Opposites detract

As Peter Malinauskas puts the loyal back in loyal opposition, two contenders emerge for the thankless task of leading the WA Liberals to the March state election.

I had a paywalled article in Crikey yesterday that riffed off South Australian Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas’s pointedly supportive approach to the state’s brief COVID-19 lockdown, and the explicit distinction he drew between his own approach and that of Michael O’Brien in Victoria. It was noted that Malinauskas clearly believes the general tenor of polling coming out of Victoria, even if the likes of Peta Credlin do not. This also afforded me the opportunity to highlight a clip from September in which Credlin and two Sky-after-dark colleagues brought their formidable perspicacity to bear on the likely impact of Queensland’s hard border policies on the looming state election.

Speaking of the which, both Antony Green and Kevin Bonham offer extremely detailed post-match reports on the Queensland election, in which both try their hand at estimating the statewide two-party preferred: Antony Green coming in at 53.2% for Labor, and Kevin Bonham making it 53.1%. This represents either a 1.8% or 1.9% swing to Labor compared with the 2017 election result of 51.3%, which was barely different from the 2015 result of 51.1%. Annastacia Palaszczuk can now claim the vanishingly rare distinction of having increased her party’s seat share at three successive elections. For further insights into how this came about, JWS Research has published full results of its post-election poll.

Elsewhere, Western Australia’s Liberal Party will today choose a new leader after the resignation on Sunday of Liza Harvey, who came to the job last June but has been politically crippled by COVID-19 — a no-win situation for the Liberals in the best of circumstances, but one made quite a lot worse than it needed to be by a response that was more Michael O’Brien than Peter Malinauskas. The two contenders are Zak Kirkup, 33-year-old member for the all too marginal seat of Dawesville in southern Mandurah, and Bateman MP Dean Nalder, who unsuccessfully challenged Colin Barnett’s leadership six months before the Liberals’ landslide defeat in March 2017. The West Australian reports that Zirkup has it all but stitched up, since he has the support of Harvey as well as key numbers men Peter Collier and Nick Goiran.

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.

1,647 comments on “Opposites detract”

Comments Page 31 of 33
1 30 31 32 33
  1. The Wombat wrote:

    Coatsworth, like Allen Cheng (but not Brett Sutton) is a clinician (an ID physician – like me) who has to deal with individual variation, unpredictable biological unknowns and consequential reality, but does so in the public gaze without the luxury of public confirmation bias. Neither are dishonest, but both are using a semantically pleomorphic term of art to describe non-congruent concepts from separate domains. Apples & Oranges. Please be careful with terms like dishonesty.

    Absolute gobbledygook (and I suspect deliberately so). Jargon, upon jargon, upon multi-syllabic Big Words that only serve to provide a channel for the poster to show off all the big words he knows.

    Yes, I looked up “pleomorphism”. Looking it up wasn’t much help. Here’s why:

    Pleomorphism
    Pleomorphism is a term used in histology and cytopathology to describe variability in the size, shape and staining of cells and/or their nuclei. Several key determinants of cell and nuclear size, like ploidy and the regulation of cellular metabolism, are commonly disrupted in tumors.

    Yeah, I also didn’t bother looking up “ploidy”.

    What either word, or concept, has to do with politics, psephology or the vocabulary of ordinary otherwise well-read readers (as opposed to wankers trying to impress us with how smart they used to be), I don’t know… but surely there must have been a more readable and comprehensuble way of making the point that was made than resorting to unintelligible techo-babble?

    You shouldn’t expect your readers to have to resort to dictionaries just to get the gist of the (I suspect quite straightfoward, sans the buzzwords) point you’re trying to get across, by having to reference words they have never used and will never have to use, or want to use, or hear, ever again.

    Let he or she who knew what pkeomirphism meant cast the first stone.

  2. Friendly Jordies should steer clear of the personal insults based on appearance. Just gets in the way of his message.

    Basically he needs to grow up.

  3. Bushfire Bill @ #2713 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 5:00 pm

    The Wombat wrote:

    Coatsworth, like Allen Cheng (but not Brett Sutton) is a clinician (an ID physician – like me) who has to deal with individual variation, unpredictable biological unknowns and consequential reality, but does so in the public gaze without the luxury of public confirmation bias. Neither are dishonest, but both are using a semantically pleomorphic term of art to describe non-congruent concepts from separate domains. Apples & Oranges. Please be careful with terms like dishonesty.

    Absolute gobbledygook (and I suspect deliberately so). Jargon, upon jargon, upon multi-syllabic Big Words that only serve to provide a channel for the poster to show off all the big words he knows.

    Yes, I looked up “pleomorphism”. Looking it up wasn’t much help.

    Pleomorphism
    Pleomorphism is a term used in histology and cytopathology to describe variability in the size, shape and staining of cells and/or their nuclei. Several key determinants of cell and nuclear size, like ploidy and the regulation of cellular metabolism, are commonly disrupted in tumors.

    I also didn’t bother looking up “ploidy”.

    What either word, or concept, has to do with politics, psephology or the vocabulary of ordinarybresders (as oppised to wankers trying to impress us with how smart they used to be), I don’t know… but surely there must have been a more readable and comprehensuble way of making the point that was made than resorting to unintelligible techo-babble?

    You shouldn’t expect your readers to have to resort to dictionaries just to get the gist of the (I suspect quite straightfoward, sans the buzzwords) point you’re trying to get across, by having to reference words they have never used and will never have to use, or want to use, or hear, ever again.

    Shorter BB: “Pleez Exploin” (with rising inflection and dyed red hair…)?

  4. Shorten thought he’d be the Labor hero – but he’s been shown up by certain state/territory Labor leaders.
    His ego has taken a hit.

  5. Friendlyjordies really shredded Fairfax with that one. More people will probably see that video than read the SMH journos on any given day.

  6. Yeah, Wombat please explain.

    Spelling it “exploin” shows how fuckin’ up-itself that post of yours was.

    If anybody knew what “pleomorphism” meant, and “ploidy” as well, you might have a point.

    But you don’t, because they didn’t.

    What you wrote was unintelligible to 99.9% of your readers here where you posted it. What a communicator you are… not.

    Stick to your test tubes. Leave the politics to others.

  7. rhwombat @ #1503 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 5:11 pm

    Bushfire Bill @ #2713 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 5:00 pm

    The Wombat wrote:

    Coatsworth, like Allen Cheng (but not Brett Sutton) is a clinician (an ID physician – like me) who has to deal with individual variation, unpredictable biological unknowns and consequential reality, but does so in the public gaze without the luxury of public confirmation bias. Neither are dishonest, but both are using a semantically pleomorphic term of art to describe non-congruent concepts from separate domains. Apples & Oranges. Please be careful with terms like dishonesty.

    Absolute gobbledygook (and I suspect deliberately so). Jargon, upon jargon, upon multi-syllabic Big Words that only serve to provide a channel for the poster to show off all the big words he knows.

    Yes, I looked up “pleomorphism”. Looking it up wasn’t much help.

    Pleomorphism
    Pleomorphism is a term used in histology and cytopathology to describe variability in the size, shape and staining of cells and/or their nuclei. Several key determinants of cell and nuclear size, like ploidy and the regulation of cellular metabolism, are commonly disrupted in tumors.

    I also didn’t bother looking up “ploidy”.

    What either word, or concept, has to do with politics, psephology or the vocabulary of ordinarybresders (as oppised to wankers trying to impress us with how smart they used to be), I don’t know… but surely there must have been a more readable and comprehensuble way of making the point that was made than resorting to unintelligible techo-babble?

    You shouldn’t expect your readers to have to resort to dictionaries just to get the gist of the (I suspect quite straightfoward, sans the buzzwords) point you’re trying to get across, by having to reference words they have never used and will never have to use, or want to use, or hear, ever again.

    Shorter BB: “Pleez Exploin” (with rising inflection and dyed red hair…)?

    (as oppised to wankers trying to impress us with how smart they used to be),

    I got the same treatment when I *used to* try to help out explaining things as simply as I could. So that’s not the problem. The problem is much deeper.

  8. “I talk to colleagues in the industry, and we just don’t understand why Morrison had to pick a fight with our biggest customer.” – Dan Robson from Ross Hill Wines.

  9. Bushfire Bill @ #1505 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 5:12 pm

    You need to understand @friendlyjordies’ audience.

    And, sorry, it obviously ain’t YOU.

    No I don’t. I’ve heard your tales about being down and hip with the kids. It will come as a surprise to you that you’re not the only one who crosses paths with young people in their lives.

    I get who FJ’s audience is. Unfortunately it’s the already-converted, who will revel in the brilliance of his takedowns.

    Ask yourself this question. Who would you forward the link to? I’d happily pass it on to my politically-engaged and left-leaning younger acquaintances. They’d love it, but of course they’d also have probably already seen it.

    Would you send it to that slightly skeptical, slightly conservative, yet-to-be-convinced friend or family member? No, you wouldn’t, because they wouldn’t get past his excruciatingly sneering voice and childish putdowns.

    And there’s the rub. Acts like FriendlyJordies are great for revving up the troops. We watch, we shout “got ’em!!!”, we high-five each other. But nobody else notices or cares. He’s never going to change a single vote.

  10. Bushfire

    I am one of the readers who does not always understand all the scientific words, but I have very much appreciated contributions by both Itza and Wombat. I would hate them to walk away from PB .

  11. “I talk to colleagues in the industry, and we just don’t understand why Morrison had to pick a fight with our biggest customer.” – Dan Robson from Ross Hill Wines.
    _____
    lizzie
    Maybe an effort to please bloody Trump?

  12. Lizzie
    The Liberals and their Sky friends believe that there is a base of Trumpian conservatives out there just eager for the same sorts of issues Trump campaigns on but yet again the culture wars blow up.

  13. Farrelly’s returns fire with some KOs on the Ugly Building debate, which got traction here (I abstained)

    “In a world wounded by ugliness and misery, beauty is what we yearn to find and, better still, create,” says Dom. I mean yes, absolutely. Yet every new motorway project, every relinquishment of control to a developer, every sale of public land or assets, every removal of (already weak) environmental or heritage protections to speed approvals and every destruction of a Willow Grove or a Powerhouse stomps upon this yearning with brute hobnail boots.

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/surprise-dear-treasurer-i-agree-with-half-your-hit-list-of-ugly-buildings-now-for-my-demolition-job-on-you-20201126-p56ic9.html

  14. BK @ #1513 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 5:24 pm

    “I talk to colleagues in the industry, and we just don’t understand why Morrison had to pick a fight with our biggest customer.” – Dan Robson from Ross Hill Wines.

    When Morrison does anything it’s usually to divert attention from his preceding failure.

    Berejiklian now uses the same trick. Very Trumpian of them both … but they do it because it works a treat – in fact, given that Australia’s MSM has the attention span of a goldfish, it probably works even better for here than it does in the US.

  15. BK
    Maybe an effort to please bloody Trump?
    No an effort to back Trump who he thought was a winner, now that Trump is on the way out, Scott takes his trousers off in an effort to appear serious.

  16. BK

    Not so much Trumpian from Morrison, but an effort to make himself important on the “world stage”. A bit like Abbott “shirt-fronting” Putin but with real life consequences.

  17. Sceptic

    There was one occasion where within hours of big noting his speaking to Trump he went all”tough guy” with China. Subtle as train crash, bet the Chinese never noticed the timing 😆

    Then with friends like this who needs enemies , exquisite timing 🙂
    .
    Nov 25, 2020 – 12.00am
    The United States praised Australia’s leading role in combating Huawei and declared victory over the Chinese telecommunications giant in Europe, once again putting the Morrison government in a difficult position with its biggest trading partner…………….Keith Krach, the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment at the State Department said Australia’s early stance against Huawei had informed and shaped US policy.

    “Australia has led the way,”
    https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/us-is-not-making-it-easy-for-morrison-on-china-20201124-p56he4

  18. Rex Douglassays:
    Friday, November 27, 2020 at 5:12 pm
    Shorten can’t bring himself to commend Daniel Andrews’ strong leadership.
    ________________
    Shorten knows it was all self inflicted.
    He also knows a govt stuff up when he sees one, and the hotel quarantine debacle will go down in the history books as one of the biggest.

  19. Mathias Cormann’s taxpayer-funded job application is a nose-pincher

    Ordinarily it would be a no-brainer for the Australian government to support a credible, prominent Australian candidate bidding for an important national institution, but the Coalition blew up all that when, against official advice and against the national interest, it failed to back Kevin Rudd’s bid for the more important job of secretary-general of the United Nations.

    Secondly, the taxpayer funds suddenly being showered on Cormann again highlights the government’s selective austerity.

    https://www.themonthly.com.au/today/paddy-manning/2020/27/2020/1606452343/no-ex-minister

  20. Taylormade @ #1524 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 5:51 pm

    Rex Douglassays:
    Friday, November 27, 2020 at 5:12 pm
    Shorten can’t bring himself to commend Daniel Andrews’ strong leadership.
    ________________
    Shorten knows it was all self inflicted.
    He also knows a govt stuff up when he sees one, and the hotel quarantine debacle will go down in the history books as one of the biggest.

    Shorten and DimTim – both losers.

  21. Would you send it to that slightly skeptical, slightly conservative, yet-to-be-convinced friend or family member? No, you wouldn’t, because they wouldn’t get past his excruciatingly sneering voice and childish putdowns.

    I wouldn’t send it to my maiden aunt, either, or the vicar who lives two doors down.

    But so what?

    Jordan Shanks isn’t trying to communicate with them. He’s not the Sydney Morning Herald, worried about audience share and appealing to all demographics, either.

    He’s a young(ish) bloke trying to get up some angst, pissedoffedness and clicks from his target audience, which does not include old farts like you and me.

    I read Jordies in the certain knowledge he doesn’t give a flying fuck what I think about him.

    I read a piece in The Guardian the other day by a female journalist who – presumably not by choice – is “hairless”. She pleaded with her readers not to judge Rudy Giuliani by his appearance: to wit, his leaking hair dye.

    And so should not any of us judge people by their physical characteristics, or anything else (be it date of birth, color of hair, tone of skin, race or sexuality), over which they have no control.

    But Giuliani is different. He chose to use hair dye, and knowing how much he himself sweats, chose to put himself under hot lights and emotional pressure at a press conference, in order to spout complete and utter horseshit. Commenting on his running hair dye made for a perfect comnentary on how ugly is as ugly does.

    Barilaro’s given name is “Giuseppe”, but he prefers to be called “John”. It indicates that he is embarrassed by his Italian roots and, presumably in order to progress in state politics, is prepared to deny them. He is therefore fair enough game for a not-so-friendly Jordie, in my estimation. It was Barilaro’s choice to change his name.

    Here on this blog we see constant references to the reputedly small size of Donald Trump’s penis and hands. I doubt whether he has any control over either metric. And I doubt whether that lack of choice will stop the well-educated, oh-so-caring people here from snarking about his alleged punyness.

    But Trump not the only one in people’s sights. Males, people born before 1960 (ie. “Boomers”) , Anglos in appearance, heterosexuals or any other of a number of descriptors over which the bearer has no choice regularly cop shit from any given direction on the day, right here is Wokesville.

    So let’s not have too much twee criticism of Jordan Shanks. The Left has been copping too much abuse – while at the same time expected to hold to impossible behavioural standards by their abusers – for the argument that they should lead by example to hold much weight nowadays.

  22. “I talk to colleagues in the industry, and we just don’t understand why Morrison had to pick a fight with our biggest customer.” – Dan Robson from Ross Hill Wines.
    _____
    lizzie
    Maybe an effort to please bloody Trump?

    Got it one. We know what Trump was doing – combining distraction from his incoherent and incompetent response to the Virus with racist dogwhistling.

    So what was Morrison doing? While other countries supported the idea of an enquriy into COVID, no other national leader was bloviating like our blowhard PM. That’s not the way to go if he genuinely wanted an enquiry. He was in effect saying we had to have an enquiry so that we could sheet home the blame to China. What an idiot.

    So what was Morrison doing? Australia was dealing well with the Virus. I’d say a combination of sucking up to his great mate (all the way with DJT), distraction from numerous scandals plus a bit of racist dogwhistling.

  23. Rex Douglas says:
    Friday, November 27, 2020 at 5:55 pm

    Taylormade @ #1524 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 5:51 pm

    Greens and Liberals = losers.

    Tag Team.

  24. Rex Douglas @ #1527 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 5:55 pm

    Taylormade @ #1524 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 5:51 pm

    Rex Douglassays:
    Friday, November 27, 2020 at 5:12 pm
    Shorten can’t bring himself to commend Daniel Andrews’ strong leadership.
    ________________
    Shorten knows it was all self inflicted.
    He also knows a govt stuff up when he sees one, and the hotel quarantine debacle will go down in the history books as one of the biggest.

    Shorten and DimTim – both losers.

    Actually, I take that back about Shorten.

    He won for his fossil fuel union the other day.

  25. BB,
    Fair enough, but I don’t think I’m being twee. I just think that given the depth and quality of his research, and the power of the case he puts forward, he’d be more convincing if he dropped some of the unnecessary peripheral stuff.

    I hope he goes on to be an increasingly powerful voice for the progressive cause, but I think that’s more likely to happen if he adjusts his schtick a little.

  26. I know a lot of people don’t like Shorten. I have mixed feelings about him myself. He got a little too cocky.

    But if Shorten was ALP leader now, people – including Labor people – would not already be conceding the next election to the Tories 🙁

  27. ItzaDream @ #1491 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 4:39 pm

    Perrottet and Guilty Dont Give A Shit Gladys trying to bypass the NSW upper house to block extra funding to /////drum roll //// the anti-corruption watch dog.

    It is the first time in more than 20 years the parliament has referred a law to the governor disregarding changes made by the upper house.

    Under an amendment to the bill introduced by the Greens in the Legislative Council on Tuesday, the Independent Commission Against Corruption would get an extra $7.3m in funding for 2020-21. All non-government parties supported the amendment.

    (guardian)

    Din’t she read Anne Davies’ column in The Guardian today? #GuiltyGladys is skating on thin ice and as the heat gets turned up, the ice gets thinner.

  28. Player One @ #1534 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 6:04 pm

    I know a lot of people don’t like Shorten. I have mixed feelings about him myself. He got a little too cocky.

    But if Shorten was ALP leader now, people – including Labor people – would not already be conceding the next election to the Tories 🙁

    Seriously? He lost the unlosable election. How on earth could he win the next one?

  29. Player One @ #1534 Friday, November 27th, 2020 – 6:04 pm

    I know a lot of people don’t like Shorten. I have mixed feelings about him myself. He got a little too cocky.

    But if Shorten was ALP leader now, people – including Labor people – would not already be conceding the next election to the Tories 🙁

    I think the Labor partisans here are being too quick in conceding defeat for Albanese.

    They shouldn’t underestimate the electorate potential of a good Howard-esque cash bribe bribe (childcare).

  30. “Howard-esque cash bribe bribe (childcare).”

    Something wrong with that hot key Rex. Left out “burbs” and added an extra “bribe”.

  31. If I don’t know a word, I google it. I learn a lot of new words that way. I sure don’t get my Kimbies in a twist about it and try and shoot the messenger who brought us the word. There’s enough dumbing down in this country. We need to smarten up!

  32. BB @5:56.
    ”Barilaro’s given name is “Giuseppe”, but he prefers to be called “John”. It indicates that he is embarrassed by his Italian roots and, presumably in order to progress in state politics, is prepared to deny them.”

    Lots of immigrants anglicise their name or (like many Chinese) adopt an anglo name in addition to their birth name. It is indicative of a desire to fit in, it may in some cases be to assist their career. It doesn’t usually mean that they are embarrassed by or want to hide their roots. In any case Mr Barilaro did not anglicise his Italian surname, which he would have done if he was hiding his Italian roots.

    EDIT: or maybe they just get sick of hearing their name mispronounced.

  33. The Drum just had a discussion about the current state of play re stranded Strayans without using the words Anthony or Albanese once.

  34. Lizzie wrote:

    Bushfire

    I am one of the readers who does not always understand all the scientific words, but I have very much appreciated contributions by both Itza and Wombat. I would hate them to walk away from PB .

    I’m not calling for his banning or ostracism, Lizzie.

    I just wish he wouldn’t resort to techno-babble in order to make an argument.

    It not only obscures his point of view (which may be worthwhile considering), but it renders his readers “One Down” (as Potter would put it), which is unforgivable.

    I have yet to hear from anyone who actually understood what Wombat was trying to say, or had any comprehension of the vocabulary he was using, or the context in which he was using it.

    As such, his comment was completely wasted, in that no-one had a clue what he was talking about. You can’t convince me that there wasn’t a more intelligible way by which Wombat could make his point. Given his insider industry connections, it might have made us much the wiser.

    There is literally no point in stating that you “very much appreciate” Wombat’s (or anybody else’s) insights if you cannot understand what he is (or they are) saying because of his (and their) use of very restricted, obscure techical jargon… unless you are prepared to argue that pleomorphism (and if you looked “pleomorphism” up, its associated word, “ploidy”) are a couple of those everyday terms we all grew up with and have taken with us throughout life.

  35. Bushfire

    I meant that I appreciate many of his explanations of Covid, as I do Cud’s and Itza’s on other matters. I didn’t say that I understand every one of them.

  36. On Friendly Jordies.
    Isn’t it a positive for those opposed to the Establishment that someone’s having a shot at them?
    Why quibble about the method?
    Good on him.
    And on a different topic, reading about a trial of a football player accused of rape.
    No comment from me as to guilt or innocence. But nearly all trial reports seem to have as police evidence mobile phone transcripts.
    I’m almost immune to this being reported but it dawned on me that someone somewhere must be recording every mobile phone conversation in Australia and keeping those records

  37. Dave Sharma has been receiving a certain amount of criticism today. I’ve just discovered why.

    Kevin Rudd
    @MrKRudd
    ·
    22h
    Always a pity when an aspirant Liberal Party front-bencher sells their soul to the climate-change denying right wing of his party – all to seek favour from #ScottyFromMarketing to get themselves promoted.

Comments Page 31 of 33
1 30 31 32 33

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *