic while main streets will have roadside parking spaces converted into al fresco dining spots under a plan to save the city’s hospitality industry.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/streets-laneways-and-parking-spots-city-s-plan-to-turn-venues-inside-out-20200918-p55wxv.html
Newswire service Australian Associated Press has been handed a $5 million lifeline, as the federal government says its existence is vital for maintaining regional news and media diversity.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/government-hands-aap-5-million-lifeline-20200918-p55wyy.html
The SMH editorial does not hold back in saying that Angus Taylor’s gas plan deepens policy uncertainty.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/angus-taylor-s-gas-plan-deepens-policy-uncertainty-20200918-p55x3l.html
Amanda Meade looks at this week’s article by Chris Uhlmann that created quite some ire.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/commentisfree/2020/sep/18/chris-uhlmanns-damnation-of-daniel-andrews-delayed-at-the-age
Kate McClymont tells us that yesterday the court heard that the Obeid family was working overtime on a secret deal to have associates purchase two neighbouring properties in the Bylong Valley before it was made public that the area had been selected for the creation of a coalmining tenement.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/obeid-family-lawyer-details-secret-deal-to-secure-farms-20200918-p55x07.html
Unless and until a safe, effective and long-lasting vaccine is developed, manufactured, distributed and given to a very large proportion of the population, our society and economy are going to remain restricted and diminished, writes Shaun Carney.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/six-months-in-we-owe-it-to-ourselves-to-face-some-challenging-truths-20200918-p55wyt.html
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that something as microscopic as a virus is enough to weaken our strongest city technology, writes Dr Peter Fisher.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/battle-of-scales-our-cbds-are-no-match-for-a-micrometre-invader,14323
Madonna King says that eating disorders are a sinister health challenge we need to talk about.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/09/18/madonna-king-eating-disorders-are-a-sinister-health-challenge-we-need-to-talk-about/
A delightful contribution from Jacqui Taffel who wonders why people can’t bring themselves to say that somebody had died but use euphemisms instead.
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/please-no-more-euphemisms-my-mother-died-20200820-p55nmn.html
Latika Bourke reports that Amal Clooney has quit as a special envoy for the United Kingdom on media freedom over the British government’s threat to renege on the Brexit deal it signed with the European Union less than 12 months ago.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/amal-clooney-quits-uk-envoy-role-over-lamentable-international-law-breach-20200919-p55x61.html
Boris Johnson has just said that it was inevitable that the country would see a second wave of coronavirus and that while he did not want a second national lockdown, the government may need to introduce new restrictions.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/england-mulls-new-national-lockdown-as-european-covid-19-cases-soar-20200919-p55x65.html
The Bank of England has taken another step towards negative rates amid rising COVID infections and a looming unemployment crisis.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/the-uk-moves-closer-to-negative-interest-rates-20200918-p55wta.html
Radical Republicans rammed the Trump tax law through Congress without a single hearing or Democratic vote. And the results, which you won’t see in major news organisations, are in. The rich made out like bandits and the rest got three-fifths of bugger all, writes David Cay Johnston.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/ugly-numbers-of-trumps-tax-cuts-serve-a-warning-for-scott-morrison/
On the current balance of probabilities, Joe Biden will win the November 3 US presidential election. We need to address the implications of this for Australia’s foreign relations, writes John McCarthy.
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/why-joe-biden-will-need-australia-20200918-p55wvu
Julie Szego has an entertaining contribution about the US presidential election in which she says, “The playing field is not level. To win, Biden must outsmart an opponent whose weapon is bone-headedness.”
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-s-attacks-on-biden-s-competency-lead-into-strange-territory-20200918-p55wx4.html
In an extract from his new book Rage, award-winning journalist Bob Woodward lights a fuse beneath the US president.
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/the-wrong-man-for-the-job-why-trump-is-political-dynamite-20200917-p55wjo
Trump says he plans to establish a commission to promote “patriotic education” in the United States, taking issue with efforts to highlight the country’s history of slavery and racism. I didn’t think it would be possible to make them more insular and ignorant!
https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/trump-promotes-patriotic-education-in-appeal-to-conservative-base-20200918-p55x3m.html
Emma Brockes wonders if Trump is, finally, managing to repel even his own supporters.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/18/trump-supporters-pandemic-wildfires-wind
Cartoon Corner
David Pope
Alan Moir
https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_828/t_resize_width/q_86%2Cf_auto/f176743465536a94576e7758342eebcf24191e16
Andrew Dyson
Jim Pavlidis
Matt Golding
Peter Broelman
David Rowe
Jon Kudelka
Glen Lievre
Johannes Leak gets this one right.
Mark Knight
John Shakespeare
Michael Leunig
From the US
The Lincoln Project@ProjectLincoln
American Civil War. 5 yrs.
655,000 deaths.
449/day
World War II. 5 yrs.
405,000 deaths.
297/day
World War I. 2 yrs.
117,000 deaths.
200/day
Korean War. 4 yrs.
37,000 deaths.
30/day
Covid-19. 195 days.
195,000 deaths
~1000/day
Trump: a surrendered War Time president.
Thanks BK.
This reminds me of the Ramsey, Western Civilisation degree.
‘patriotic education’ sounds very much like brainwashing or ‘Re-education’ to me.
How will or will this influence Chinese voters in the US?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/09/18/tiktok-wechat-ban-trump/
Freaking hell the Morrison government is corrupt down to its bootlaces:
https://www.themonthly.com.au/today/paddy-manning/2020/18/2020/1600408228/covid-waffle
The condemnation of Morrison by Albanese probably won’t be enough to satisfy mundo or south though. 😐
Confessions @ #5 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 6:59 am
He’s a racist and a race-baiter.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/18/us/politics/trump-cdc-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
Didn’t something similar happen here with the Morrison govt and CSIRO?
C@t:
I was wondering whether politicians were using WeChat to connect with Chinese voters? I recall Rudd was on WeChat when he was in office.
C@tmommasays: Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 7:15 am
Confessions @ #5 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 6:59 am
How will or will this influence Chinese voters in the US?
He’s a racist and a race-baiter.
**************************************************************
Thanks BK for today’s extensive Dawn Patrol.
Murphy with a very salient point for some commentators here.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/19/morrison-says-youre-either-for-gas-or-against-it-of-course-its-not-as-simple-as-that
Confessions @ #8 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 7:29 am
Abbott started it and then a story in the last week said that CSIRO scientists have been silenced and cannot talk about Climate Change.
Confessions @ #9 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 7:31 am
Gladys Liu rode to power in Chisholm on the back of WeChat. I’d probably back the idea that John Alexander in Bennelong did as well.
I can’t find a point to argue with Katharine Murphy’s piece on Morrison’s gas plan as it basically mirrors everything I have said here.
It lays everything out very well.
IMHO well worth a read.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/19/morrison-says-youre-either-for-gas-or-against-it-of-course-its-not-as-simple-as-that
Jennifer Rubin, after the Trump Town Hall and before the Debates:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/16/trump-shouldnt-have-brought-up-mental-acuity-his-disastrous-town-hall/
I know this was discussed briefly last night, but I often think that there are few sportspeople with more than two brain cells to rub together, even before the head knocks. Look at the number of footy players who have broken Corvid rules and expect to be forgiven if they say, “oops, sorry!”.
The question is, why carry the dead wood at all? The establishment would have been far better off picking Harris as the actual nominee instead. She’s not perfect but at least she isn’t responsible for up to two and a half million deaths.
C@tmomma @ #15 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 5:50 am
Yeah I was thinking about Gladys Liu.
Barney:
That’s why I always use the phrase ‘scientific reality of global warming’. I don’t really care for language about moral challenges or whatever and never have.
lizzie @ #17 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 5:58 am
Yep, and many of them have focused on their chosen sport from a very young age often to the detriment of their education.
I have a close friend who played Aussie Rules at the highest level and have met many other players, few of whom I’d have much time for in any other environment.
‘Granted, some environmentalists (and Kevin Rudd) have made it easier for the Coalition since the Abbott era to polarise the country on this issue by characterising climate change action in the language of religion rather than science – “great moral challenges” and all that…’
Sorry, what?
The implication here seems to be that morals are only things what exist inside religions; that something can’t be both supported by the science and ethical; that ethics and science are separate and should not be combined.
I’m also not sure how it connects to her apparent argument. I think she’s saying that using ‘religious’ language ‘allowed’ Abbott et al to make it a religious issue, or at least an emotive one.
Abbott was going to do that anyway.
What really made it easier for the Coalition was the lack of opposition from the media to their ideas about climate change.
I’m still blown away when I watch the BBC news bulletins, where the stories unequivocally state that climate change is the cause of the bushfires in California and Russia. The Australian media would be throwing to Jim Murphy who runs an obscure blog cast for ‘balance’ on that one.
I’ve seen BBC interviewers basically shut someone down when they try and argue climate change isn’t a thing.
If the ABC did that to an interviewee, there’d be Senate investigations into their denial of free speech, the interviewer would mysteriously disappear from the airwaves, and the msm would be leading the charge.
The outright winner for Arsehole of the Week goes to –
John-Paul Langbroek
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/19/queensland-lnp-frontbencher-tells-new-citizens-not-to-bring-problems-to-australia
Second place commendation for AotW – Gary Ablett Snr.
IMHO well worth a read.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/19/morrison-says-youre-either-for-gas-or-against-it-of-course-its-not-as-simple-as-that
Yep, and in perfect formation the Greens lined up for the wedge. Very very impressive.
Barney
It says a lot about Australian values (‘ave another beer, Scotty, and here’s a free ticket to the footy) that great efforts have been made to ensure that sports continue, while other entertainers have suffered.
zoomster @ #22 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 6:15 am
No, I don’t believe she’s saying that, it’s more that when you start parcelling it in that way the debate moves away from the actual science and those opposed have a much easier time dealing with it because they can ignore the science.
Barney
Take your word for it, but the religious language was being used by the Right, particularly on environmental matters, long before Rudd came along (and indeed, long before climate change became mainstream).
Of course, what’s been happening is the differation game. If both sides of politics are guided by the experts/science, then the differences between them become wafer thin – it’s just different ways of doing the same thing.
So if you want people to vote for you rather than the other guy, you have to find another point of difference.
In the Right’s case, this has meant a gradual move away from listening to the experts.
For some sections of the media, who have seen ‘balance’ and ‘finding an angle’ as more important that reporting facts, this was actually encouraged instead of called out.
After all, if your job is ‘let’s take this expert and make them look foolish because that’s a better story’ then you don’t object when you see politicians using the same tactic.
lizzie @ #25 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 6:22 am
I love my sport and I believe sport does hold an important place in Australian culture, but just because you have an ability to play a sport better than the average person, it doesn’t mean you are automatically a wonderful human being.
“It says a lot about Australian values (‘ave another beer, Scotty, and here’s a free ticket to the footy) that great efforts have been made to ensure that sports continue, while other entertainers have suffered.”
***
If it’s ok to have socially distanced crowds at the footy then why isn’t it ok to have socially distanced peaceful protests?
zoomster @ #28 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 6:40 am
Yep, but it’s not a chicken or egg argument.
Murphy talks about the politics behind the Libs position and raises some of your points.
Rudd hurt himself with the “great moral challenge of out time,” comment when he stepped back from it.
People were left wondering if it really was that serious and important.
‘Rudd hurt himself with the “great moral challenge of out time,” comment when he stepped back from it.’
No argument from me there!!
Well good news in a way.
Well the 7:45 am News was still broadcast this morning. I tried to confirm the story it was gone yesterday afternoon, but could find no information either way. I suspect it will go at Christmas when they make changes.
Victoria making good steady progress.
ABC Melbourne
@abcmelbourne
·
3m
#BREAKING: Victoria has recorded 21 new cases of coronavirus and a further seven deaths overnight.
Metropolitan Melbourne’s 14 day case average is now 39.3.
Victoria records 21 new coronavirus cases, seven more deaths
Victoria has recorded 21 new coronavirus cases as anti-lockdown protesters threaten to stage weekend rallies “like nothing you’ve ever seen before”.
The average daily case number for metropolitan Melbourne has dropped to 39.3, meaning the city is on track to a scheduled easing of restrictions.
Metropolitan Melbourne must reach an average daily case rate of between 30 and 50 cases over the preceding fortnight to trigger an easing of lockdown measures from September 28.
The daily average in regional Victoria is 1.9.
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/victoria-records-21-new-coronavirus-cases-seven-more-deaths/news-story/b34aa82090cb40e5c251945db4aee2cc
Laughtong the news will be at 8 on Monday, followed by AM at 8:05 according to Sabra as she closed her show yesterday
Three of the Casey people are in hospital now.
lizzie @ #39 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 7:17 am
A lesson learnt the hard way! 🙁
1 of 4
This Aqua satellite image taken Friday, Sept. 18, 2020 and provided by NASA, shows subtropical storm Alpha in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean near Portugal’s coast. The Atlantic’s record-breaking “crazy” hurricane season got a bizarre European remake Friday as forecasters ran out of traditional names and trotted out the Greek alphabet for subtropical storm Alpha. And it was misplaced geographically, bearing down on Portugal.
The Atlantic’s record-breaking “crazy” hurricane season got a bizarre European remake Friday as forecasters ran out of traditional names and trotted out the Greek alphabet for subtropical storm Alpha. And the geographically misplaced storm promptly sloshed ashore in Portugal.
But wait there’s more. The busy Atlantic is beta testing the Greek alphabet as Beta formed late Friday afternoon.
This is only the second time National Hurricane Center forecasters have had to pull out the Greek alphabet for names, with the last time being 2005. Tropical Storm Wilfred, the last of traditional names, officially formed little more than an hour before Alpha, prompting the hurricane center to tweet “get out the Greek alphabet.”
And they quickly had to use it again, when a tropical depression in the western Gulf of Mexico became Tropical Storm Beta. That’s three storms forming in about six hours.
“It’s crazy,” said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. “This is just off the charts., We’ve made a joke of breaking records.”
Wilfred, Alpha and Beta set records for earliest 21st, 22nd and 23rd named Atlantic storms, beating 2005 by a few weeks.
Alpha is odd in another way. It’s misplaced into an area where storms don’t generally brew. That’s so unusual that Alpha barely shows up on the hurricane center’s real time storm tracking map, which is focused on the Americas. Only the “Al” of its Greek name shows and it was expected to dissipate in less than a day.
But Alpha fits with the rest of this season in another way. About half of the storms this busy hurricane season have only lasted a few days and have been quite weak, McNoldy said. Vicky for example popped up quickly and soon dissipated without much notice. And with 22 storms only two of them — Laura and Teddy, which is still swirling — reached major hurricane status, which is also kind of unusual, McNoldy said.
Morning all. Thanks BK. I can but agree with the news assessments: Australia is once again the Lucky Country, in that it is a place with fortunate circumstances, led by mediocre (male) leaders. That applies to the Liberal and Labor leadership this week. The latter and their supporters understandably wish to turn attention to the many other areas of government corruption. BUt I think Mike Seccombe sums it up well.
“Says Bandt: “Joel Fitzgibbon is not some rogue backbencher. He is Albanese’s hand-picked Resources spokesman. And he is saying that this [Liddell plan] was in fact Labor’s idea to begin with and Scott Morrison should have got on with it quicker.
“If Anthony Albanese tries to walk both sides of the fence on gas he will potentially suffer the same fate that Bill Shorten did for trying to do the same with Adani.”
He further notes that fossil-fuel interests have given more than $9.3 million to the major parties during the past eight years, and that donations from gas interests were almost evenly split.
“This is an object lesson in the power of big corporations over politicians,” he says.
Bandt’s analysis may be self-serving – the Greens benefit if Labor is riven over climate – but it is also right.”
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2020/09/19/gas-plan-locks-decades-high-emissions-experts-warn/160043760010436
Zwaktyld @ #37 Saturday, September 19th, 2020 – 9:15 am
That’s where the information behind comment I posted yesterday came from. Thank you – although I will miss the 7:45 news as my morning routine now is built around it.
The other tragedy about Scomo’s gas policy-lie and Albo’s meek acceptance of it is that feasible and affordable solutions to climate change do now exist, if we had a political leadership willing to grasp them. Micro EV city cars are now being offered for sale in China ($7000AUS!!) and France ($11,000 AUS). Either could hit the road in Australia for under $20K, or even be manufactured here. But no, we will build gas pipelines and oil tanks instead.
China – Wuling Mini EV – 50,000 sold in the first month.
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/07/20200725-wuling.html
France – Citroen Ami – on sale for 6000 Euro ($11,000 AUS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSDE_d6IUVA
Looking at US polls hopefully Biden will win, show leadership on climate change, and our class of ethically-challenged political donkeys will follow in their shadow as always.
Have a good day all.
Morning all
Lots of reading today. Thanks BK!!
Meanwhile I’ve seen some of the rant by Gary ablett senior on YouTube.
He was a great footballer. But as a human being he hasnt been right for decades.
From recollection he became a born again Christian.
Some may recall the time he left a young girl to overdose and die whilst they took drugs
together.
I dont care how good he was at football, he is one bitter and twisted person.
Bader Ginsburg has passed away…
RBG dead.
The Republican ‘project’ is now complete. 6 conservative judges on the Supreme Court will block every progressive legislative reform for the next 30 years.
Tell me again, why the 2016 presidential election was a ‘same-same’ race that really didn’t matter? In truth, it was the defining example of the evil faux left combining with the alternative right to put an end to the enlightenment.
Vale Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
After his Gas announcement during the week. Will Scomo be promoting the government’s technology investment in CD Rom or their Arts package purchasing film?
have a great day, Socrates. btw, the topic today is more about “great moral challenge labelling”, less about “gas”. oh, and k. murphy has been promoted from “greenite” to “sage”, something to do with her saying what some denizens here like to hear. -cheers, a.v.