The Australian reports the latest Newspoll records Labor’s two-party preferred lead out from 53-47 to 54-46, with the Coalition taking a three-point tumble on the primary vote to 36%, Labor up a point to 40%, the Greens down one to 10% and One Nation steady on 3%. Despite this, Scott Morrison is up two on approval to 49% and down two on disapproval to 47%, and has slightly widened his lead as preferred prime minister from 49-36 to 50-34. Anthony Albanese is up two on approval to 40% and up one on disapproval to 47%. The poll was conducted Wednesday to Saturday from a sample of 1528.
August 2018 was when the incumbent PM was tossed out – with no impending double-dip and a mishandled global pandemic.
But seriously – we’ve all been there and here long enough. 2019 is not how all elections are going to go. Polls are not predictions, but reflections.
The public are angered and the polls reflect that. Will it hold for 3-6 months? Who knows.
Furtive Lawngnome,
The anecdotal word I’m getting is that people are blaming Gladys and Scott FOR the lockdowns, not Labor for advocating for them as a way of dealing with the virus. People haven’t suddenly thrown caution to the wind for their family just so they can go to the pub again!
bug1 @ #96 Sunday, August 29th, 2021 – 11:04 pm
I remember when a whole slew of them believed they would lose in 2019 and they announced their retirements, only for Morrison to win.
Asha:
Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 10:35 pm
[‘Mavis:
I agree that the baseball bats do seem to be out right now in a way they never were during 2016-2019, but a lot can happen before now and the election. And if they do roll Morrison, his successor could just pull off the same trick he did last time.’]
That’s a possibility as it goes without saying anything can happen between now and the election. That said,
and acknowledging what “N” posited, Albanese has been very disciplined as has his shadows. I don’t think they’ll be a repeat, for instance, of Bowen’s faux pas of saying (wwtte) that if you don’t like our policies, don’t vote for us. Two other comments before I turn in. A poll result like this will increase Morrison’s paranoia, making him more susceptible to errors of judgment. And due to the Tory leadership rules (ie, two-thirds of the party room is needed for a spill motion), Morrison’s successor won’t be prime minister; he’ll be the LOTO.
The 54/46 Newspoll is the same as the last Morgan. The Resolve one looks odd.
My melancholy observation is that it took an existential event to persuade a few percent of the population to, apparently, act rationally.
Furtive Lawngnome
The electorates mood is far darker than it was in August 2018 i compare the mood with the early 1990s when Hawke lost 8 seats in Victoria and Kirner was thrashed but there is enough time for the Liberals to find a way back but its closing.
Just wondering whether Morrison doesn’t have a “jinx” factor going against him?
BACK IN BLACK, bushfires, floods, COVID, the Ruby Princess, vaccines, more positions on lockdowns than a porn star’s demo reel, the Brittany Higgins imbroglio, Sports Rorts, Carpark Rorts, Christian Porter, joining up with Clive Palmer, trying to foist a Happy Clapper empire-building friend accused of concealing pedophilia onto the President of the United States, and now he’s sided with a NSW Premier who appears to be descending into psychopathic insanity before our very eyes on TV every morning at 11am.In other words: Scotty From Marketing is just… Bad News. It follows him everywhere.
I know they need a 60% caucus to vote him out, but they may make him an offer he can’t refuse and get a quiet exit.
Just like all the other times they’ve had to clean up after him: booted upstairs.
Morrison is a cornered Rodent without the Rodents political brains.
As Barilaro would say Morrison will be in our thoughts and prayers because nothing will save this cornered Rodent.
Flaneur,
But are we truly able to think rationally? Or merely provide the semblance thereof?
The next Climate Conference starts in early November. I’m not sure if Morrison plans on being their, but if he does then he will still probably need to quarantine for two weeks on return. The conference potentially comes with some baggage for Morrison, he’s not going to have a big enough commitment to prevent criticism from Europe and the US. It will also through attention on the climate.
NSW will likely still be in some form of lockdown. Victoria might be as well. So, that won’t make campaigning any easier.
So there are dangers in having an election in November.
He could then look to March. Hopefully everyone who’s over 12 has been vaccinated by then, and lock downs have eased. The dangers of a March election include a hot summer and bushfires, which might well remind the voter that Morrison doesn’t hold a hose and won’t do anything meaningful on climate.
He could then decide to wait until May, in the hope that things are more normalised. However, that probably means a budget first, and a sea of red ink. While I wouldn’t mind seeing the Liberals being hoist on their own debt and deficit petard, recent expenditure to assist households and business has been necessary (and maybe should have extended for longer). However, the next stage of tax cuts are really going to start showing up in the budget forward estimates. That’s going to create an ocean of red ink.
Griff @ #110 Sunday, August 29th, 2021 – 11:42 pm
I suspect that comment would be more welcomed by the cynics. 😉
Here’s a thought. Let’s say the Coalition do lose the next election, and the swings in Queensland and Victoria are enough for Dutton and Frydenberg to both lose their seats. Who the heck would end up opposition leader?
Asha,
Hunt.
Bill
“ Just wondering whether Morrison doesn’t have a “jinx” factor going against him?”
I agree with you, and the fundies in the ranks of Morrison’s own supporters may see it like that. Yet I note fully half the points you listed (e.g. car-pork rorts) are problems of Morrison’s own making.
The other problems were challenging (e.g. covid) but they were also opportunities Morrison has failed to grasp. Some leaders (e.g. McGowan) have gained stellar approval ratings for dealing with them well. Morrison might have got lucky after sensibly following State’s lockdown leads in 2020. But no, he ignored the medical advice on both quarantine and vaccine. More “Act of Clod” than “Act of God”.
Asha @ #113 Sunday, August 29th, 2021 – 9:55 pm
If it’s like WA, Barnaby. 😆
Asha @ #113 Sunday, August 29th, 2021 – 11:55 pm
Mammon’s nephew?
From previous thread
”
Mavissays:
Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 9:03 pm
Ven:
Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 8:38 pm
[‘Why is [it] working Mavis?’]
That’s the “$64,000 Question”. There can be no doubting that Morrison’s endowed with the gift of the gab, that he play politics very well, and that he’s singularly transactional. Perhaps Labor needs to take the gloves off more, particularly re. the religion he slavishly follows, where the world is only some 6,000 years old, informing the electorate that such a fossil will do next to nothing about GW and other pressing issues that don’t accord with his highly conservative religious views. Whatever it takes, Labor must cut through lest we could have this spiv in the Lodge for another 3 years
”
Thanks for correcting my sentence. 🙂
Real big ‘if’ there but, should that happen, I imagine the Coalition would be devastated and it would be like the aftermath of 2007, only worse. In which case, serious contenders might actually be hesitant to take the job at that point, meaning it could go to whoever puts their hand up. Maybe Greg Hunt will think it’s “his turn” and serve a Brendan Nelson like tenure (although looking at his seat, he’d probably be swept away in this scenario too.) I dunno. Maybe they could convince Scott Morrison to hang around to “steady the ship” until someone serious is ready to step-up.
Interest rates have not changed, any change only talked about, house prices continue to rise, the share market hanging in there, exports (thanks to iron ore) and export commodities are not desperate yet, people are not starving and poverty remains hidden.
Superannuation balances are accumulating nicely.
The rich are “riching along” ….
The state leaders, ignoring the obvious exception been been leaders.
The MSM have been relatively benign so far, perhaps due to Albanese’s clever game.
It is not a surprise that a poll struggling to demonstrate any massive need for political change with a very soft increase in political momentum, as with the current measurement, is the result.
An intriguing paradigm, maintaining some balance.
On one side the excruciating Covid updates centred on the “train wreck” in NSW, and balanced by the perception of wealth and prosperity for many elsewhere.
Morrison and his cohorts have maintained a veil of secrecy over many a damning fact that could upset the reality.
The government finances are in disarray.
Any possibility of a miraculous remedy for the the fiscal malady is consistent with the obvious absence of a quick fix for the pandemic.
“they’re a weird mob” while we remain a weird mob.
”
Wat Tylersays:
Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 9:44 pm
Love it. Nice and on-trend. Of course, until polls close at the eventual election, I am going to offer the same caution I have since Labor started taking decent leads and advise against premature celebration, it’s still great to see.
”
+1
Go easy on mundo.
”
C@tmommasays:
Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 9:59 pm
Asha @ #39 Sunday, August 29th, 2021 – 9:58 pm
I mean, it could always turn out that Resolve Strategic is the only one getting it right!
I sure hope not, though.
They were the Coalition’s private polling company, who got it right, in 2019, weren’t they?
”
So much variation in back to back polls (i.e. Resolve and Newspoll). You realise don’t you that the turn around between these 2 polls is less than 1 week and a turnaround of about 8% in PV and about 5% in 2pp for ALP. S o much volatility in the polls. What does that mean?
In terms of post- Morrison leaders. Dutton is easily the most vulnerable. Despite what people think, his is the kind of seat prone to swing hard.
I actually think Hunt is slightly more at risk than Frydenberg.
But should a Lib worse case scenario come about … I could see a Fletcher. Uber safe seat, technocratic (to the point of robotic) etc as a seat warmer. But I expect Frydenberg will end up as the leader after Morrison – regardless.
If Dutton and Frydenberg lost their seats the Federal Liberals would look like the Victorian Liberals did after Kennett because the Liberals lost a lot of talent in 1999 and 2002.
Ven @ #122 Monday, August 30th, 2021 – 12:17 am
The meaning lies more within the methodology and interpretation than the numbers.
But… but, at the 2019 federal election the preferred PM vote was better able to predict the real outcome of the election than the 2PP…. So, c’mon ScuMo and the Coalition, just relax, you have nothing to worry about…. you are on a winner. Simply go to sleep and we will wake you up on election day, you have got this one in your pocket already….. don’t you?…..
>:)
”
Wat Tylersays:
Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 10:25 pm
The Resolve Strategic was probably a rogue, but considering what happened in 2019, we probably should be approaching Newspoll, Morgan, and the rest with some healthy skepticism too.
Maybe. Fact is we’ll never know the answer. It should be remembered that polls this far out from an election (whether said election is in a month’s time or nine months’ time) are not predictions, they are just an attempt to capture the mood of the electorate in the present. Things can and do change. A year ago, the thought of Labor being anything but token opposition in an easy re-election for Morrison almost felt like fantasy, now we need to be careful and restrain ourselves from measuring the drapes.
All one can say is that the general polling trend right now isn’t pretty for Morrison and the Government
”
+1
On the one hand, I barely see Labor get coverage in MSM newspapers and nightly news – and people say they’re pursuing a small target strategy while Morrison self-destructs. But on the other hand, Albo and co are doing media and pressers every day but fail to get it covered.
So I do have to wonder if they’re deliberately staying out of the spotlight.
“C@tmommasays:
Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 11:22 pm
Furtive Lawngnome,
…..People haven’t suddenly thrown caution to the wind for their family just so they can go to the pub again!”
Here in Brisbane restrictions on masks are easing and yet everybody keeps wearing them outside and inside…. People are obviously taking the virus seriously here and therefore Covid policies will be high in the mind of the voters at the federal election…. That’s truly bad news for ScuMo and his gang…. especially because State Covid outcomes will likely affect Federal voting. Then add the very likely possibility of a second recession (coming thanks to the NSW mess in particular)…. and presto! Catastrophic opinion polls for the Coalition look far more realistic now than they ended up being in 2019….
There is not a whole to be gained for Labor in WA.
With a 6% swing the ALP could retain Cowan and take Swan, Pearce and Hasluck. Hard to see them gaining more than that.
But with Morrison’s majority on a knife’s edge and Labor already on 68, it wouldn’t take much. There are several seats which could fall in Queensland and a few in NSW, where Gladbags is doing her best to destroy the Liberal brand. (Job already done in WA, thanks Zak Kirkup)
It all depends – we’re now firmly in the pre-election period.
When you’re running against a stable, solid and generally well-performing government – the opposition’s overwhelming priority is just getting ANY attention. (see LNP in Qld 2020)
When you’re up against a failing government, an opposition best weapon is media coverage of those failures and getting just enough attention to be seen as credible and ideally, better. (see ALP in Qld 2015)
I keep repeating this – if you’re the opposition, and the campaign is about you… you’re probably losing
Ven says:
Monday, August 30, 2021 at 12:17 am
So much volatility in the polls. What does that mean?
Variations are to be expected. There is no “meaning”. There is almost no likelihood that the apparent volatility is real. It’s an artefact of polling without the benefit of large, random samples.
“Cud Chewersays:
Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 9:44 pm
South
A November election means the campaign starts early October. Cases in NSW will be in the thousands by then, and still rising. “…
ScuMo has already made a pact with the Devil and asked for a game-changing and election-saving effect of vaccination on Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths in exchange for his soul….. Pity for poor ScuMo that God was listening!
hazza4257 says:
Monday, August 30, 2021 at 12:42 am
There is not a whole to be gained for Labor in WA.
With a 6% swing the ALP could retain Cowan and take Swan, Pearce and Hasluck. Hard to see them gaining more than that.
But with Morrison’s majority on a knife’s edge and Labor already on 68, it wouldn’t take much. There are several seats which could fall in Queensland and a few in NSW, where Gladbags is doing her best to destroy the Liberal brand. (Job already done in WA, thanks Zak Kirkup)
If Morrison is perceived to be WA-hostile on covid, the Liberals would likely lose all their WA seats other than O’Connor. Stirling is to be abolished, so the Lib-held seats at risk include Swan, Hasluck, Pearce, Canning, Moore, Tangney, Durack, Curtin and Forrest. On the State results, Labor would win all these seats…so 9. If the tally includes Stirling, which is be replaced by a nominally Labor seat in Victoria, 10 seats could change hands…enough to deliver a Labor government.
ven:
Morrison has three skills:
. He speaks authoritatively (even if what he says is BS) and has the voice for the role
. He knows how to bully the media
. He’s a master at the political dark arts
These skills, especially the last, got him to where he is today. However, he’s never developed the policy skills needed for his job. Given his tendency to background against friend and foe, it’s likely that more people are going to realise why most of his colleagues don’t trust him.
“Player Onesays:
Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 9:44 pm
C@tmomma @ #5 Sunday, August 29th, 2021 – 9:41 pm
… There is no doubt Labor should have replaced their leader. However, it looks like they might be able to win, even with Albo.”
Replace Albo with?….. [Fill this space with your alternative………….]
Once the alternative ALP leader is known, just replace the mainstream media constant campaign against Albo with the same campaign against the new leader, just as the negative focus against Shorten simply shifted to Albo when he became ALP leader….. etc., etc.
The “leader narrative” is the last, desperate floating device for the Coalition… Will it work in 2022?…. I truly doubt it.
The telltales of any chance of an election this year will probably indicate some sign as early as this week.
The fear campaign will be front and centre from the first press conference after the team meeting.
The victory acknowledgement for the Morrison pandemic success in all the states will begin.(ignoring NSW and the people in SW Sydney and Wilcannia)
Morrison will accept the accolades for low interest rates and house price rises.
Morrison will accept the accolades for superannuation returns.
Morrison will accept the accolades for all the money he’s promised everyone for everything.
Morrison will promise to fix Gladys and NSW.
Morrison will promise you grand final victories and Melbourne Cup success.
Morrison will promise to put the kids back in school.
Morrison will promise to be return everything to normal.
Morrison will promise you that Labor caused the pandemic and the bush fires and the lockdown and the fact that you pay taxes.
Franking credits front and centre.
Death taxes are coming.
Morrison will promised you he saved you.
Morrison will promise you Labor own the pandemic lockdown.
Morrison will promise Palmer whatever and will promise Murdoch be the ABC.
That will do it.
Job done.
Scary? Yep.
bc says:
Monday, August 30, 2021 at 12:59 am
Morrison has three skills:
. He speaks authoritatively (even if what he says is BS) and has the voice for the role
. He knows how to bully the media
. He’s a master at the political dark arts
Morrison has several advantages:
1. He’s a Lib. Libs usually win federal elections
2. He’s the incumbent. Incumbents usually win federal elections
3. The media rally for the Libs. The Lib:MSM relationship is incestuous but deep and lasting
4. His opposition is institutionally divided. Divided Oppositions very seldom win federal elections
5. Spending. The Libs are throwing $ at the electorate in astonishing magnitudes.
Asha says:
Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 11:55 pm
Here’s a thought. Let’s say the Coalition do lose the next election, and the swings in Queensland and Victoria are enough for Dutton and Frydenberg to both lose their seats. Who the heck would end up opposition leader?
A reactionary. Someone with an urban seat in NSW. A male.
There is no downside for Morrison.
Morrison wins the next election he’s a hero of the LNP.
Morrison loses the election it’s the pandemic’s fault and no longer Morrison’s problem
Scary? Yep
https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2019/guide/mitc/
Alex Hawke
Liberal
Aged 41, Hawke grew up in the north-western Hills district of Sydney where his electorate of Mitchell lies. A former President of both the NSW and National Young Liberals, he has been viewed as a spear carrier of the NSW right of the Liberal Party, having re-captured the Young Liberals from the control of the party’s left. Hawke worked on the staff of right-wing Liberal MLC David Clarke, but had only a low profile outside of Liberal Party circles. Since Hawke’s election to parliament, a split between him and mentor Clarke has seen the right faction of the NSW Liberals fracture. The internal party tensions this split has caused have created more headlines mentioning Hawke than any of his activities in Federal parliament. Hawke was appointed Assistant Minister to the Treasurer when Malcolm Tunbull became Prime Minister. After the 2016 election Hawke was appointed Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, becoming Assistant Minister for Home Affairs in December 1017, and was appointed Special Minister of State when Scott Morrison became Prime Minister in August 2018.
Finally some positive news in all of this.
Election now!
https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/protesters-arrested-officer-assaulted-as-border-negotiations-crank-up-20210829-p58muq.html
Queensland police have charged one man over the alleged “serious assault” of an officer, while two others were arrested during a second, smaller, weekend of anti-lockdown protests on the NSW border at Coolangatta.
The latest rally followed a larger one last weekend, when tensions boiled over amid the toughest restrictions faced by the heavily populated cross-border community to date.
More than 100 people gathered on Sunday at the protest’s peak at about midday, but joint efforts from police on both sides of the border hindered organisers’ attempts to rally together in larger numbers, Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman told reporters.
“Unfortunately, on our side in Queensland, we had three arrests. One of those arrests actually involved the assault upon one of our police officers – a serious assault,” he said. “The officers … were actually trying to arrest the male due to his behaviour, and [he] actually assaulted the officer during the arrest process.”
The 39-year-old Queensland man was also charged with obstructing police. Two others were expected to be fined for breaching public health directions.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-s-biggest-climate-poll-shows-support-for-action-in-every-seat-20210829-p58mwb.html
Morning all. On Covid in the NSW epidemic, spare a thought for the small community of Wilcannia. With 10% of the 600 population infected and limited medical care, patients are forced to sleep outside in tents. Nighttime temperatures drop to single figures this time of year.
The majority of the population are Aboriginal, but why should that mean they get less care?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-30/barkaa-shares-message-as-wilcannia-sees-rising-cases/100412432
Ah, so that’s the poll I did on YouGov. They never tell you who it’s for.
In another example of why the hashtag #ThanksGladys is trending, that truck from NSW to WA also caused multiple exposure sites in SA, including near two Aboriginal settlements with high at-risk populations.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-29/new-covid19-exposure-sites-on-nullarbor-ceduna-port-augusta/100416240
The truck was from a major company, still not named. (Why?) Their internal testing processes clearly failed if this driving pair drove for a week while positive.
Young women partying interstate were named and shamed publicly for causing less risk than this. Why doesn’t this company get named, for what appears to be a clear breach of the protocols agreed last year for interstate trucking? The breach is by company in not testing drivers adequately not the drivers; the drivers stuck to their agreed schedule throughout.
An interesting (to me anyway), observation is that Scott Morrison’s play to WA last week, with the call into talk-back radio in order to paint Albanese as the guy who was stopping people coming out of their ‘caves’, appears to have backfired on Morrison and instead, Mark McGowan and Labor, turned the criticism back on Morrison and got people riled up at being called cave people. Well played, Labor. 🙂
Colin Tucker
@colintucker
·
12h
Many of you know my wife is a COVID nurse. She never doubted the seriousness of this virus, but now she has cases in hospital her perspective has shifted. She can’t talk about patients, but she told me this: things go south very fast, and vaccination is critical. It scares her.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
Sean Kelly says Scott Morrison has set a trap, but Anthony Albanese doesn’t need to fall into it.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/scott-morrison-has-set-a-trap-but-anthony-albanese-doesn-t-need-to-fall-into-it-20210828-p58mr7.html
Parts of Sydney’s eastern suburbs have been given priority access to Pfizer vaccines for 16 to 49-year-olds as authorities scramble to stop rising case numbers that could see COVID-19 hotspots expanded. Why would anyone be surprised?
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/eastern-suburbs-to-get-pfizer-priority-as-covid-19-cases-spread-in-record-numbers-20210829-p58mxc.html
An anonymous western Sydney doctor writes that the serious shortfalls in the COVID response gives hm or her no confidence that NSW hospitals will cope. This is a very concerning evaluation.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/the-serious-shortfalls-in-our-covid-response-give-me-no-confidence-our-hospitals-will-cope-20210829-p58mtn.html
And Elias Visontay reveals that overworked Sydney intensive care nurses are increasing sedative doses for some patients in order to manage their workload, claiming pressure from the Delta outbreak makes it impossible to monitor all of their charges.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/30/sydney-icu-nurses-sedating-patientsmore-to-manage-workload-as-covid-outbreak-strains-hospitals
Nick Bonyhady reports that the federal government will pay out claims from people affected by rare vaccine side effects to give doctors and firms the confidence to ramp up the rollout.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/compensation-scheme-to-shield-employers-medicos-who-vaccinate-staff-20210828-p58mpx.html
Senior government ministers will consider whether the state can safely ease some restrictions as Victoria braces for another prolonged lockdown.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/government-considers-easing-some-restrictions-as-state-braces-for-prolonged-lockdown-20210829-p58my0.html
The debate about when Australia should emerge from lockdown is currently dominated by advice from health experts, but the mounting economic costs of lockdowns should play an increasingly important role, urges the SMH editorial. It says we should be able to reopen slowly without overwhelming the hospital system and with only a modest death toll.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/economic-pain-of-lockdowns-should-be-assessed-along-with-health-advice-20210829-p58mv5.html
John Lord goes to Morrison’s greatest con of all – “It’s safe”.
https://theaimn.com/the-greatest-con-of-all-its-safe/
Josh Butler writes that the federal Labor party has backed plans for vaccine passports to be required for entry to public spaces like bars and restaurants, but warned the government needs “better systems” before they can come into force.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/08/29/labor-vaccine-passports-pubs/
It’s right for our elected leaders to be held responsible for coronavirus failures, but systemic failures have also led to governments falling short, opines Ross Gittins who argues that the smaller Government push explains much of our fumbling of the pandemic.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/smaller-government-push-explains-much-of-our-fumbling-of-the-pandemic-20210829-p58mvc.html
According to The Australian, Western Australia will postpone about half of its elective surgeries from Wednesday despite its Covid-free status, amid fresh warnings that the state’s health system would be overwhelmed almost immediately in the event of a large-scale outbreak.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/covidfree-but-west-australian-health-system-at-breaking-point/news-story/1d6ca47145d0736767ec9b89edd501df
John Kehoe writes that more than $13 billion in JobKeeper payments were given to businesses which recorded increases in revenue, fuelling accusations from Labor that the wage subsidy was the biggest budget waste in Australia’s history.
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/jobkeeper-largesse-tops-13b-20210828-p58mqm
Bianca Hall extols the virtues of Jeroen Weimar.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/jeroen-weimar-from-trainspotter-to-victoria-s-covid-19-commander-20210827-p58mdg.html
The Age explains Victoria’s standout success in its nation leading vaccination rate of indigenous people.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/the-moment-you-walk-in-through-those-doors-your-healing-starts-victoria-leading-the-race-on-indigenous-vaccination-20210824-p58lg6.html
The job of protecting nursing home residents from COVID is only half done if it means no one can visit them, writes Catherine Munro.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/freedom-beckons-for-bar-hoppers-but-my-mum-s-in-indefinite-incarceration-20210823-p58lac.html
The Taliban advance was swift; that was the point at which the Australian evacuation of at-risk personnel and their families should have begun. . Hiding behind ‘intelligence’ is a poor excuse. US intelligence relating to Afghanistan has been as bad as their intelligence on Vietnam, says former diplomat Bruce Haigh.
https://johnmenadue.com/bruce-haigh-weasel-words-by-the-morrison-government-in-the-treatment-of-afghan-refugees/
Republicans threaten US children’s freedom as well as their basic safety argues Robert Reich.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/29/republicans-mask-mandates-schools-race-education-safety
The Italian coastguard has rescued 539 migrants crammed onto a decrepit fishing boat off the tiny southern Italian island of Lampedusa. There is a shocking picture.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/decrepit-smuggling-boat-packed-with-539-migrants-found-off-italy-20210829-p58muy.html
Cartoon Corner
David Pope
Matt Golding
Alan Moir
Mark Knight
From NZ
Jim Pavlidis
Michael Leunig
John Spooner
From the US