Keeping it holy

Marking the sabbath with a compendium of federal preselection news, the most notable relating to the looming by-election in Groom.

Queensland’s Liberal National Party will take a break from electioneering tomorrow to determine its candidate for Groom,who is all but assured of a quick passage to parliament after the by-election on November 24. This contest has been enlivened by reports that David van Gend, an unsuccessful past nominee with unorthodox views on social issues, has emerged as the front-runner. Van Gend reportedly enjoys well-organised backing from religious conservatives, and Crikey reports he bears endorsement Eric Abetz, Matt Canavan, Miranda Devine and Howard-era Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson. As The Guardian notes, this comes at a time when conservative state MPs are making life difficult for their leadership by conjuring controversies around abortion at the sharp end of an election campaign. The LNP’s deep state would evidently prefer it if locals favoured Toowoomba councillor Rebecca Vonhoff or Australian Lot Feeders president Bryce Camm.

Other preselection news:

• In other Queensland federal preselection news, a gossip column in the Cairns Post reports Cairns regional councillor Brett Olds will seek preselection to succeed Warren Entsch in the far north Queensland seat of Leichhardt, and suggests Olds has the support of Entsch. The 70-year-old Entsch said before the last election that this term would be his last.

• The Western Australian Greens have preselected Dorinda Cox, an anti-domestic violence campaigner and former police office of Yamatji Noongar background, to lead the party’s Senate ticket at the next election, in place of the retiring Rachel Siewert. It is often the practice in the Greens for outgoing Senators to retire before the election and allow their preselected successor to fill their vacancy, but it is unclear if this is the idea on this occasion.

• The Australian Capital Territory election would seem to have been decided with a result of Labor 10 (down two), Liberal nine (down two) and Greens six (up four), which you can read all about here.

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.

879 comments on “Keeping it holy”

Comments Page 18 of 18
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  1. poroti @ #851 Monday, October 26th, 2020 – 10:59 pm

    Non

    Labor’s responses during the fires were exactly right.

    What were they ?

    Other than they aren’t the government, Labor outlined what they would have done if they had been. Plus, they got the former Mayor of Bega elected to federal parliament. Despite the powers of incumbency which Morrison ruthlessly exploited.

    I think that’s enough.

  2. Scott isn’t trump. He’s smarter and more cunning. Don’t get fooled into thinking progress in the USA means progress here.

    As far as Morrison is concerned it’s bloody easy to play a winning game when you have the ref, the linesmen, the ballboys, the scorer and the masseur all actively barracking for and supporting you. Further there is one rulebook and set of morals for the Coalition, and a far more complex set of by-laws, ethical standards and byzantine guidelines for Labor to conform to.

    So let us not hear any more about how brilliant Scott Morrison is.

    ANYONE can simply refuse to answer questions when not one journalist will press the issue. Except if you’re Dan Andrews, and then the journos seem to be incapable of shutting the fuck up.

    ANYONE can get their photo in a newspaper or on the telly when that outlet (and party donor as well) sends photographers, camera crews and spin doctors to write up cheap tat about dolls houses, chicken coops and novelty lights that were supplied free by the retailer anyway, in return for brand name endorsement, for Christ’s sake.

    ANYONE can succeed as Prime Minister when their powerful journalist mates write them up as having been born fully-formed as economic, industrial relations, foreign policy, public health, moral and behavioural savants from literally day #1 of their tenure (usually the day after the day where they stabbed the previous PM in the same back they had been patting just hours before betraying them).

    So please, let us not have anymore of that Scott Morrison is smart and cunning crap. He is a regulation chancer from the suburbs, a copper’s son made good, not very bright, academically unaccomplished, and regarded by just about everyone around him as an obnoxious dickhead. No Liberal PM has to try very hard at being PM when they have the entire infrastructure biased towards them and cheering on everything they do.

  3. A nice healthy dose of defeatism from Bill and Cat. I await their proposed solution.

    My solution, fight, loudly and hard. Call out the media, call them entertainment to their faces.

    One last “Where was Albo” for the night.

    Big mistake going quiet on Morrison whilst Dan dealt with Covid. Albo and Federal Labor should have been screaming at scomo for his sniping. Dan succeeds and team labor is doing the work. Albo can’t cash in that much on being “right there, lock step with Dan”.
    No to watch scomo do it instead.

    You all talk about Labor values, was backing your team aggressively one of those? because unions used to fight for things. They used to fight with clubs and fists for rights. Where’s all that gone?

  4. Bushfire Bill @ #854 Monday, October 26th, 2020 – 8:09 pm

    Scott isn’t trump. He’s smarter and more cunning. Don’t get fooled into thinking progress in the USA means progress here.

    As far as Morrison is concerned it’s bloody easy to play a winning game when you have the ref, the linesmen, the ballboys, the scorer and the masseur all actively barracking for and supporting you. Further there is one rulebook and set of morals for the Coalition, and a far more complex set of by-laws, ethical standards and byzantine guidelines for Labor to conform to.

    So let us not hear any more about how brilliant Scott Morrison is.

    So please, let us not have anymore of that Scott Morrison is smart and cunning crap. He is a regulation chancer from the suburbs, a copper’s son made good, not very bright, academically unaccomplished, and regarded by just about everyone around him as an obnoxious dickhead. No Liberal PM has to try very hard at being PM when they have the entire infrastructure biased towards them and cheering on everything they do.

    Scotty from marketing has clearly sold whoever wrote the original quote a bridge. Now they are both serial failures, but unlike Morrison Trump has had one or two cons actually work.

    Scotty put a beautiful woman in a bikini in some of the most beautiful places on earth and still failed. That isn’t just Trump Steaks or University level con / fail that is a level of fail that is hard to comprehend.

    The only thing Morrison has done better that Trump is torture and kill refugees and for that I hope those who believe in eternal hell are right because if they are Scotty is destined to a long stint in one of the least comfortable regions of hell.

    ‘Where the bloody hell is he? Oh yeah there of course.’

  5. South

    …..because unions used to fight for things. They used to fight with clubs and fists for rights. Where’s all that gone?

    Left behind in the time before the millennium bug was a worry, thankfully.
    If we (Labor) don’t use social media to its fullest extent, and that includes running interference on the Lib’s use of it, then we will not win the next election, whenever that may be.

  6. porotisays:
    Monday, October 26, 2020 at 10:59 pm
    Non

    Labor’s responses during the fires were exactly right.

    What were they ?
    ________________
    Whatever they were, they were right. That’s all you need to know.

  7. Maude,
    I agree, but labor’s not even aggressive enough to go after Morrison on that front. His friends with a qanon nutbag, and his wife has a guest in a government property at taxpayer expense.
    There’s ammo there. I don’t see any labor of the labor back benchers tweeting about it during QT.

  8. Anyway, we’ve been let down by the boomer remove (covid). I was hoping for a large scale generational refresh. Next pandemic maybe.

    Well, that was charming, coming from someone who want’s Labor backbenchers to tweet about stuff like it’ll help.
    What Spray said at #839 was succinct.

  9. South

    I also get frustrated at times with how Labor runs its battles and campaigns.
    But I also like the way KK, Penny Wong and others run theirs.
    I am not privy to all the info they have, and who they are targetting.

    Like the troops in the trenches, we see a little and think we have all the answers.

    BB put it well when he said:

    As far as Morrison is concerned it’s bloody easy to play a winning game when you have the ref, the linesmen, the ballboys, the scorer and the masseur all actively barracking for and supporting you. Further there is one rulebook and set of morals for the Coalition, and a far more complex set of by-laws, ethical standards and byzantine guidelines for Labor to conform to.

    Labor has no such advantage. It has to capture the hearts and minds of the voters in key seats when everything is stacked against it.

    But like you, I do hope Labor is working on their manipulation of social media. There are a lot of old people who use it, and they need to be swayed in our direction.

  10. Why is Dave Sharma such a frequent guest everywhere on TV? What does he contribute?

    RonniSalt
    @RonniSalt
    ·
    7h
    Watching Dave Sharma’s great moments in beige tonight on #qanda I was reminded my vacuum cleaner repair man has moved recently.

    I must find another one.

  11. lizzie
    Tuesday, October 27th, 2020 – 6:46 am – NEW!
    Comment #873

    Why is Dave Sharma such a frequent guest everywhere on TV? What does he contribute?

    Representing, as I do, the great unwashed; who or what is a Dave Sharma?

  12. KayJay @ #871 Tuesday, October 27th, 2020 – 6:54 am

    lizzie
    Tuesday, October 27th, 2020 – 6:46 am – NEW!
    Comment #873

    Why is Dave Sharma such a frequent guest everywhere on TV? What does he contribute?

    Representing, as I do, the great unwashed; who or what is a Dave Sharma?

    Sharma is one of the slipperiest characters in the LNP locker.
    A real smiling assassin.

  13. He is being schooled in the dark political arts of talking loud, saying nothing and learning how to be bumptious and dominate the floor and own the libs.

  14. KayJay

    He’s the LNP ex-diplomat who beat Kerryn Phelps for the seat of Wentworth. As a faithful model of a diplomat he says nothing original and toes the party line without leaving a footprint.

  15. Jesus freaking christ! Donald Trump is planning another Superspreader event at the White House for the public swearing in of the Handmaid Justice to the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett!!!

    He’s insane! And the people around him are complicit toadies and pusillanimous sycophants who have had a brain bypass!

  16. Bushfire Bill @ #854 Monday, October 26th, 2020 – 11:09 pm

    Scott isn’t trump. He’s smarter and more cunning. Don’t get fooled into thinking progress in the USA means progress here.

    As far as Morrison is concerned it’s bloody easy to play a winning game when you have the ref, the linesmen, the ballboys, the scorer and the masseur all actively barracking for and supporting you. Further there is one rulebook and set of morals for the Coalition, and a far more complex set of by-laws, ethical standards and byzantine guidelines for Labor to conform to.

    So let us not hear any more about how brilliant Scott Morrison is.

    ANYONE can simply refuse to answer questions when not one journalist will press the issue. Except if you’re Dan Andrews, and then the journos seem to be incapable of shutting the fuck up.

    ANYONE can get their photo in a newspaper or on the telly when that outlet (and party donor as well) sends photographers, camera crews and spin doctors to write up cheap tat about dolls houses, chicken coops and novelty lights that were supplied free by the retailer anyway, in return for brand name endorsement, for Christ’s sake.

    ANYONE can succeed as Prime Minister when their powerful journalist mates write them up as having been born fully-formed as economic, industrial relations, foreign policy, public health, moral and behavioural savants from literally day #1 of their tenure (usually the day after the day where they stabbed the previous PM in the same back they had been patting just hours before betraying them).

    So please, let us not have anymore of that Scott Morrison is smart and cunning crap. He is a regulation chancer from the suburbs, a copper’s son made good, not very bright, academically unaccomplished, and regarded by just about everyone around him as an obnoxious dickhead. No Liberal PM has to try very hard at being PM when they have the entire infrastructure biased towards them and cheering on everything they do.

    ‘So please, let us not have anymore of that Scott Morrison is smart and cunning crap. He is a regulation chancer from the suburbs, a copper’s son made good, not very bright, academically unaccomplished, and regarded by just about everyone around him as an obnoxious dickhead. ‘

    .
    But there he is, Prime minister of Australia.
    And Labor can’t lay a glove on him.
    Go figure.

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