Miscellany: Morgan poll, Liberal Senate preselection, etc.

Two polls suggest the federal government’s COVID-19 dividend may be starting to wear a bit thin.

Today is the day of the federal by-election for the Queensland seat of Groom, which you can offer your thoughts on on this post in the apparently unlikely event that you have something specifically to say about it through the course of the day. This site will naturally be all over the count this evening, complete with a live results facility that is fully battle-tested so far as federal elections are concerned.

Other news of note:

• Roy Morgan had a result this week from the federal voting intention series it conducts regularly but publishes erratically. This one credited the Coalition with a slender two-party lead of 50.5-49.5, from primary votes of Coalition 42%, Labor 34%, Greens 12% and One Nation 4%. State breakdowns had the Coalition leading 53.5-46.5 in New South Wales, the reverse in Victoria, the Coalition leading 54.5-45.5 in Queensland, the Coalition leading 51-49 in Western Australia, and Labor leading 52.5-47.5 in South Australia. The poll was conducted online and by telephone over the two previous weekends from a sample of 2824.

• The Financial Review reports on JWS Research polling that shows 20% believe states should close borders to other states that have any active COVID-19 cases, “almost 60%” believe the same should happen if there are 25 active cases, and 75% say the same for 100 active cases. The report further relates that 60% of respondents rated the federal government’s handling of the virus positively, down six points from July, and that 87% of Western Australians, 82% of South Australians and 57% of Victorians (up seven since July) did likewise for their state goverments, with due caution for the small size of the relevant sub-samples. The poll was conducted from a sample of 1035 from last Friday to Sunday.

John Ferguson of The Australian reports on Victorial Liberal Senate preselection contenders for the next election: Simon Frost, staffer to Josh Frydenberg and the party’s former state director (including at the time of its disastrous 2018 campaign); Roshena Campbell, a Melbourne lawyer; Greg Mirabella, Wangaratta farmer and husband of Sophie Mirabella; and Jess Wilson, policy director at the Business Council of Australia. This is likely to amount to a race for the second position on the ticket, with Sarah Henderson to be promoted to first and Scott Ryan not seeking another term. There is contention in the state branch over president Robert Clark’s reluctance to have preselections determined through party plebiscites, with critics accusing him of using COVID-19 to maintain control by the central administration, as it did before the last election. According to the report, “a statewide ballot would favour Mr Frost, while an administrative committee vote would favour those loyal to Mr Clark’s forces“.

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.

686 comments on “Miscellany: Morgan poll, Liberal Senate preselection, etc.”

Comments Page 7 of 14
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  1. Not me. The word ‘insipid’ comes to mind.

    🙂 I know what you mean – my Enya CDs are still dusty – but they’re an important stratigraphy marker.

    When faced with a barrage of Christmas carols, any port in a storm…

  2. p1

    … Your problem is that you simply don’t want either supply side action or demand side action.

    You don’t want any action.

    This is just entirely false.

  3. Player One @ #106 Saturday, November 28th, 2020 – 10:12 am

    Steve777 @ #104 Saturday, November 28th, 2020 – 1:09 pm

    Labor does need to choose its battles but it should choose more than it does.

    Increasingly, Labor seems to choose to battle the Greens. I suppose that’s understandable, in a way – it only wants to take on someone it knows it can beat 🙁

    So when did a federal Labor politician last “choose to battle the Greens”?

  4. Q: One interesting thing to come out of the recent outbreak in South Australia is that on one particular day they managed to test just over one percent of the entire population of the state…..
    AND if organised how quickly you could vaccinate people.

  5. Sorry frednk, but that was a real dickhead comment earlier. Had me searching news and twitter feeds everywhere.

    Don’t think there’s much value in Victoria lording it over the states that have done the heavy lifting for them. We’re all in this together aren’t we?

  6. Been There @ #299 Saturday, November 28th, 2020 – 10:45 pm

    Well done Cud Chewer!

    Enjoy your holiday.

    When Biden went from $1.40 to $3.20 on the day of the election when Trump claimed victory I loaded up with everything I could find, fully knowing the postals would make a massive difference.

    The illiterate mugs who piled onto Trump after he wrongly claimed victory just highlighted why we are a dumb country that has Scottie from marketing as our leader.

    Best investment in my whole life.

    Thank you all you Scottie/Trump fans.

    Been There,

    Yes, I did something similar. Then backed Biden again at $1.08 on Betfair a couple of days ago. You can still get $1.04.

    And no, this isn’t anything to do with what happens at the Electoral College, or on Inauguration Day. It’s for the candidate who has the most projected Electoral College votes won at the 2020 election.

    Yep, they’re still taking bets on an event that’s already been decided. Free money.

  7. Oh, and to answer your earlier question, Ladbrokes paid out about a week after election day. Significantly slower than Sportsbet, but quicker than Tabcorp apparently.

  8. Just researching..

    NSW, Victoria, SA have all had the virus re-enter the community from hotel quarantine of international arrivals. What’s the status of Western Australia and Queensland?

  9. A R says:
    Saturday, November 28, 2020 at 5:04 pm
    P1 can argue with the blogosphere until the cows come home about carbon pricing. Voters have spoken to that several times.
    That’s silly. A carbon price is correct and necessary. It doesn’t matter if it’s popular. Voters can’t dismiss reality.

    Oh really? Voters will do whatever they like. In the matter of the politics of climate change in Australian electoral politics, federal Labor has been on the losing side of the argument at every election since the 1990s except one – 2007 – when both the LNP and Labor proposed an ETS. Whenever the LNP has opposed such a policy, they have won the relevant election. That is, they have won 7 or 8 elections in which they finessed action on climate change. Following its enactment of a carbon price, the Gillard government was absolutely thrashed by the LNP. The plurality was smashed and has not yet recovered.

    This the electoral record. Your argument should be with the Australian people rather than Labor, who have surrendered much of their political muscle in a long-running but losing campaign on climate change.

    I wish it were not so. But it is what it is. Labor might never again form a majority federal government because of the success of the LNP on this issue.

  10. Just a shout out to William, with regard to the great social benefits his site is providing for the lonely and vulnerable among us. Just what would Crankmomma do, without having Poll Bludger in her life?

  11. Thanks Spray.

    $1.04 is still a lot better than bank interest.

    Maybe the corporate bookies are hoping on the mugs still backing Trump.

    If I had a million I’d snap that straight up, good return on a given.

    Doubt Betfair would take that amount, just teasing the amateurs.

  12. Spray @ #365 Saturday, November 28th, 2020 – 5:02 pm

    Cud (or anyone),
    Is there a reason why we don’t seem to see any false positives in the reported numbers any more? Given the fact that testing numbers have been pretty good, you’d expect to see the odd anomaly rather than the endless run of zeros in NSW, Vic and elsewhere. At least that was the case back in June / July.

    Any change in the way the tests are conducted or analysed?

    The primary and confirmatory testing (and subsequent sequencing) hasn’t changed and is now well standardised. Same tests, primers and thresholds for direct and sequenced PCR. Same pickups in quarantine testing, with significant number of high sensitivity low cycle number screens being found to be false positive on retesting. The major issue is that there is little virus to detect – apart from the old prolonged shedding from gut that does not seem to transmit viable virus. We are starting to understand that the maximal nasal & salivary shedding is in the 2-3 days before the 20-50 % who do develop symptoms manifest.

  13. Been There, I think Betfair will take any amount, because it’s matched betting. ie you’re not betting against the corporate, just against other mugs.

    That’s why this market is still alive and, as I say, offering free money. Mugs.

    The total amount of matched bets on the “next president” market is now in excess of two billion dollars.

  14. Thanks Spray.
    Anyone looking for a short term investment opportunity should be looking at this very seriously.
    Me? I can’t understand why people are backing Trump.
    What is wrong with the world?

  15. Cud Chewer @ #313 Saturday, November 28th, 2020 – 11:22 pm

    Just researching..

    NSW, Victoria, SA have all had the virus re-enter the community from hotel quarantine of international arrivals. What’s the status of Western Australia and Queensland?

    The NSW examples being the two security guards, right? Around August? Did that get any further than the security guards? I really can’t remember, it’s been a long year.

  16. Been There @ #323 Sunday, November 29th, 2020 – 12:18 am

    Thanks Spray.
    Anyone looking for a short term investment opportunity should be looking at this very seriously.
    Me? I can’t understand why people are backing Trump.
    What is wrong with the world?

    Only possible explanation is that they’re reading the title of the market which says “Next President”, and they’re backing Trump to pull some shenanigans. Or maybe expecting some “faithless electors” in the EC.

    But the fine print is quite explicit. The bet just relates to the EC votes as per the election, and it’s now impossible to see a way that Trump can alter that outcome.

  17. Non @ #314 Saturday, November 28th, 2020 – 10:24 pm

    That is, they have won 7 or 8 elections in which they finessed action on climate change. Following its enactment of a carbon price, the Gillard government was absolutely thrashed by the LNP. The plurality was smashed and has not yet recovered.

    This the electoral record.

    You’re not sampling on a long enough timeframe. The Australian people are inviting a reckoning, and they’ll get one. It’s already starting with longer and more severe bushfire seasons, more frequent extreme weather/flooding events, bleaching of the GBR, and so on.

    Eventually the nonstop warming moves from just making record hottest year after record hottest year to coastal erosion and inundation and killing plants, animals, and eventually, people. See what the electorate votes for when the problem is undeniable.

    Though of course by then it’ll be too late to actually do anything about it. Not enough people get just how much inertia the system actually has.

    Your argument should be with the Australian people

    I do what I can to set an example. I’ve been generating my own power for years. My car is electric, charges entirely from solar, and loudly proclaims what I think about greenhouse emissions. Have I attained zero-emissions perfection? No, but at least I’ve made real, tangible progress. And I’m happy to have an honest discussion about all of that with anyone interested. Or just embarrass them at the lights with my sunlight-powered vehicle. Whichever. Different people understand different languages. 🙂

    But I’m not a major political party and never will be. And it’s pretty ludicrous to have a two-party political system in which neither party is willing to seriously pick up the fight against global warming.
    As long as that’s the case, the best plausible outcome (from Jan 20, 2021) is that the rest of the world drags us kicking and screaming to sustainability. The world won’t suffer us living in denial forever.

  18. a r says:
    Sunday, November 29, 2020 at 1:13 am
    Non @ #314 Saturday, November 28th, 2020 – 10:24 pm

    That is, they have won 7 or 8 elections in which they finessed action on climate change. Following its enactment of a carbon price, the Gillard government was absolutely thrashed by the LNP. The plurality was smashed and has not yet recovered.

    This is the electoral record.

    You’re not sampling on a long enough timeframe.

    Well…we can’t sample elections that haven’t happened yet.

    But I’m not a major political party and never will be. And it’s pretty ludicrous to have a two-party political system in which neither party is willing to seriously pick up the fight against global warming.

    Labor have tried to take up that fight and have suffered for it. They no longer have the capacity to win federal elections in consequence of this. The demolition of the social democratic plurality is one of the costs of climate change in this country. The Tories would regard this as an advantage of climate change. They will exploit this in the future as they have in the past. This is what happens in Australia.


  19. Spray says:
    Saturday, November 28, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    Sorry frednk, but that was a real dickhead comment earlier. Had me searching news and twitter feeds everywhere.

    Don’t think there’s much value in Victoria lording it over the states that have done the heavy lifting for them. We’re all in this together aren’t we?

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/28/south-australia-and-nsw-record-new-covid-19-cases-as-victoria-passes-elimination-benchmark

  20. Not enough Australians care about ths Australian flag including the British bit.
    Not enough Australians care about instiutionalised corruption.
    Not enough Australians even know the name Mathias Cormann.
    Not enough Australians care about their superannuation.
    Not enough Australians care about the environment or the GBR.
    Enough Australians care about SUVs. (even European varieties).
    Gladys Berejiklian will probably streak at the next big NSW sporting event which will see her re-elected with an increased margin at the next election.
    The deadshit daggy PM is not an overt threat to the everyday European SUV driving voter looking for a Maccas after being illegally parked at a childs sporting event.
    Enough Australians know what they want.
    These wants are not often discussed.
    Morrison knows want they want.
    Voters care that Morrison tells them he cares. Lies! what lies?

  21. rhwombat @ #325 Sunday, November 29th, 2020 – 12:21 am

    C@tmomma @ #447 Saturday, November 28th, 2020 – 10:32 pm

    Jaeger @ #292 Saturday, November 28th, 2020 – 10:30 pm

    Enya! Enya! Enya!

    I have Enya CDs 🙂

    Doesn’t everyone? 😀

    Not me. The word ‘insipid’ comes to mind.

    Bah! Her cousins, the Clannad , were less twee and more original …and the Pogues (Mahones) out celtopunked both. I was rather partial to Capercallie.

    Yep. Give me Kirsty Maccoll any day! Best Xmas song ever, after John Lennon.

  22. shellbell @ #336 Sunday, November 29th, 2020 – 6:59 am

    Dead “independent” food delivery riders are called delivery partners.

    If these organisations were trucking companies, they would be raided.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/29/they-dont-have-brakes-the-tyres-are-gone-food-delivery-companies-accused-of-bike-safety-failures

    Capable of the same gold standard bs that Morrison is. Using euphemisms to disguise their true malign intent.

  23. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    Jacqui Maley complains that It doesn’t matter how badly they stuff up, in the Morrison era politicians don’t resign. A good read.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-doesn-t-matter-how-badly-they-stuff-up-in-the-morrison-era-politicians-don-t-resign-20201127-p56ilg.html
    Jack Waterford tells us why Mathias Cormann is not right leader for the OECD. This is quite an excoriation.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7031058/cormann-is-not-the-sort-of-leader-the-oecd-wants-or-the-world-needs/?cs=14329
    And Daniel Hurst reckons Cormann will have a hard sell, given his record on climate change.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/29/trying-to-invert-reality-mathias-cormanns-climate-credentials-will-be-a-hard-sell-at-the-oecd
    On the subject of bringing home Australians stranded overseas, Nicholas Stuart writes, “Rather than leading, Scott Morrison appears to have gone absent without leave. The government should be finding ways of opening hostels that could be used to temporarily house returning Australians. Instead, it seems to have gone on Christmas holidays early.”
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7032240/with-qantas-it-turns-out-you-really-cant-go-home-again/?cs=14258
    Katharine Murphy and Adam Morton begin this contribution with, “Scott Morrison’s language about Australia adopting an emissions reduction target of net zero by 2050, and about climate action more generally, is starting to warm up. The recent shift in the prime minister’s language invites two questions: is there a pivot under way, and is the shift real?”
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/29/scott-morrisons-climate-language-has-shifted-but-actions-speak-louder-than-words
    William Olsen writes that in a report released on Saturday morning by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the country’s renewable energy sector may represent one of the fastest-growing employment sectors within Australia, but also represents elements in the country’s worst employment practices as well.
    https://theaimn.com/jobs-lagging-on-renewables-upgrades-says-actu/
    Shane Wright reports that Scott Morrison has warned of more economic challenges ahead, saying the age of certainty enjoyed before the coronavirus pandemic was an aberration with more disruption caused by global competition likely to feature in coming years.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/pm-warns-of-economic-challenges-ahead-as-china-wine-tariffs-hit-20201128-p56irn.html
    More from Wright as he tells us that further reductions in financial support for people pushed out of work by the coronavirus pandemic could economically devastate parts of suburban Melbourne where tens of thousands of unemployed workers face a long haul back into jobs. He points to new research showing that even a $125 a week lift in the JobSeeker payment would not stop people looking for work
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/melbourne-s-suburbs-face-post-christmas-economic-woes-as-jobless-support-cut-20201127-p56ii2.html
    Greg Jericho says that using super to fix wages growth is as disingenuous as using it to fix the housing market. He writes that so many of our policy debates are mired in bad faith that are never actually about solving the problem at hand.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/commentisfree/2020/nov/29/using-super-to-fix-wages-growth-is-as-disingenuous-as-using-it-to-fix-the-housing-market
    And Amy Remeikis explains how the Coalition’s changes to superannuation rules will wrap industry funds in red tape and potentially make it very difficult for people to escape from “crap” funds.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/29/new-super-rules-how-coalition-changes-will-wrap-industry-funds-in-red-tape
    Peter Baker reviews Ian Bersten’s book Looters ’N’ Polluters: How the Liberal Party Hoodwinked Australia.
    https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/the-coalition-stands-for-the-rich-not-the-worker,14563
    As 2020 has demonstrated repeatedly, crisis often brings out the best in people (and, sadly, sometimes the worst), writes Barney Zwartz.
    https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/encouragingly-we-trust-each-other-more-in-times-of-crisis-20201126-p56i9q.html
    A Queensland man is behind bars having faced court on Saturday charged with a terrorism offence, after he allegedly sought firearms training and planned a terror attack in Bundaberg. He’s a former journalist.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/queensland-man-charged-after-seeking-training-planning-terror-attack-20201128-p56iqm.html
    At least 60 child sexual abuse claims have been made against one of the key “holdout” organisations named and shamed by the federal government for failing to sign on to the National Redress Scheme, writes Michael McGowan. The organisation is Fairbridge, which has been controlled by the Prince’s Trust, a charity owned by Prince Charles, since 2012. It is currently dormant and under administration, and subject to dozens of claims of historical abuse dating back to well before the charity’s involvement.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/28/dozens-of-child-abuse-claims-remain-from-organisations-refusing-to-sign-on-to-national-redress-scheme
    It’s been a big week for energy politics in Australia, with the nation’s biggest state economies accelerating their way down the clean energy highway, writes Peter Hannam.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/clean-and-green-powering-through-watershed-week-for-energy-policy-20201127-p56ikc.html
    Peter FitzSimons hands out a brickbat for Gladys and a bouquet for Matt Kean. He also hands out praise to Dan Andrews for his Covid-19 response. His concluding statement on the ease of being a man is a cracker!
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-good-and-the-bad-nsw-pollies-show-their-true-colours-20201127-p56imi.html
    Super early detection of cancer, well before symptoms become apparent, is the second-best thing to a cure – and almost as elusive. Is that about to finally change with a simple blood test? John Elder looks at a new British test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer at an early stage – including ovarian and pancreatic cancers for which there are no early detection tests, and which prove lethal more often than not.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2020/11/28/blood-test-detects-50-cancers/
    James S Kunen wonders what on earth we will talk about after Donald Trump. He has a few ideas.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/us-news/trump-news/2020/11/29/after-donald-trump/
    The assassination of the country’s top nuclear expert raises fears that the outgoing US president is determined to take further action posits Simon Tisdall.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/28/was-scientists-killing-the-opening-act-of-a-trump-led-war-on-iran
    The former head of the US Central Intelligence Agency has been accused of “siding with Iranian zealots” – after he labelled the assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist as a “criminal act” and “state-sponsored terrorism.”
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2020/11/28/cia-iran-assassination-scientist/
    Today’s nomination for “Arseholes of the Week” goes to these leeches.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/childcare-centre-used-fake-children-to-defraud-millions-police-say-20201127-p56iki.html

    Cartoon Corner

    Peter Broelman

    Matt Davisdon

    Matt Golding

    Mark Golding

    From the US



  24. Donald Trump is considering launching his 2024 election campaign on the day of Joe Biden’s inauguration, it has been reported – weighing up how to keep the spotlight on him in his post-White House life.

    Mr Trump, who is yet to concede defeat, and may not ever, was asked on Thanksgiving whether he would attend Mr Biden’s inauguration on 20 January.

    “I don’t want to say that yet,” he replied. “I mean, I know the answer. I’ll be honest, I know the answer.”

    On Saturday The Daily Beast cited three sources who confirmed he is considering a 2024 run, and two of them said that he had floated the idea of holding an event during Mr Biden’s inauguration, to cause maximum disruption.

  25. Crikey: The Sunday Read.

    “Even the dumbest social critics of journalism might have a point.”

    When it comes to politics, one person’s lie is of course another person’s home truth.
    But in the case of Scott Morrison, this is not a hypothetical question. Morrison lies consistently and regularly far more than previous prime ministers, and can objectively be shown to have done so.
    From the sports rorts affair, to Australia’s emissions trajectory, to statements about last summer’s bushfires, to calling Sam Dastyari “Shanghai Sam”, to lying about Labor’s costings during the last election campaign and the COVIDSafe app working like “sunscreen” and rejecting responsibility for aged care institutions in Victoria, Morrison has a record of egregious lying not merely about major issues but minor matters.

    He’s no Trump, who appears to be incapable of saying something that isn’t either a blatant lie or a wild exaggeration, but the prime minister has a well-established track record of attempting to mislead Australians with his public statements in a way that is significantly at odds even with the normal low standards of our political discourse.

    The record of lies is long enough for media consumers to be genuinely concerned that journalists, in merely repeating what Morrison says without analysing it, are party to the misleading of citizens. Media outlets that carry his media conferences run a similar risk. So the question about why our own media outlets aren’t actively considering how to avoid misleading audiences when they cover media conferences, or engage in verbatim reporting, is a real one.

    When it comes to social media criticism of the mainstream media, all that glitters is not dross: consumers are right to wonder when the media will exercise some judgement about the extent to which it enables a politician who lies so often.

  26. I’d forgotten that ignorant dinosaurs like Macca still existed. There was a time when he provided a harmless window into rural life, but that was years ago.

    Andrew Laird
    @ReclaimAnglesea
    ·
    26m
    Accidentally left ABC radio on for a few minutes after the 7am news. Didn’t take long for “Macca” to offer uninformed opinions about climate – there’s no difference between 48 and 50 degrees – if it’s hot it’s hot – etc. Why is he allowed to get away with this @ABCaustralia?

  27. Yes, lizzie. And this should be carved on Morrison’s political gravestone:

    Rather than leading, Scott Morrison appears to have gone absent without leave.

    Scott Morrison is simply keeping an eye on where the heat in the political kitchen is and coming in with a fire extinguisher only when absolutely necessary to put out the fire.

    He ‘doesn’t hold a hose, mate!’ because that would mean that he was interested in solving big problems, like Global Heating. However, he does wield a fire extinguisher to put out spot fires before they become political wildfires for him and his government.

    He is truly a knave. And as christian as Judas.

  28. lizzie: “From the sports rorts affair, to Australia’s emissions trajectory, to statements about last summer’s bushfires, to calling Sam Dastyari “Shanghai Sam”, to lying about Labor’s costings during the last election campaign and the COVIDSafe app working like “sunscreen” and rejecting responsibility for aged care institutions in Victoria, Morrison has a record of egregious lying not merely about major issues but minor matters.”

    How is calling Dastyari “Shanghai Sam” a lie exactly? It’s standard political sledging: in the same category as referring to Robert Menzies “Pig Iron Bob”.

    If the author (who is it?) believes that any sledging whatsoever of Labor figures represents a lie, then I would assume they were educated at the St Daniel school of partisan thinking.

  29. The record of lies is long enough for media consumers to be genuinely concerned that journalists, in merely repeating what Morrison says without analysing it, are party to the misleading of citizens…………………So the question about why our own media outlets aren’t actively considering how to avoid misleading audiences when they cover media conferences

    Ho ho ho. That makes the heroic assumption media proprietors would want it any other way than it is now. It is a feature not a glitch just ask Rupert. Journos are highly paid shills for whomever they work for. They write what the owners want and if they don’t then it is outski into a world of diminishing prospects for them. Well paid prospects at least.

  30. C@t

    It concerns me that we can read comments about Morrison changing his attitude to emissions reduction; about him “turning the corner”. No doubt by the time of the next election campaign the media will have him evolved into a fully-fledged climate scientist.

  31. Coming up on Insiders – Morrison’s replacement of Cormann as representative for saying nothing for as long as wanted, Simon Birmingham.

  32. meher baba
    I didn’t quite understand the “Shanghai Sam”, which seems petty compared to Morrison’s established untruths. The author is “Crikey”, which is not very revealing.

  33. lizzie: “I’d forgotten that ignorant dinosaurs like Macca still existed. There was a time when he provided a harmless window into rural life, but that was years ago.”

    He has always been pretty rightwing. As is his audience. And his program is really inane: far too much so for me, despite my great passion for all things rural and regional.

    But I reckon he has a rightful place on the ABC, same as Philip Adams: who is a dinosaur of a different variety.

    As Director of News at the ABC Gaven Morris told his team recently, it’s not appropriate for them to pitch all of their stuff at the terrace-dwelling, macchiato-sipping set. There are many different forms of diversity: diversity of gender, diversity of ethnic background, diversity of religious belief, diversity of sexuality and, last but not least, diversity of social class. The ABC has to include the last one of these within its remit, or it will become even more irrelevant than it already is.

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