Kelly’s zeroes

Mutterings about the security of Craig Kelly’s tenure, a federal LNP vacancy in regional Queensland, and some minor state poll findings from Western Australia.

News remains thin on the ground over the summer holiday period, although we may possibly hopefully see the polling cycle crank up again as of next week. Two pieces of federal preselection news to relate:

• A report in The Australian today raises further doubts about the security of Craig Kelly’s preselection in Hughes – not for the reasons you would hope, but because he has failed to raise any campaign funding for head office since July 2019, according to leaked party documents. He is not alone in this distinction, however, with Farrer MP Sussan Ley, Robertson MP Lucy Wicks and Lindsay MP Melissa McIntosh likewise having come up empty. Kelly was saved from preselection challenges by prime ministerial intervention before both the 2016 and 2019 elections, and a Liberal source cited in The Australian says “there’s no appetite in the party to save him a third time”.

• Ken O’Dowd, who has held the central Queensland seat of Flynn for the Nationals since 2010, announced on January 5 that he will retire at the next election. Queensland Country Life reports that Colin Boyce, who holds the partly corresponding seat of Callide in the state parliament, will contest the preselection. The report quotes Boyce complaining about the failure of David Crisafulli, who replaced Deb Frecklington as Liberal National Party leader after the October state election, to have promoted him to the front bench. It also suggests he may face competition in Flynn from Gladstone councillor Glenn Churchill, who was the party’s unsuccessful candidate for the seat in 2007 and challenged O’Dowd for preselection ahead of the 2019 election.

With the Western Australian election now two months away, two bits of data have emerged from a Painted Dog Research poll conducted for The West Australian in mid-December, which as always do not encompass voting intention:

• Three weeks after Zak Kirkup replaced Liza Harvey as Liberal leader in late November, the poll found him with a 19% approval and 14% disapproval rating. While this compares favourably with Harvey’s 10% and 37% from September, but is obviously remarkably mostly for the 67% uncommitted rating. The poll also found 36% saying Kirkup would be a better leader than Harvey and 11% saying otherwise, with 53% uncommitted.

• With Ben Wyatt to bow out at the election, the poll found 21% favouring Health Minister Roger Cook to succeed him as Treasurer, with Rita Saffioti on 9%, Bill Johnston on 8%, “someone else” on 13% and 49% uncommitted.

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.

1,340 comments on “Kelly’s zeroes”

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  1. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    In a stark warning, Peter Hartcher explains the global threat being posed by three strongmen.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/global-threat-from-three-strongmen-20210118-p56uvr.html
    In a very interesting contribution, Josh Bornstein posits that on the subject of free speech, Voltaire would applaud the Trump Twitter ban. He says that much of what passes for debate about free speech is confused and misconceived.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/freedom-of-speech-voltaire-would-applaud-trump-twitter-ban-20210118-p56uu5.html
    There’s something fishy with the land acquisitions (or not) for the railway to the new Sydney airport.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/billionaire-family-avoids-acquisition-after-u-turn-on-airport-rail-plans-20210112-p56tfq.html
    Private patronage of politicians corrodes faith in the integrity of decision-making and increases cynicism about government and our public institutions, trumpets the SMH editorial. It declares that the weakest link of all is the federal regime.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/laxness-on-political-donations-reeks-of-self-interest-20210118-p56v1t.html
    Anthony Galloway writes that Morrison has criticised “things that were said” to incite the violent riots on the US Congress without directly naming President Donald Trump. Gutless!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/very-disappointing-morrison-criticises-incitement-of-riots-without-naming-trump-20210118-p56v0t.html
    Kaye Lee looks at the things the seven-year-old Coalition govern fails to mention.
    https://theaimn.com/seven-years-later/
    #Sportsrorts was the most egregious of the Morrison government’s grant frauds and the $3 billion Community Development Grants are by far the largest and most blatantly corrupt, but they are by no means the only pork barrels rolling through key electorates, writes Michael Pascoe.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/01/18/michael-pascoe-grant-rorts/
    Alan Kohler gives us some reasons to feel better in 2021.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2021/01/18/alan-kohler-finance-predictions-2021/
    More than half of the recommendations made by the banking royal commissioner, Kenneth Hayne, have either been abandoned or are yet to be fully implemented, almost two years after the treasurer received the inquiry’s final report and vowed to take action on all recommendations, explains Ben Butler.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/19/banking-royal-commission-most-recommendations-have-been-abandoned-or-delayed
    Companies are buying up Australian carbon credits at an increasing rate even though they’re not required to offset their emissions under local laws, in what experts say is a bet on future international regulations, reports Mike Foley.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/investors-place-australian-bets-on-compulsory-emissions-reductions-20210118-p56uy9.html
    Andrew Tillett says that Scott Morrison will push premiers for greater transparency and predictability over state border closures at Friday’s national cabinet meeting after the Commonwealth lifted all of its hotspot designations of coronavirus outbreaks. (its easy for Morrison to push for this given he has no skin in the game!)
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/morrison-to-renew-push-for-states-to-harmonise-border-rules-20210118-p56ux1
    According to Charlotte Grieve, the global insurer QBE has expanded its provision for COVID-19 losses by $US185 million ($240 million) after facing another defeat in the UK courts and being threatened by a local class action.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/qbe-expands-covid-19-provision-after-losing-uk-insurance-case-20210118-p56uy4.html
    The gap between Australian house prices and incomes is only likely to grow, explains Greg Jericho.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2021/jan/19/the-gap-between-australian-house-prices-and-incomes-is-only-likely-to-grow
    The World Health Organisation chief has lambasted pharmaceutical companies’ profits and vaccine inequalities, saying it’s “not right” that younger, healthier adults in wealthy countries get vaccinated against COVID-19 before older people or health care workers in poorer countries and charging that most vaccine makers have targeted locations where “profits are highest”. Anyone surprised?
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/a-catastrophic-moral-failure-who-chief-condemns-vaccine-rollout-20210119-p56v3i.html
    Nearly one in five people working in federal government departments are employed on external contracts or through labour-hire firms, analysis by The Canberra Times shows, amid concerns by critics the government was being privatised by stealth.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7087674/stealthy-privatisation-of-public-sector-causes-concern/?cs=14350
    Jono La Nauze says that coal power stations designed to keep chugging along all day have to decide whether to ramp up and down – at the cost of wear and tear – or keep running while actually having to pay for the privilege.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/renewables-transition-means-planning-for-coal-plant-closures-now-20210117-p56uoi.html
    Bridget McKenzie has agreed to face a Senate committee next month over her involvement in the sports rorts saga after being ordered by senators to appear at an inquiry into the community grants program. But it will only be a one hour cameo.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7090347/bridget-mckenzie-to-face-senate-over-sports-rorts/?cs=14350
    A Tax Office investigation sparked by one of the biggest leaks of confidential financial information (the Panama papers) has led to more than $140 million in new liabilities, with a small number of criminal investigations continuing.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/panama-papers-tax-haul-tops-143-million-20210118-p56uw3
    Australians are more aware than ever of the impact of colonialism on Indigenous people and it’s time to take ‘brave’ actions towards reconciliation, a new report says. And Angus Livingstone writes about it suggesting that it’s time to take braver steps to push reconciliation beyond just raising awareness.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/reconciliation-report-calls-for-concrete-steps-beyond-just-raising-awareness-20210118-p56uze.html
    Stephen Bartholomeusz writes that twelve months on, it is obvious that, contrary to Donald Trump’s conviction, trade wars are neither good nor easy to win.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/the-verdict-s-in-on-trump-s-trade-deal-with-china-20210118-p56uw7.html
    Locking people in quarantine rooms without access to fresh air is not just bad to their mental health – it may make them more vulnerable to COVID-19, suggests economics professor, Tim Moore.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/to-fight-coronavirus-we-all-need-a-breath-of-fresh-air-20210118-p56uug.html
    Nick Kyrgios has nicely summed up Djokovic’s quarantine demands, Called ho a tool.
    https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/djokovic-is-a-tool-kyrgios-slams-serbian-superstar-after-list-of-demands-20210118-p56v35.html
    Brexiters are waking up to the damage they’ve done, says Polly Toynbee.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/18/brexiters-damage-horse-racing-fishing-haulage-industry-chaos
    Biden’s choice of William Burns as CIA director indicates that for the USA, foreign policy objectives have not changed and that the world will continue to face a perilous future, writes Dr William Briggs.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-usa-cia-and-a-poor-nights-sleep-for-the-world,14709
    Federal authorities are looking for a woman whose former romantic partner says she took a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the riot at the Capitol.
    https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/fbi-hunt-for-woman-accused-of-stealing-pelosi-s-laptop-to-sell-to-russians-20210119-p56v3j.html
    Bloomberg looks at the many paths ahead for the ex-president.
    https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/citizen-trump-the-many-paths-ahead-for-the-ex-president-20210119-p56v3v
    The Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol were deplorables, but they were also victims explains Julie Sego.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/capitol-rioters-led-to-their-deaths-by-a-false-prophet-20210114-p56u6w.html

    Cartoon Corner (there are none up for today from The Age or SMH)

    Peter Broelman

    Matt Golding

    Glen Le Lievre

    Alan Moir


    John Spooner

    David Rowe

    From the US



  2. On the other hand, Thomas Friedman puts the other side of the Trump Twitter ban to the one Josh Bornstein put(and he has a point):

    I’m not sure I want him permanently off Twitter and Facebook. There’s important work that I need Trump to perform in his post-presidency, and I need him to have proper megaphones to do it. It’s to blow apart this Republican Party.

    … And here is why a still noisy Trump could be so helpful in breaking it.

    What is it that Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz were dreaming of when they went full treason and tried to get Congress to reverse Biden’s win on the basis of the Big Lie? They were dreaming of a world of Trumpism without Trump. They thought that if they cravenly did Trump’s bidding now, once he was gone his base would be theirs.

    Hawley and Cruz are so power hungry, they would burn America to the ground if they thought they could be president of its ashes.

    But they’re fools. As Trump and his kids made clear at the rally that inspired some of his supporters to ransack the Capitol, the Trumps are interested only in Trumpism with Trumps.

    Or as Donald Trump Jr. explained to the soon-to-be rioters (whom Ivanka called “patriots”), the G.O.P. needed a wake-up. All those Republicans in Congress, said Don Jr., “did nothing to stop the steal. This gathering should send a message to them: This isn’t their Republican Party anymore. This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party.”

    You tell ’em, Donny. The more you insist on that, the more principled Republicans will have to leave. And since a recent Quinnipiac survey showed that more than 70 percent of Republicans still support Trump, you can be sure he will keep insisting it is his party and keep saying vile things that will constitute daily loyalty tests for all Republican lawmakers, forcing them to answer if they are with him or not. That stress will be enormous.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/opinion/republicans-trump.html

  3. C@tmomma says:
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 7:27 am
    I always knew mundo would end up going down The Australian rabbit hole. The Australian sucks in the ones that think they’re smart enough to read it and not get sucked in to the Murdoch alternate reality. Lol. And they usually justify it by saying they only read it for the Gideon Haigh cricket column or something equally ass covering.
    ———–
    It was Lizzie quoting The Australian. You can continue going on about it now.

  4. C@tmomma @ #994 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 4:17 am

    Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #163 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 7:02 am

    Wealthy and entitled, don’t worry about anyone else.

    WHO: just 25 Covid vaccine doses administered in low-income countries

    Director-general warns of ‘catastrophic moral failure’ if richer countries hoard treatment

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/18/who-just-25-covid-vaccine-doses-administered-in-low-income-countries

    I’d question that by saying they’ve administered millions in India. It’s hardly a wealthy country like Australia, the US and the UK.

    India just rolled out their program a couple of days ago, so they have barely started vaccinating.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/16/india-begins-worlds-biggest-covid-vaccination-programme

    They are by no means a poor country, the main issue there is the disparity between rich and poor, so they would not rank amongst the kind of countries WHO is referring to.

    Your comment is a very weak attempt to try and justify first world privilege.

  5. Too little, too late. Wonder what happened during his holiday to wake him up.

    Opinion polls? BoJo speaking up?

    “There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader.”

  6. I have no particular beef with Melania, she has been decorative and relatively quiet , this made me laugh….

    Q: During her time as first lady, Trump focused on combatting cyberbullying through her campaign “Be Best.” Her tenure ends with her husband’s permanent suspension from Twitter “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”

  10. I was very disturbed last night when watching a repeat of a 2018 doco Foreign Correspondent about the use of IT to control the population of China. They haven’t yet perfected their facial recognition features, as far as I can tell, but every internet transaction is collated to provide a good citizen/bad citizen profile that affects the ability to travel, to obtain loans, etc. Shopping habits are included.

    Does this ring any bells? Is this what we are aiming for? I’m sure Peter Dutton would like it.

  11. Thanks BK for the Dawn Patrol.

    Interesting item regarding the Banking Royal Commission. The final report into Aged Care is due next month. I wonder how long it will be until we know that most recommendations have not been implemented or are yet to be fully implemented.

    Is it too early to be depressed ❓

  13. KayJay @ #1011 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 5:13 am

    Thanks BK for the Dawn Patrol.

    Interesting item regarding the Banking Royal Commission. The final report into Aged Care is due next month. I wonder how long it will be until we know that most recommendations have not been implemented or are yet to be fully implemented.

    Is it too early to be depressed ❓

    Unfortunately KayJay this is the situation after most RCs.

  15. Jaeger @ #1014 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 5:16 am

    Almost 30% of Covid patients in England readmitted to hospital after discharge – study

    Readmission rate for Covid patients 3.5 times greater, and death rate seven times higher, than for other hospital patients

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/18/almost-30-of-covid-patients-in-england-re-admitted-to-hospital-after-discharge-study

    Hardly surprising when capacity is under such pressure.

  16. KayJay
    For the last couple of days when pulling up The Australian no images have been appearing. They do when I use Edge.
    Any ideas?

  17. How the rich live!!

    Sierra said she was eager to leave quarantine to “get her hair done”.

    “This is the worst part of quarantine,” she said.

    “I don’t wash my own hair I’ve never washed my own hair. It’s just not something that I do. I usually have hairdressers that do it twice a week for me.”

    Perhaps Bernard Tomic could drag himself away from computer games to wash it for her.

  18. Andrew Gold @ #174 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 7:47 am

    C@tmomma says:
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 7:27 am
    I always knew mundo would end up going down The Australian rabbit hole. The Australian sucks in the ones that think they’re smart enough to read it and not get sucked in to the Murdoch alternate reality. Lol. And they usually justify it by saying they only read it for the Gideon Haigh cricket column or something equally ass covering.
    ———–
    It was Lizzie quoting The Australian. You can continue going on about it now.

    Yes, you’re right. But the mundo perspective was all his.

  21. One more day until inauguration and it’s a pardon palooza!

    President Trump is preparing to pardon or commute the sentences of more than 100 people in his final hours in office, decisions that are expected to be announced Monday or Tuesday, according to two people familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the plans.

    Trump met Sunday with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, daughter Ivanka Trump and other aides for a significant amount of the day to review a long list of pardon requests and discuss lingering questions about their appeals, according to the multiple people briefed on the meeting. The president was personally engaged with the details of specific cases, one person said.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-pardons-final-days/2021/01/17/7a57969c-5905-11eb-a976-bad6431e03e2_story.html

  22. After what we have seen with getting the Tennis Players here, do we think that the Olympics will be going ahead in 6 months time?

    People from every country in the world attending, bringing every possible strain of Covid with them…

  23. Jaeger says:
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 6:51 am
    Severe heatwave forecast for southern NSW etc. this weekend; 40C in Canberra on Monday.
    http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/heatwave/

    Holdenhillbilly says:
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 6:55 am
    Adelaide forecast:
    Fr 32 Sat 39 Sun 41 Mon 32

    Adelaide usually passes on its second hand heat waves to Canberra.

  25. A late nomination for “Arsehole of the Week” goes to the founder of Tasmania’s Nant Whisky company.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-23/nant-whisky-to-be-investigated-by-tasmania-police/8836186

    On the rocks: The untold story of the Nant Whisky scandal

    A series of intriguing connections between boardroom players behind the scenes of Nant’s collapse raises new questions about who got paid while others lost millions.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-10/nant-whisky-scandal-untold-story-behind-investment-collapse/10784396

    The latest scheme by the couple behind a failed Tasmanian whisky investment has gone into liquidation

    * A bankrupt former Queensland property developer who set up a failed whisky distillery investment in Tasmania fails again with a cattle scheme
    * Corporate watchdog ASIC is believed to have been monitoring the scheme for nearly two years, and finally acted this week over animal welfare concerns
    * Investors complaining to police and Fair Trading for more than a year
    * The mum-and-dad investors involved are likely to lose millions of dollars

    https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-latest-scheme-by-the-couple-behind-a-failed-tasmanian-whisky-investment-has-gone-into-liquidation-2018-4

  26. Being at the Murray Bridge municipal pool when it hit 46 degrees watching my children along with other children queuing up for the water slide. And Mrs Shellbell also queuing slightly incongruously.

  28. FBI has received nearly 200,000 digital tips from the public related to the riot at the US Capitol

    Melania Trump farewell message urges “kindness”

    The Trumps’ snub of the Bidens is historic in its magnitude

    Ahead of inauguration, Harris says she and Biden are “ready to do the work”

    Army secretary calls for simplifying process to call in the National Guard

    https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/biden-inauguration-dc-capitol-news-01-18-21/index.html

  29. Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #175 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 7:55 am

    C@tmomma @ #994 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 4:17 am

    Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #163 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 7:02 am

    Wealthy and entitled, don’t worry about anyone else.

    WHO: just 25 Covid vaccine doses administered in low-income countries

    Director-general warns of ‘catastrophic moral failure’ if richer countries hoard treatment

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/18/who-just-25-covid-vaccine-doses-administered-in-low-income-countries

    I’d question that by saying they’ve administered millions in India. It’s hardly a wealthy country like Australia, the US and the UK.

    India just rolled out their program a couple of days ago, so they have barely started vaccinating.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/16/india-begins-worlds-biggest-covid-vaccination-programme

    They are by no means a poor country, the main issue there is the disparity between rich and poor, so they would not rank amongst the kind of countries WHO is referring to.

    Your comment is a very weak attempt to try and justify first world privilege.

    1. So what if there is great wealth disparity in India!?! That’s just a red herring you are using to try and justify your alarmist headline. There are great wealth disparities in all poor countries, sadly, I think you’ll find.

    2. The facts:

    “A total of 3,81,305 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated (till 5 pm on Monday) as per provisional reports,” he said.

    Of the 1,48,266 beneficiaries who were administered the vaccine on Monday, 8,656 were from Bihar, 1,822 from Assam, 36,888 from Karnataka, 7,070 from Kerala, 6,665 from Madhya Pradesh, 7,628 from Tamil Nadu, 10,352 from Telangana, 11,588 from West Bengal and 311 were from Delhi.

    https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/381305-beneficiaries-received-covid-19-vaccine-580-adverse-events-reported-health-ministry/2173512/

    It would have been more, except:

    Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has decided to resume the vaccination drive for Covid-19 in the state from tomorrow. The state could not begin the vaccination drive on Saturday after technical glitches were reported in the application of Co-WIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network) application that has been designed to keep a digital record of the people who have been vaccinated.

    These facts prove that India is determined to vaccinate ALL its citizens, rich and poor and they are doing it very quickly.

    3. I actually believe WHO should tithe all their member nations to pay for vaccines for countries who cannot afford them and distribute it to them as quickly as humanly possible.

    4. You can fuck off with your ‘White Privilege’ slur. And apologise. If you’ve got the guts.

    5. Or you will expose yourself as just another male chauvinist on this blog out to put the women who question you back in their box by making slanderous slurs about them.

  30. citizen @ #1023 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 5:33 am

    Jaeger says:
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 6:51 am
    Severe heatwave forecast for southern NSW etc. this weekend; 40C in Canberra on Monday.
    http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/heatwave/

    Holdenhillbilly says:
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 6:55 am
    Adelaide forecast:
    Fr 32 Sat 39 Sun 41 Mon 32

    Adelaide usually passes on its second hand heat waves to Canberra.

    33 degrees forecast for here, one of the only 2 days above 30 we get each year. 😀

  32. Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #1013 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 8:16 am

    KayJay @ #1011 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 5:13 am

    Thanks BK for the Dawn Patrol.

    Interesting item regarding the Banking Royal Commission. The final report into Aged Care is due next month. I wonder how long it will be until we know that most recommendations have not been implemented or are yet to be fully implemented.

    Is it too early to be depressed ❓

    Unfortunately KayJay this is the situation after most RCs.

    Clearly, we need a Royal Commission into why Royal Commissions are so ineffective.

  34. Good luck with this. If anything, Fox News and their counterparts in Australia are going to be even more unhinged through the Biden govt, having something to finally rally the troops as it were, instead of just being a Trump mouthpiece.

    Anyone who cherishes our democracy should be grateful to the management of Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites for their newfound sense of social responsibility. We should expect at least the same level of responsibility from broadcast media — and in particular from Fox News, which has the largest reach on the right.

    …

    James and Kathryn Murdoch, part of the family that controls Fox News, just called on “media property owners” to stop propagating “lies” that “have unleashed insidious and uncontrollable forces.” If James’s brother, Lachlan (co-chairman of News Corp and chief executive of Fox Corporation), and father, Rupert (executive chairman of News Corp and co-chairman of Fox Corporation), won’t listen, then large cable companies such as Comcast and Charter Spectrum, which carry Fox News and provide much of its revenue in the form of user fees, need to step in and kick Fox News off. And if smaller competitors such as One America News and Newsmax continue to incite viewers, they, too, should be booted off.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/18/trump-couldnt-have-incited-sedition-without-help-fox-news/

  35. Rafael Epstein
    @Raf_Epstein
    ·
    16m
    Someone at
    @theheraldsun
    actually thinks this is a real representation of the news.

    It’s all Nancy Pelosi’s fault apparently.

    According to Lindsay Graham..


  36. Speaking of ASIC, it appears it has been totally corrupted too by the Liberals:

    Emma Alberici
    @albericie

    More revelations of corruption at the corruption regulator: Not only did ASIC make allegedly illegal payments to its chairman, its auditors KPMG signed off on them? Internal & external audits done by the same people? How on earth?

    The private consulting firm which allegedly provided $118,000 in personal “tax advice” to the boss of the corporate regulator was running the regulator’s internal auditing operations.

    The Klaxon can reveal that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, currently embroiled in the biggest governance scandal in its 30 year history, has been in a “co-sourced arrangement” with KPMG to conduct its internal auditing.

    It can also be revealed ASIC’s “internal Audit Committee” reviewed the ASIC accounts containing the allegedly illegal Shipton payments, and gave advice to Shipton “before the Chair signed them”.

    The latest revelations follow our January 1 expose, which revealed that the Federal Government is refusing to take the key step in getting to the bottom of the scandal by refusing to actually “ask” the Remuneration Tribunal – the relevant federal body – whether the payments to Shipton were legal.

    https://www.theklaxon.com.au/home/asic-internal-audits-run-by-kpmg

  37. Torchbearer says:
    Monday, January 18, 2021 at 9:20 pm

    I love the origin of the ‘Mavis Branstom’ moniker….

    It refers to a foreign (usually US and usually C Grade) talent brought in to give ‘star’ power to a production (correct me if I am wrong)…

    ———————————————
    Does anybody remember the name of the oddball interviewer on one of the Sydney TV stations circa 1959-60. Eric Baume had a similar interview show on another channel.

    He was a bit eccentric and Norm Gunston type, but straight, and was an early Aussie TV personality a decade or so earlier.

  38. ABC has an article on people paying extra to quarantine hotel owners for a balcony room, to access fresh air.

    There would not be too many hotels in city centres with an abundance of balconies and most hotels seem to have no access to fresh air at all. There’s not much the state authorities arranging quarantine can do about this.

    Some quarantine hotels are charging a premium for rooms with balconies, with returned Australians revealing they have paid hundreds of dollars extra for access to fresh air.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-19/hotel-quarantine-guests-charged-up-to-1400-extra-for-balcony/13067440

  39. More revelations of corruption at the corruption regulator: Not only did ASIC make allegedly illegal payments to its chairman, its auditors KPMG signed off on them? Internal & external audits done by the same people? How on earth?
    _____
    C@t
    Something else for the government to cover up!

  40. A damning summary of Frydenberg.

    But while there was not time to act on Hayne’s wishlist, which focused on protecting consumers from financial predation, there appears to have been plenty of room to get cracking on the Frydenberg program of trying to get money flowing by pumping up lending and cracking open people’s super savings – a move that happily doubled as an attack on the industry super sector, despised by many on the conservative side of politics for its links to the union movement.

    One of Frydenberg’s most obvious moves in support of his dream of an economic rebound fuelled by bingeing on the old household credit card has been the abandonment of responsible lending laws, which were designed to protect consumers from having loans they couldn’t afford pushed on to them by bank salespeople.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/19/no-accounting-for-banks-frydenbergs-response-to-the-royal-commission-is-on-hold?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

  44. BK @ #210 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 9:06 am

    More revelations of corruption at the corruption regulator: Not only did ASIC make allegedly illegal payments to its chairman, its auditors KPMG signed off on them? Internal & external audits done by the same people? How on earth?
    _____
    C@t
    Something else for the government to cover up!

    They’re experts. Morrison’s mob are THE most opaque and non-transparent government of Australia in modern history.

  45. Hartcher’s three strongmen article is interesting.
    Equating Xi with Putin with Trump works at a certain level: all three have strongly authoritarian impulses.
    After that Hartcher should have cut to the chase:
    There is simply no comparison between Trump and Xi.
    There is simply no comparison between the US and China.

    Apart from that, the term ‘strongman’ is far too cute, IMO. Xi is an absolute despot. Putin is a quasi-despot. Trump is on the run.

  46. citizen: “ABC has an article on people paying extra to quarantine hotel owners for a balcony room, to access fresh air.”

    The article featured someone complaining about having to pay an additional $100 per night for a room with a balcony, which – from my long experience – seems to be about standard for medium-range hotels in the Sydney CBD. And, anyway, she eventually managed to persuade the hotel to give her a $400 discount on the cost.

    The article then quotes a supposed expert, an “occupational hygienist” named Kate Cole, who states that “Fresh injection of air into a room is incredibly important to reduce aerosol spread.”

    I’d be interested to hear from the doctors on this site, but it seems to me that a balcony is not the only way to get fresh air circulating in a room: there’s an invention called a window that perhaps neither Ms Cole nor the ABC has heard about. If the article had been about how too many modern hotels don’t allow you to open the window to your room, I’d have more sympathy.

    And all of this happened back in November.

    So I reckon this story is a total beat-up and worthy of a nomination for the late, lamented Mungo MacCallum’s “eggbeater award”

  48. C@

    ‘5. Or you will expose yourself as just another male chauvinist on this blog out to put the women who question you back in their box by making slanderous slurs about them.’

    Seriously? Barney is one of the last posters I’d accuse of this.

  49. BK: “More revelations of corruption at the corruption regulator: Not only did ASIC make allegedly illegal payments to its chairman, its auditors KPMG signed off on them? Internal & external audits done by the same people? How on earth?”

    BK, where is this story to be found? I can’t find it anywhere online. My recollection is that KMPG was the firm allegedly paid by ASIC to give tax advice to its Chair. A quick look at ASIC’s annual report indicates that its external auditing is undertaken by the ANAO.

  50. meher baba @ #220 Tuesday, January 19th, 2021 – 9:39 am

    BK: “More revelations of corruption at the corruption regulator: Not only did ASIC make allegedly illegal payments to its chairman, its auditors KPMG signed off on them? Internal & external audits done by the same people? How on earth?”

    BK, where is this story to be found? I can’t find it anywhere online. My recollection is that KMPG was the firm paid by ASIC to give tax advice to its chair. A quick look at ASIC’s annual report indicates that its external auditing is undertaken by the ANAO.

    I linked to it earlier. It is here:

    https://www.theklaxon.com.au/home/asic-internal-audits-run-by-kpmg

    Or have I been blocked by you meher baba and that’s why you didn’t see it?

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