A preselection, two redistributions and a by-election

An assemblage of random stuff to kick off the new week.

It being the mid-point of the year, we’re about due for Newspoll’s state and demographic aggregates and Essential Research’s dump of voting intention numbers, both of which come along quarterly. In the meantime, there’s the following:

• The Queensland Liberal National Party’s preselection for a successor to Andrew Laming in Bowman has been won by Henry Pike, media and communications director for the Property Council. Pike was the only male candidate in a field of five, and prevailed despite earlier urgings from the Prime Minister for a woman to be preselected. Madura McCormack of the Courier-Mail reports he won in the final round of the ballot of local preselectors with 107 votes against 88 for Maggie Forrest, a barrister. Pike said last week that comments he made on the subject of “f***ing a fat chick” in a group chat twelve years ago, when he was about 21, do not “reflect the person I’ve grown to be”.

• Antony Green has published a report calculating party vote shares for the draft state redistribution in Victoria. Finalised state boundaries for New South Wales will be along at some unspecified point in the probably not too distant future.

• I have published a guide to the by-election for the Queensland state seat of Stretton, to be held on July 24 to choose a successor to Labor member Duncan Pegg, who resigned in April due to ill health and died on June 10.

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.

1,143 comments on “A preselection, two redistributions and a by-election”

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  1. I find the personal anecdotes and assorted topics an interesting part of the poll bludger blog.
    The only concert I have been to is the Beatles when very young but I do love musical theatre with my all time best experience Jesus Christ Superstar with John Farnham and Angry Anderson. Rasputin with John English rates second but the show I went to most, probably monthly for over a year was Rocky Horror.
    On the subject of strange things that get posted I tried the Minestrone recipe posted last week and it was a winner with all but my vegetable averse granddaughter.

  2. Assantdj

    I went to Rocky Horror with a group of (younger) drama students and apparently they were a bit surprised that I wasn’t shocked, but enjoyed it very much (but then, I’ve always liked drag shows.)

  3. E G Theodore
    I have in the past worked with high schools who have offered traineeships in Aged Care Cert III to senior students. These students have then gone on to Nursing Degrees. They say this is a great advantage as they have mastered the more mundane tasks, have developed communication strategies for confused patients and most importantly can get regular work whilst at uni. During practice experiences they can concentrate easier on advanced skills and are comfortable in the environment. Those from rural regions find they can go home for Christmas and are welcomed in the local aged care home because it enables permanent staff to have leave during school holidays.

  4. Simon Katich @ #947 Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 – 4:50 pm

    Well, Dandy has asked the question. Would it have been better for government subsidies to replace it with similar tech? Bloody hard to open up a new nuclear power plant site these days. They have had a fair bit of time to get themselves set for it.

    It was not closed down because it was unsafe. It was closed down because apparently it had somehow crept up on New York while no-one was looking. So now New York is being powered by fossil fuels.

    Why not build the renewables and then shut it down?

  5. Assantdj @ #951 Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 – 4:55 pm

    The only concert I have been to is the Beatles when very young but I do love musical theatre with my all time best experience Jesus Christ Superstar with John Farnham and Angry Anderson. Rasputin with John English rates second but the show I went to most, probably monthly for over a year was Rocky Horror.

    I saw Jesus Christ Superstar with the original 1972 Australian cast – Trevor White, Jon English, Michele Fawdon and Rory O’Donahue were all amazing. If you can find the original sound track it still outshines all the later versions.

  6. Player One @ #954 Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 – 4:37 pm

    Simon Katich @ #947 Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 – 4:50 pm

    Well, Dandy has asked the question. Would it have been better for government subsidies to replace it with similar tech? Bloody hard to open up a new nuclear power plant site these days. They have had a fair bit of time to get themselves set for it.

    It was not closed down because it was unsafe. It was closed down because apparently it had somehow crept up on New York while no-one was looking. So now New York is being powered by fossil fuels.

    Why not build the renewables and then shut it down?

    They seem to have requested a renewal of the operating license (since 2007) and were rejected. Then the operator shut it down (early) as a business call (staged – from 2020 to earlier this year). And now, gas power has replaced it.

    So why not extend the license? If there were concerns about safety, why not assist in upgrades or even replacements with newer nuclear tech. I can understand the call for renewables to plug the gap – but it aint that simple. There is an existing operation on an existing site that doesnt emit CO2. Surely start with that before trying to build whole new renewable plants elsewhere.

    Has anti nuclear sentiment caused a rise in emissions? Is thatanti-nuclear sentiment coming from the very people who are most worried about global warming? So do those people need a slow walk down the hall of mirrors as they tune into sanity FM?

  7. You can always spot a government with no balls – they hide behind the military.

    Why is the Federal Government trotting out this Army guy and Jane Halton to do the heavy lifting with the media?

    Cowards.

  8. Lizzie
    My younger kids were very surprised to find out that i had not only been to Rocky Horror, in costume regularly. Then they found out I was a Queen fan in my younger days and they have never seen me in the same light.

  9. Simon Katich @ #961 Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 – 5:20 pm

    Has anti nuclear sentiment caused a rise in emissions? Is that anti-nuclear sentiment coming from the very people who are most worried about global warming? So do those people need a slow walk down the hall of mirrors as they tune into sanity FM?

    Agreed. By all means oppose building new nuclear reactors instead of renewables (although the day may yet come when we finally realize how dire our situation really is and start building them frantically – and just imagine how unsafe that might be!) but closing down existing ones and replacing them with fossil fuels is just lunacy.

  10. Frewen has been appointed to make us all relaxed and comfortable that despite all appearances someone, somewhere is in control, knows what to do and can resolve the Federal Government’s incompetency problem regarding the vaccination of all Australians.

  11. poroti @3:10pm

    “A question you have all asked at some stage “Are Jeep Grand Cherokees lightning proof ?” . Well someone has done the experiment……..”

    Depends on what you mean by “proof”.. video doesn’t quite answer the question of what damage was done.

  12. Assandj

    My ‘problem’ is that I have very eclectic tastes, Mozart to the Beegees and so on, and often only like one or two pieces from any one artist.

  13. Dandy

    In all seriousness. The only reactors I’ve seen that kinda make sense are “waste burners”. Despite the cost they might make sense as being cheaper than the alternative.

  14. Lizzie
    I’m the same big bands, some classical, love queen. One of my favourite sound tracks was Sound of music probably because of the memories of going to the theatre to see the movie. I love some Striesland and Bette Midler. To me music is about how it makes you feel and whatmemories it evokes, so as I have lots of different feelings I like lots of different music.ni even like the bag pipes

  15. “The only concert I have been to is the Beatles”

    Not a bad one to retire on. I have vague memories of some of the Aunty Jack crew performing at the old Bondi Lifesaver, but not as Aunty Jack. Now the “other” shopping centre in Bondi, under a mega twin block of flats. First mega concert was Rod Stewart at the old Sydney Showground, which was the one hit by a severe thunderstorm causing it to be called off basically before it began. I’m pretty sure it was put on by Paul Dainty who used to print “We play rain or shine”. They were called on it and the courts made them re-schedule for the following Friday night (for those who kept their ticket stubs). There was another storm but the show did go on. And no one ever printed those fateful words ever again. Also saw Alice Cooper and Fleetwood Mac there. Both awesome.

    As for Roy, I never did see him, not unless you count a very good cover show at Souths Juniors.

  16. Resilience and continuity training is important and requires people to actually take some time to do it. I’ve heard anecdotally that many government departments have skipped their annual exercises for at least the last five years.

  17. After all that war gaming, the latest rollout plans looks quite promising …

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-06/what-we-learned-future-covid-vaccine-rollout-frewen/100271744

    “As soon as we have vaccinated all private school students, Liberal party members, and voters in electorates that we think might be convinced to vote for us at the next election, we expect to be able to go back and complete the rest of that really urgent Phase 1A group. After that, you should find no problem buying vaccine on the black market, or perhaps traveling overseas on a “vaccine tour” so there’s really going to be no excuse for anyone not to be vaccinated.”

  18. First concert? AC/DC the Princess Theater Launceston about September 1974. I was all of 14 years old at the time but dad went to a district Lions meeting so I managed to convince him to drop me off while he attended the meeting. I was a basket case the next day. Shortly after AC/DC took off.

  19. Lizzie,

    I’m sure you know it was written by an ex slave trader seeking redemption for his perfidy.

    I am always moved when I sing it.

    But, I appreciate that some see it as a dirge.

  20. laughtong says:
    Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 5:40 pm
    Sounds like St Joseph’s is not the only school to have taken this route.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/06/sydney-private-school-st-josephs-college-students-given-pfizer-vaccine-despite-under-40s-being-ineligible

    As the school claims that it is really for the benefit of Indigenous boarders, presumably NSW Health has already arranged the Pfizer vaccination of every Indigenous person of the same age throughout NSW?

  21. GG

    You may sing it well, but the swooping sentimentality by some singers is reee- volting schmalz. I’m not against sentimental. I used to sing a lot of French, German, and English classic love songs.

  22. citizen @ #987 Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 – 6:16 pm

    laughtong says:
    Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 5:40 pm
    Sounds like St Joseph’s is not the only school to have taken this route.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/06/sydney-private-school-st-josephs-college-students-given-pfizer-vaccine-despite-under-40s-being-ineligible

    As the school claims that it is really for the benefit of Indigenous boarders, presumably NSW Health has already arranged the Pfizer vaccination of every Indigenous person of the same age throughout NSW?

    Of course! They do not discriminate – they will vaccinate every single Indigenous person that can afford the $35,000 – $50,000 school fees.

  23. Of course! They do not discriminate – they will vaccinate every single Indigenous person that can afford the $35,000 – $50,000 school fees.
    _____
    P1
    As Simon Birmingham about it. He will say that the public voted them into office in 2019, so there.

  24. Now on the ABC news site. It should have been only the Indigenous students but all the year 12 cohort were sent


  25. Player Onesays:
    Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 4:47 pm
    frednk @ #936 Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 – 4:29 pm

    Not much more to say really. Sort of makes those argue for nuclear power look stupid, to dangerous, too costly.

    It might have made sense if they had replaced it with renewables, but replacing a zero emission nuclear plant with fossil fuels is simply mindbogglingly stupid.

    And that State is Democrats stronghold.

  26. Simon Katich @ #938 Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 – 4:38 pm

    Today it’s the concert blog.

    Just people showing off.

    Someone soon will tell us how close they have been to Robert Smith.

    I spoke to him after a gig at Macquarie Uni. My boyfriend at the time was the cleaner of the hall that the gig had been held in. So he was just hanging around and so was I, so we had a chat. 🙂

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