Below this post is a live commentary thread on local and regional elections in the United Kingdom from regular guest contributor Adrian Beaumont; I myself am overdue for new posts on late counting in Tasmania and the looming Upper Hunter by-election on May 22, so stay tuned for those over the next few days. Other than that:
• A report by Max Maddison of The Australian suggests the pendulum may be swinging back to a federal election sooner rather than later, due to “the turmoil of the start of the year dissipating and the rate of vaccinations slowly increasing”. This is said to be reflected in the New South Wales Liberal Party’s commencement of preselection proceedings this week for 13 seats, for which nominations will close on May 21.
• The Age reports that Victoria’s Supreme Court will today consider a last-minute bid by ten unions to prevent the Labor national executive from choosing a candidate for the new federal seat of Hawke on Melbourne’s north-western fringe. The national executive had been expected to vote today to endorse former state secretary Sam Rae as part of a deal between elements of Rae’s Right faction, notably federal front-bencher Richard Marles, and the Socialist Left. This freezes out the rival Right forces associated with Bill Shorten and the Australian Workers Union, who favour the rival claim of state minister Natalie Hutchins, who is also invoking the cause of affirmative action. The legal action seeks to establish that the federal party organisation had acted improperly in taking over the state branch in response to the Adem Somyurek branch-stacking scandal.
• The Australian National University’s Centre for Social Research and Methods has published results from a survey of 3459 respondents on “attitudes towards and experiences of retirement and social security income during the COVID-recession and initial recovery”. Among other things, it finds 55.0% support for an increase in compulsory superannuation from 9.5% to 12% as per current legislation, with 20.8% thinking it should be lifted even higher. Only 20.4% said it should remain at the current level, and only 3.8% believed it should be lowered or eliminated altogether.
meher baba
Are you confused or not? Because it seems to me you’ve worked it out.
Morrison crapping on with why use one word when six will do, but didn’t Dutton tell Victoria to stick their quarantine proposal?
(guardian)
Itzadream
You have revived memories of my middle toddler being whisked away screaming from me by the nurses even after I told them he was scared and I wanted to accompany him into the examination room (he didn’t like strangers). They shut the door in my face.
It was a severe asthma attack.
The next day the hospital rang and said they were sorry but he had climbed out of the cot and injured his head (it was a cut above the eye).
After he came home, he would only eat the sort of junk food they had bribed him with in the hospital and was hard to handle (more than usual). He obviously blamed me for abandoning him.
Officious nurses. Grrr.
OK, it was decades ago and a country hospital and I assume things have improved now.
More
* change passengers to citizens, and there’s a lot in there to be unpicked.
Is there any supposedly developed nation that could exemplify insane stupidity more than Australia.
The worlds biggest exporter of gas is giving another bloody billionaire millions more to build a gas import terminal.
Coalition hands gas subsidy to billionaire as UN calls for rapid methane cuts
https://reneweconomy.com.au/coalition-hands-gas-subsidy-to-billionaire-as-un-calls-for-rapid-methane-cuts/
The Morrison government will pour a further $58.6 million into the gas industry as part of a funding package for new gas storage facilities and a gas import terminal on Australia’s east coast.
The funding will be included in the federal budget, to be handed down on Tuesday next week and represents a doubling-down by the Morrison government on its ‘gas led recovery’ push to expand the gas industry.
The package includes support for Squadron Energy, backed by resources billionaire Andrew Forrest, to build a new gas import terminal at Port Kembla. It comes as the UN releases a new report that calls for a dramatic cut in methane emissions – much of which comes from gas – over the next decade.
Below is actually how much gas Australia produces or consumes and what is used or required for manufacturing and residential purposes (in red ellipse) is a tiny fraction. Even it’s use in electricity generation appears set to reduce.
Idiocy
Morrison on India. This needs a red flashing light.
John Howard was asked how would he deal with the current situation with India
his answer was he would stop the boats
lizzie @ #153 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 1:41 pm
I hope so lizzie. It’s a bit of a lucky dip, like everything. I think my earliest memory was being taken to Corowa Hospital in the early 50s (yikes) for a cut on my upper eye lid from a fall. The terror. No amount of ‘crack hardy’ was going to do it. Do people still say ‘crack hardy’?
I prefer advance warning, even if it’s just a quick swab. (Skipped by some, now.)
“Wiggle your fingers and toes” – uh, where are you injecting this?
The worst vaccination I had was on a Friday afternoon; my bum had barely touched the seat before BAM!!! they’d jabbed my arm unannounced. I jumped and so did they, I think. (They apologised, but fair go…)
DN: “Are you confused or not? Because it seems to me you’ve worked it out.”
I’m not confused about why the Government has had to back down from what was IMO a perfectly sensible policy position. This was a consequence of incredibly bad salesmanship plus the political influence of the Indian community.
But I’m still confused about what motivates those critics whose main concern with the policy is that it is somehow “inhumane”. Federal and State Governments have been acting in all sorts of inhumane ways since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Severe lockdowns and border closures have wrecked businesses and families, damaged the mental health of many tens of thousands of people, etc, etc. But these were arguably necessary because we had to “follow the science.”
What does the science say about people coming here from India at the moment?
Morrison on India. This needs a red flashing light.
Buy them some of this Scomo!.
https://viraleze.co
meher
I don’t believe the science says anything about throwing people in jail.
Vietnam has done a brilliant job with covid so far but right now they are under the pump. 56 local cases yesterday, hopefully they can get it under control or they will suffer the same fate as Thailand who lost it a few weeks back.
That leaves only Aust, NZ , Singapore and Taiwan as significant countries who are still controlling minor outbreaks. (other countries have zero cases but not sure their numbers can be trusted)
Zoomster
My optimism is based on the marriage equality victory.
The fight against misogyny has been part and parcel of the reasons LGBTI+ people were persecuted for so long. It’s no coincidence that feminism and LGBTI+ rights have come about after so long.
I know the evangelicals that includes Morrison think they are on a winner. Yes in Labor marginals. The problem they have is that tradies are not all evangelicals. Most tradies do not identify as misogynistic.
So give them security through economics. That’s what Labor is doing. Meanwhile the LNP are attacking these same people of different religious types with racism.
Those multicultural communities do see the government being racist and attacking their very citizenship.
Those human rights frameworks Labor has long championed have come back into focus. For the majority in those communities they will accept rights for women and LGBTI+ people when it’s the very frameworks that uphold their rights.
Those communities got butt hurt over the Marriage Equality debate but have now been reminded of why we have human rights frameworks. So even those conservative sexist members will look after their self interest of affirmative action looking after their rights before attacking women and other minorities.
So the balance is back to what it has traditionally been for Labor.
The seats will remain marginal. The majority will be just enough to make it a loser for Morrison.
Edit: In case I am not clear. All dual citizens have watched what has happened with India and the logic as it has flowed from the treatment of refugees.
The country hospital I attended on the Capricorn coast many many years ago gave me spent cooking oil with an old chip in it to massage into my breasts.
DN: “I don’t believe the science says anything about throwing people in jail.”
Agreed.
But I believe these measures are nothing new. Every time I have flown back into Australia over many decades, I have encountered various documents, videos, signage, etc. which have warned me that I could face huge fines or gaol time for bringing the wrong stuff back. It’s the same deal.
But I think you and I are in agreement that the way the Government chose to publicise these laws was ridiculously heavy-handed.
D
How kind!
Yesterday evening while dozing I had a clever (I thought) idea to post today.
Of course the idea has dissipated with the new day and all I have left is the final denouement – which is …..
I think it was something to do with an omnipotent God delegating to an obscure being on even more obscure planet in a tiny galaxy somewhere ….
To offset the obvious disappointment of this post I offer the following ..
I find it interesting that NSW only did 13,339 tests yesterday, a day after an outbreak was announced, but outbreak-less Victoria did 16,135 tests. Gladys seems a bit lethargic.
My optimism is based on the marriage equality victory.
________________________________________
Glad it was not based on the 1967 Referendum victory for Aboriginals. It’s taken 54 years to just get to where we are today. Which is hardly wonderful.
meher baba
I think the confusion comes from the fact that the whole thing is a mess :P.
For example:
– Are all criticisms of Australia’s response to the crisis in India the same?
– Are the same people who supported state lockdowns and travel bans the same people protesting the same applied to India?
– Are/were all state lockdowns and travel bans the same? I believe some allowed returning residents while others didn’t.
– What mechanisms were in place at the time of each? e.g. Are we better at quarantine than we used to be? Maybe people are assuming we’ve got quarantine down pat?
There are so many things that vary. I’d be wary of generalising or trying to extract patterns from what is an inherently chaotic and messy situation.
A number of the government’s belated rationalisations seem reasonable, but they are not what people heard first. What they heard was “jail”, and that generated an immediate adverse reaction.
guytaur: You’re right that concerns about racism and the imposition of controls over their ability to sponsor the migration of family and friends can make some ethnic groups more likely to support Labor over the Liberals. (In passing, I’ll note that this does not apply to policies about border controls for unlawful arrivals, which are generally even strongly supported by legal migrants than they are by the Australian-born.)
As I’ve posted before, the Australian Indian community – like the Australian Chinese community – is inherently inclined to break better for the Libs than for Labor. Indians and Chinese are generally both more socially conservative (including, I’m afraid in relation to LGBTIQ+) and more economically conservative than Australian-born people. But they become mistrustful of the political right when they perceive it as demonstrating racist inclinations.
According to a very senior Labor figure I once heard pontificating on this subject, the Australian Chinese community turned completely away from the Liberals in the mid-1980s and only began to reverse this position in the 2000s. Community leaders had told him that, while they preferred Liberal policy to Labor policy in almost every respect, they could have no truck with a party led by John Howard, who they saw as having flirted publicly with racially-based politics on a number of occasions.
Those days are gone, and the Liberals now depend on getting a substantial share of the votes of Indians and Chinese. I suspect that fear of losing his advantage with the Indian vote has influenced ScoMo’s change of heart about flights from India.
meher baba
Hence his sudden acknowledgement of all that Indians have done for Australia. I’ve never heard him say anything like that before – about any race.
Sohar @ #169 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 2:16 pm
Trump theory: less tests = less positives
Baba
Yes. The whole tough on borders thing taken too far.
It’s very hard to demonise Australian citizens fleeing a pandemic let loose by political incompetence in another country exposing your political incompetence in managing quarantine.
Especially when the usual cheerleaders for demonisation have called your policy racist.
Possibly not a good tactic for Porter in the court of public opinion:
lizzie @ #161 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 1:54 pm
Typical Morrison avoiding pressure to take responsibility for building proper quarantine facilities.
Baba
I should have added I think the backdown is too little too late.
I think Labor is going to have the decades of voter loyalty you are talking about as a result
Sohar @ #170 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 2:16 pm
I’m not sure that Gladys does all of the testing herself, I think she delegates some of it. And Thursday afternoons she has book club, so maybe the numbers will be a bit bigger tomorrow.
Has Gladys found a new President of the Legislative Assembly yet? Other than her discarded puppet, Natasha Maclaren-Jones 😀
Well, I just took a quick trip down to the shops. 95% mask coverage in Coles and assorted shops. Those who weren’t masked looked sheepish. 🙂
Past experience with local outbreaks is that it’s usually 2-3 days after the first case that the testing numbers really take off (presumably partly because of the time to process the tests).
BT @ #184 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 2:47 pm
A much more sensible take.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/06/us/politics/florida-texas-voting-rights-bills.html
Hours after Florida installed a rash of new voting restrictions, the Republican-led Legislature in Texas pressed ahead on Thursday with its own far-reaching bill that would make it one of the most difficult states in the nation in which to cast a ballot.
The Texas bill would, among other restrictions, greatly empower partisan poll watchers, prohibit election officials from mailing out absentee ballot applications and impose strict punishments for those who provide assistance outside the lines of what is permissible. The State House of Representatives was scheduled to debate the measure late into the evening with the possibility that it would pass it and send it to the Senate.
Gov. Greg Abbott is widely expected to sign the bill into law.
Briscoe Cain, the Republican sponsor of the bill, said he had filed it “to ensure that we have an equal and uniform application of our election code and to protect people from being taken advantage of.”
He was quickly challenged by Jessica González, a Democratic representative and vice chair of the House Election Committee, who argued that the bill was a solution in search of problem. She cited testimony in which the Texas secretary of state said that the 2020 election had been found to be “free, fair and secure.”
Florida and Texas are critical Republican-led battleground states with booming populations and 70 Electoral College votes between them. The new measures the legislatures are putting in place represent the apex of the current Republican effort to roll back access to voting across the country following the loss of the White House amid historic turnout in the 2020 election.
Earlier on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, with great fanfare, signed his state’s new voting bill, which passed last week. Held at a Palm Beach hotel with cheering supporters in the background, the ceremony showcased Mr. DeSantis’s brash style; the governor’s office barred most journalists and provided exclusive access to Fox News, a nose-thumbing gesture of contempt toward a news media he viewed as overly critical of the bill.
Morrison stated NSW, Queensland and Victoria would each take one repatriation flight this month.
It will be interesting to see their take on this announcement and what has actually been agreed.
If the flights into the states are still being “ considered and negotiated “ it could mean that there will only be three flights from India this month. Not a huge number of citizens being returned if that is the case given 9000 have registered with DFAT.
How many of those citizens trapped in India will get covid while they wait for repatriation and if positive refused entry ? Interesting emotions if healthy before the pause, covid positive while the pause was in place and as a result refused entry now the pause is over.
Quoll @ #155 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 1:43 pm
No, I believe we still lead the world on that.
Has anyone been watching this?
CMO Kelly is due to appear before the Senate’s COVID committee late Friday; he can expect to be pushed on the circumstances surrounding his advice.
https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-unblocking-the-passage-from-india-160472
Scomo and Pence – two god bothers political interference…
Mike Pence
@Mike_Pence
·
15h
On this #NationalDayofPrayer, let’s pray for America, for the courageous Americans in uniform who keep us safe at home and abroad, for the dedicated healthcare professionals who have cared for our families, and for every American in this one Nation under God
What are the chances of a covid related death of an Australian stranded in India ..?
Player One says:
Friday, May 7, 2021 at 2:56 pm
Quoll @ #155 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 1:43 pm
1. America.
2. Australia – UK tied with Australia.
Really good no new cases in NSW. But….. testing seems rather low to be getting confident of anything. Is there just a lag here for the number of tests shown? Are we getting results of tests performed without these tests showing on todays number of tests performed?
Rex Douglas @ #191 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 2:32 pm
Low?
Most Australians in India would be under 50, no?
Most Australians in India are probably able to access some quality health care either in India or nearby.
Simon Katich @ #193 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 3:07 pm
First answer….Yes.
Second answer (after decoding)….Yes.
Same as it ever was, as David Byrne might have said.
“Florida and Texas are critical Republican-led battleground states with booming populations and 70 Electoral College votes between them. The new measures the legislatures are putting in place represent the apex of the current Republican effort to roll back access to voting across the country following the loss of the White House amid historic turnout in the 2020 election.”
Jim Crow is back!
Spray @ #185 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 2:50 pm
re processing times, MOH was tested at Bondi on Weds about 4pm and got a text result negative at 05:50 Thursday morning. So 12 hours, through the night.
All major coastal cities in Australia should have terminals for Floating Storage and Regasification Units in order to take advantage of LNG. WA in particular needs it as a backup in case the pipelines from the NW are compromised.
The Government should contract the construction and then sell them.
ItzaDream @ #197 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 3:11 pm
That’s a pretty good turnaround time Itza. In terms of testing numbers, I understand that would have been included in today’s report (not yesterday’s).
So BT was pretty accurate re the lag in numbers. Happens every time.
Wonder if you roosters can match the NB testing numbers from December (no way).
Simon Katich @ #194 Friday, May 7th, 2021 – 3:09 pm
What’s your basis for this claim?
What sort of quality healthcare is available to them if/when India’s healthcare system is overwhelmed trying to cope with ~400k new cases every day? What sort of healthcare are they entitled to without massive out of pocket costs if they’re not considered citizens/residents of India? Why would a nearby country take them in when Australia will not?