Another week’s worth of federal preselection developments. For the latest on the Western Australian election campaign, see the post below.
• Richard Ferguson of The Australian reports there is “speculation” Senator Kristina Keneally might move to the House of Representatives amid a preselection battle with Right faction colleague Deborah O’Neill, in which the winner will get the factionally reserved top position on the ticket while the loser will be relegated to highly loseable third place.
• Nick Champion, who has held the seat of Spence (formerly Wakefield) for Labor since 2007, will move to state politics in the safe seat of Taylor at the next election in March 2022. Champion is aligned with the socially conservative Shop Distributive Allied and Employees Association sub-faction of the Right, and is a member of the pro-coal mining Otis Group. No apparent word on who might be in line to replace him in Spence, which is now a safe seat.
• The Brisbane Times reports the preselection of Graham Perrett, who has held the Brisbane seat of Moreton for Labor since 2007, faces a preselection challenge from state party secretary Julie-Ann Campbell, who among other things has affirmative action considerations in her favour.
• The South Australian Liberals have finalised their Senate ticket, with incumbents Simon Birmingham and Andrew McLachlan taking the top two positions and the third going to Kerrynne Liddle, a factional moderate of indigenous background who works as a staffer to Social Services Minister and SA Senator Anne Ruston. Tom Richardson of InDaily reports Liddle was chosen ahead of state party vice-president Rachel Swift by a margin of 130 to 78.
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/FCAFC//2021/12.html
Bileola judgment.
Bit tedious and technical.
Their fate is entirely in the hands of the minister
I also have some questions I’d like answered. The report said that the victim had to be signed into the wing and was observed to be barely capable of walking and had trouble signing her name.
Why did the guards deem it appropriate she be allowed entry, what did they think the pair were there for.
The victim was later found distressed, partially naked by security, yet didn’t consider a crime was committed but reported the pair for inappropriate access to the office after hours. Did they expect someone senior to make a judgement call about what transpired?
Did the clean of the office happen because security raised their suspicions and instead of an investigation a coverup occurred? Has anyone spoken to the guards?
I feel very sorry for the victim, and note that today Morrison is rspecting her right to privacy, at the same time as making it an event that could have happened to any staffer from any political persuasion. This is another tightrope for Albanese, he has to express concern for the victim and at the same time distance Labor from this kind of behaviour whilst acknowledging the need for some improved standards.
https://www.pollbludger.net/2021/02/14/comings-and-goings/comment-page-23/#comment-3557765
I once worked in a department which was three quarters female, if not head, next level was, many senior team were female.
When key females got on, fantastic, including swapping of stuff etc, compliments, so not when they didn’t lotsa puts downs in every non verbal, verbal.
You learned very quickly to keep your head down, and positions neutral, to not become collateral damage, sorta like the non-aligned during the Cold War.
Best thing ever happened to that department were male interns, behavior improved, as did the outfits.
I certainly don’t need convincing that diversity in many ways is a good thing, for morale and productivity!
‘Assantdj says:
Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at 5:08 pm
I also have some questions I’d like answered. The report said that the victim had to be signed into the wing and was observed to be barely capable of walking and had trouble signing her name.’
There’s many a story about pissed pollies and pissed staffers. Why would a guard jeopardize her job by telling a pissed pollie or a pissed staffer that they are not allowed into the Wing?
What that bit of background does do is to make it seemingly impossible for consent to have been gained.
Having a jab
“The fact that [Labor] haven’t put the anti-vaxxers last is a very significant threat to Western Australia.”
WA Liberal leader Zak Kirkup takes a shot at Labor for preferencing One Nation last instead of the No Mandatory Vaccination Party. The Liberals placed One Nation as high as fourth and, despite Kirkup’s criticism, did not put the anti-vax party last on every ballot.
https://www.themonthly.com.au/today/rachel-withers/2021/16/2021/1613444526/father
Hypocrisy, thy name is Liberal.
It’s a sad indictment of the AFP that I don’t hold out much hope that they will get to the bottom of the whodunit.
Xi might be able to help Adern here.
Alternatively, Adern has a simiple solution to the problem. If the perp was a dual then NZ could have cancelled the NZ citizenship yonks ago. No fuss. No feathers. No New Zealand anger management problems.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/16/ardern-blasts-morrison-for-shirking-responsibility-for-suspected-isis-terrorist-who-grew-up-in-australia
😆
Kyran Rainbow
@kyranwheatley
This is strange… I have a Dad and yet I have absolutely no sympathy for Scott Morrison.
Morrison’s persistently abuses his wife and daughters as grist to the political mill.
Guess who prominently wore the teal ribbon for Sexual Assault Awareness today? No prizes for guessing.
C@tmomma @ #1156 Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 – 5:23 pm
Another success story.
I’m confused. Are we supposed to hate Ardern more or less than we hate Xi?
I keep thinking I have this one figured out, and then boerwar or dave posts something that just complicates the whole thing again 🙁
Boerwar
I think it is a sad indictment on the guards that they felt powerless to stop a junior staffer who had no pass and was obviously inebriated from entering a high security area.
Fine to let the more senior staffer enter but they could have refused her entry. It would have saved her a lot of grief and not bought our parliament into disrepute. The senior staffer would have been pissed off but what could he do about it.
The Artful Bunny
@artfulbunny
Once again, the Victorian Opposition taking the term “opposition” too literally and opposing everything that the Victorian Government is doing. In this case, backflipping on their position on remote quarantine facilities, which many of us have been calling for #auspol #springst
I’m sure Taylormade agrees with O’Brien. 😀
Xi.
This is our parliament. Politicians are our elected leaders. We rely on them for many things including national security. We pay them. They serve.
Yet this sort of misconduct (at best) is tolerated (or worse) in the very place it should be most firmly stamped out.
Maybe Xi knows who it was and who knew?
I spent the last eighteen months, for the first time, working in a staffroom which was female-only.
Bliss.
At one stage, on local council, we realised that we were a femocracy (by accident, rather than design; we had a major falling out with the male councillors, who we outnumbered). At first, we brought into all the negatives we’d been given – we thought we would be bitchy, emotional, fall out, etc etc, particularly as none of us were particular friends (and still aren’t).
We got over it. We made the male CEO realise that he had to either work with us or leave. We sat down and worked out exactly what we wanted to achieve and focussed on working together to achieve it.
It turned out that the male councillors were the ones who walked out of meetings in a huff, got petulant, and threw their books down on the desk when they didn’t get what they wanted.
We got what we wanted done.
P1
As always, you can think whatever you want to.
PB is a broad church.
Cat
“Guess who prominently wore the teal ribbon for Sexual Assault Awareness today? No prizes for guessing.”
I thought that was for environmental awareness because he was recycling excuses.
Or maybe he will make Brittany Higgins 2022 Australian of the Year?
“Sounds like Melbourne’s Champs-Élysées”
Hope it’s better than Paris’ Champs-Élysées. Looking very tacky these days but I believe a big restoration is on the way. That said, they don’t do things by halves. Their Grand Express project is underway and will be finished by 2030. Involves four new metros, extending another three or four and consolidating two branch lines into one. They will end up with 5 RERs, 19 metros and 8 tram lines. And there is still nowhere to park…
Socrates @ #678 Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 – 5:46 pm
No reflection on you, Soc but why hasn’t anyone asked Grace Tame for her opinion? I thought she was Australian of the Year?
Shellbell @ #1151 Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 – 5:07 pm
Still waiting for this Government to show some humanity to this family and their children.
Greensborough Growler @ #1171 Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 – 6:06 pm
Some interest from the general public would be even better.
What did Jacinda Ardern think the Morrison government would do?
Stephen Dziedzic
@stephendziedzic
A visibly furious Ardern absolutely slamming Scott Morrison over the federal government’s decision to strip Australian citizenship from a dual citizen accused of joining ISIS. Full release below 1/
Stephen Dziedzic
@stephendziedzic
·
5h
Replying to
@stephendziedzic
Ardern-“It is wrong that NZ should shoulder the responsibility for a situation involving a woman who has not lived in New Zealand since she was six, has resided in Australia since that time, has her family in Australia and left for Syria from Australia on her Australian passport”
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/prime-minister%E2%80%99s-statement-arrest-former-dual-citizen-turkey
Greensborough Growler @ #1171 Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 – 6:06 pm
Gosh, if only Smirko had a wife and kids he could look to for advice. This whole terrible situation could have been sorted out years ago!
C@tmomma @ #1173 Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 – 6:08 pm
Jacinda now understands our purely transactional PM.
How many more important international relationships will our dangerously radical PM burn ..??
Morrison is every bit as destructive as Abbott.
Popped over to Foxtel a couple of times. The Rupert orcs are going in pretty hard on the Higgins affair. Credlin described Scrott’s me knew nothing claim as “damning’ and sounded skeptical of that claim. She gave a pretty good kicking all round. Scotty better come up with a nice sweetener for Rupes as it has the making of a News Ltd. jihad.
poroti
Hopefully Scotty’s going to come a cropper on this one. He’ll need to take a big broom to the scumbags.
Scotty’s fixer might need a fixer after not really fixing the fix
poroti @ #1177 Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 – 5:46 pm
Who could Credlin be spruiking for I wonder. What head is she after?
Had to abandon The Drum as A. Downer is (once again) the star. He thinks Scotty is genuinely emotional, doing all the right things, and we’re just picking on him because he’s the PM.
mikehilliard
It was quite a surprise how hard two of the more fervant Murdoch orcs, Credlin + Paul Murray, have gone in. Credlin even putting a bit of a boot to Scrott’s just so story about his chat with Jen. The ol’ wtf ? re his needing to be told.
Sometimes Liberal women can be women first and Liberals second.
One good point Credlin made as a problem is a bigly lack of mid career women employed there by the Coalition. Women who can mentor younger workers and look out for them.
meher baba, if you were that senior in the organization as you profess to have been, surely you could have ordered a new desk.
Lizzie, thanks for the warning re The Drum.
“ At first, we brought into all the negatives we’d been given – we thought we would be bitchy, emotional, fall out, etc etc”
Same happens in some all male groups, except they use different terms.
Leon
He adds nothing to discussions and talks over the women. Another dinosaur.
poroti @ #1184 Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 – 6:32 pm
Traditionally, mid range career women are breeding heifers that have men to usurp their position and never allow them the opportunity to resume their careers because………..
Is Downer still bitching about that rent in his fishnet stockings?
All I ever think about when I see Alexander Downer out and about is that he is keeping the family name alive on behalf of Georgina Downer.
He doesn’t like it when bright young professional women argue with him. His only response is to titter.
https://www-cbsnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/solarwinds-hack-russia-cyberattack-60-minutes-2021-02-12/#app
The attack was hidden deep inside an update for SolarWinds Orion, a piece of advanced information technology software used by organizations worldwide to connect, manage and monitor their computer networks. To date, no one is sure how the hackers got into SolarWinds, or if it is the only vector of attack. One of the victims is Microsoft, where an intruder gained access to the source code for some Microsoft products. How did Microsoft miss this? “I think that when you look at the sophistication of this attacker, there’s an asymmetric advantage for somebody playing offense,” Smith says. And the attackers had huge resources he says. “When we analyzed everything that we saw at Microsoft, we asked ourselves how many engineers have probably worked on these attacks. And the answer we came to was, well, certainly more than 1,000.”
Replacing google with Microsoft is really such a good idea?
Victim blaming has started……apparently the ‘complainant’ is confused according to the PM.
He will need to check with Jen about where his moral compass is aligned to.
And he had so many lovely announcements planned for today too ….
Nah, it’s been diverted to Menzies House.
If that’s what you’re worried about your best bet is to find the off switch.
C@tmomma @ #1191 Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 – 7:09 pm
All I ever think about with Downer is how he stuffed his face with finger food, talked with his mouthful, and then with unparalleled arrogant distain for hygiene, sticks the filthy food back into the dip.
Then there’s the bleating about how superior the Downer bloodline is. And we sent this twat to London to represent us.
https://youtu.be/gbsKcCkdHw0
“Victim blaming has started……apparently the ‘complainant’ is confused according to the PM.
He will need to check with Jen about where his moral compass is aligned to.”
And Jen will have to check with her Qanon besties before putting that love machine toe of hers back into the water.