A woman’s place

More on Pearce preselection prospects, another parliamentary retirement announcement, and a poll suggesting WA voters favour Tanya Plibersek over Anthony Albanese.

After an eventful conclusion to the year’s parliamentary sittings, more retirement announcements and preselection news, plus an opinion poll of sorts.

• The Financial Review reports there are two leading candidates to replace Christian Porter as the Liberal candidate in Pearce: Libby Lyons, former director of the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (and granddaughter of Joseph and Enid Lyons), and Nicole Robbins, a Melville councillor and high school teacher. No mention is made of Miquela Riley and Alyssa Hayden, who featured in a report in The West Australian on Thursday. Michael Read of the Financial Review reports former state Hillarys MP Peter Katsambanis has indicated he would have been a contender had not the state government’s “heavy-handed” border restrictions left him stranded in Melbourne, but he would have had to contend with the party leadership’s clear preference that a woman be selected to succeed Porter.

• Phillip Coorey of the Financial Review reports Christian Porter’s decision to jump ship was influenced by internal polling for his seat that was, according to a source familiar with the matter, “not good”. However, the remainder of the report emphasises Labor’s hard path to a majority: the Coalition “claim they will hold Bass and Braddon in Tasmania”, “feels comfortable in all-important Queensland but may lose at least one seat”, and “believe they can win Lyons in Tasmania and, if Andrew Constance is preselected, Gilmore in southern NSW”. Elsewhere in the Financial Review, Michael Read of the Financial Review reports both parties expect Labor to win the Melbourne seat of Chisholm from Gladys Liu.

• Damian Drum, who has held the rural Victorian seat of Nicholls (known before 2019 as Murray) for the Nationals since 2016, has announced he will not contest the election. Rob Harris of the Sydney Morning Herald reports the Liberals now hope to recover the seat, which Drum won upon the retirement of Liberal member Sharman Stone. Anticipated Nationals preselection candidates are Sam Birrell, former chief executive of the Committee for Shepparton; Michael Dobbie, former paralympian and staffer to Liberal MP Jane Prentice and Nationals MP Darren Chester; and Amanda McClaren, former Strathbogie Shire mayor. The only Liberal mentioned is Stephen Brooks, a “Cobram school teacher, irrigator and former international commodities trader”. Rob Priestly, Greater Shepparton deputy mayor and co-owner of an industrial laundry firm in Shepparton, recently announced he would run as an independent.

• The Katina Curtis of the Sydney Morning Herald reports the Liberals have pushed back the closure of nominations for the Warringah preselection to January 14, in the hope that Gladys Berejiklian might yet agree to run, and also in Parramatta, where the Liberals are hoping the retirement of sitting member Julie Owens will help them knock over the 3.5% Labor margin. State Parramatta MP Geoff Lee has thus far resisted entreaties to run, which have displeased Dominic Perrottet, who would sooner avoid further by-elections.

• The West Australian has a poll by Painted Dog Research in which 801 Western Australian respondents were presented with a four-way preferred prime minister question, putting Scott Morrison at 41%, Tanya Plibersek at 32%, Anthony Albanese at 22% and Peter Dutton at 4%. Plibersek led Morrison by 41% to 36% among women, while Morrison led 47% to 25% among men. When asked who they trusted more out of the Premier and the Prime Minister, Mark McGowan scored 78% and Morrison 22%. Here too there was a significant gender gap, with McGowan’s lead of 71-29 among men comparing with 86-14 among women.

Affairs of state:

• Antony Green notes on Twitter that South Australia’s parliament has adjourned ahead of the election without having corrected the legislative anomaly that means pre-poll votes are not counted on election night, which is now unique to the state. As a result, the election night count will be “quick, over early, but will be very incomplete with no guarantee we will know the outcome until the declaration votes start being counted on the Monday after the election”.

• Yoni Bashan of The Australian reports Bridget Sakr, who has gained prominence as a victims support advocate since her daughter and three of her cousins were killed after in February last year after a ute mounted the kerb, is considering an approach from the New South Wales Liberals to run in the looming Strathfield by-election. The seat is being vacated with the retirement of ousted Labor leader Jodi McKay, who held the seat by 5.0% in 2019.

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.

937 comments on “A woman’s place”

Comments Page 1 of 19
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  1. Labor’s climate policy will be scrutinised in an environment where, for the first time in years, it has the backing of business and many non-environmental interest groups, rather than the Coalition.

    In what is now a complicated race for urban seats and voters who are now focused on climate change, the Opposition is offering a much more ambitious plan than the government, and in regional seats, it is offering jobs.

    Perhaps most importantly, it is offering the sorts of tangible policies voters can easily grasp: solar banks and batteries for communities and households that can’t access, or afford their, own; reduced taxes on electric vehicles and an aggressive plan for a government electric vehicle fleet which will expedite the creation of a second-hand electric vehicle market, cutting the price of the cars.

    They are the sorts of simple policy ideas that echo the “computers in classrooms” and “end of the health funding blame game” that worked effectively for Kevin Rudd in 2007.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-04/in-a-year-of-bad-behaviour-pundits-wary-of-election-predictions/100673160

  2. On Tuesday, as the prime minister prepared to present a report describing sexual harassment, bullying and assault within parliament and its precincts, his deputy warned colleagues to be careful when getting drunk in public in case their pictures ended up in the newspaper.

    Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce urged Coalition MPs to look after each other during end-of-year partying and not undermine the government’s response to the report by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, titled “Set the Standard”. He urged them to read it.

    At their weekly party room meeting, Joyce reminded them of the risks inherent in the traditionally festive final parliamentary week of the year. He suggested they could no longer cut loose and assume they would be protected from scrutiny.

    Joyce said with anyone now able to take photographs and send them anywhere, they needed to be careful. How they conducted themselves was “very, very important”, especially with the Jenkins report in focus.

    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2021/12/04/exclusive-barnaby-joyce-warns-drunk-mps-after-jenkins-report#mtr

    After Jenkins’ report and the week the parliament had where the worst of the worst abusive behaviour from the coalition and the Greens was on display, Barnaby’s message to the troops wasn’t ‘pull your socks up and be decent human beings’, but ‘have your mate’s back and don’t get caught’.

    I think that says it all.

  3. Griff et al:
    Lancet has just published another (larger) Israeli study on the effect of (>5month) boosters in a time of Delta. Bottom line – it works, albeit with the same caveats re Omicron.

    JAMA has an interesting early Canadian study on the timing of second dosing of mRNA vaccines. Bottom line – longer seems better. Don’t panic.

  4. Good morning!

    In the fracas yesterday in response to Labor’s Climate Change policy, I did not much mention of how the candidates under the banner of “Voices For” Australia have responded. Nothing in the joint twitter feed. Zali’s response is here:

    Labor’s 2030 target betters the Morrison govt but Australia must go further, faster. It’s good to have new policies for industry & transport but they are still short of what business wants & what we need to limit warming. It’s a race. #climate #auspol https://t.co/TaRuci9tIp— Zali Steggall MP (@zalisteggall) December 3, 2021

  5. Thanks For sharing that griff.

    You make the obvious point – why would u vote for the party of change (Labor) if it’s not actually proposing any substantive change?

  9. Mark the Graph who first raised the herding issue wrt the Polls at the last Election has published some tentative predictions on the likely outcome of the Election including this one on the Party makeup.

    He notes:

    “I have a prototype house seat model working, but I need to spend some time calibrating the uncertainty. The following charts are based on very high levels of uncertainty in the transitions (from aggregated polls to estimated election outcome to seats in the house).

    At the moment it looks very 2007”.

    https://twitter.com/Mark_Graph/status/1466704227690901504/photo/1

  10. Because Lars once you are in government you can go harder.

    The problem we have at the moment is we have a government that is lazy and not willing to do any hard work. They think it just magically happens (a common trait in all Coalition governments) but it doesn’t.

    If business is on board, as they are, then the Coalition is in trouble.

    2022 is looking to be on the up.

  14. Greensborough Growler @ #9 Saturday, December 4th, 2021 – 7:24 am

    Mark the Graph who first raised the herding issue wrt the Polls at the last Election has published some tentative predictions on the likely outcome of the Election including this one on the Party makeup.

    He notes:

    “I have a prototype house seat model working, but I need to spend some time calibrating the uncertainty. The following charts are based on very high levels of uncertainty in the transitions (from aggregated polls to estimated election outcome to seats in the house).

    At the moment it looks very 2007”.

    https://twitter.com/Mark _Graph/status/1466704227690901504/photo/1

    I don’t know who to believe! Laura Tingle is not so sure:

    It says much that the gap between the information we have about how voters are feeling about our politicians, derived from published polls and focus groups, and the utter lack of quality governance served up to us has not, until now, translated into any confident predictions that the Morrison government is at serious risk of being turfed out of office — when it eventually goes to the polls — as its poor record this year might normally suggest.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-04/in-a-year-of-bad-behaviour-pundits-wary-of-election-predictions/100673160

  15. ABC mentions the Greens and Liberals attempt to create a wedge in passing.

    Prime Minister Scott Morrison dismissed Labor’s new target, arguing he expected the opposition would ultimately pursue an even higher target.

    “This is the starting bid from Labor. It’s not the final outcome,” he said.

    “And if they have to get into that option with the Greens to form government, it won’t be 43, that will be the opening bid and it’s going to end a lot higher than that.”

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-03/labor-announces-2030-emissions-reductions-target/100671512

    The guardian on the political mess of the last 12 years without mentioning the Greens contribution, an achievement in itself.

    Yes, Labor has lost a string of elections at which it promised to do more than the Coalition on climate and was rewarded with lies and misinformation. Attention will probably quickly turn to whether the opposition’s plan for 2022 is electorally viable. Fair enough.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/04/labors-climate-plan-cant-fix-12-years-of-broken-politics-but-its-a-floor-to-whats-possible.
    To remind us of what Labor is up against the Guardian gave us this link:
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/07/shorten-wants-to-end-the-weekend-morrison-attacks-labors-electric-vehicle-policy

    The age gives the Greens attempt to continue limiting action to stunts in the senate a mention:

    Greenpeace, the Climate Council, the Australian Conservation Foundation and GetUp said the Labor target was too weak but the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group and the Clean Energy Council backed the plan.

    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/labor-launches-election-fight-over-climate-change-and-household-costs-20211203-p59en8.html

    It will be interesting to see if the Teals come out with a common policy.

  16. I don’t think anyone would be surprised at this!

    It has emerged that Scott Morrison removed key references to respect when he redrafted the ministerial code of conduct upon becoming prime minister in 2018.

    He retained the ban on ministers having sex with their staff, which predecessor Malcolm Turnbull introduced following revelations Barnaby Joyce had had an extramarital affair with his then media adviser and now partner Vicki Campion, who was pregnant with his child.

    But Morrison rewrote and simplified Turnbull’s foreword, reducing it from 10 paragraphs to five.

    Turnbull’s foreword had emphasised that ministers should always behave “in their personal relations with others and especially their staff, the staff of other Ministers or members of the Australian Public Service, with integrity and respect”.

    Morrison’s version omits that reference.

    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2021/12/04/exclusive-barnaby-joyce-warns-drunk-mps-after-jenkins-report#mtr

  17. Should we be worried about Omicron? No evidence as yet as to how severe it is for vaccinated people, but emerging evidence that it breaks through…

    ‘Around half of the people who attended an office Christmas party in Oslo, where only vaccinated employees were admitted, have tested positive for the coronavirus after one guest recently returned from South Africa was found to carry the new Omicron variant, local health authorities said on Friday.

    More than 120 people attended the event, held a week ago by a solar power company. Of the positive tests sequenced so far, between 15 and 20 were likely to be the Omicron variant, according to Dr. Tine Ravlo, a local chief physician involved in tracking the outbreak, who added that not all of the 60 coronavirus cases found so far had yet been fully checked for the variant.

    “We are expecting more of them to likely be Omicron infections,” she said.

    A spokesman for the company, Scatec, said that only vaccinated staff had been admitted to the party, and everyone had tested negative for the coronavirus before the event.

    https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/03/world/omicron-variant-covid

  18. rhwombat @ Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 7:12 am

    Ask and ye shall receive! I went straight to the second link but shall read the first later. Not strictly a question of when to administer a third dose, but the delayed second dose provides impressive amplification. I definitely agree that in the presence of a scarce resource, any administration of boosters should be for maximum effect – do not boost early.

  19. sprocket_ @ Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 7:43 am

    A strong signal that omicron breaks through via the rapid proliferation across countries when we think of the vaccination status of air travellers.

  20. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    Laura Tingle writes that It’s been a year of bad behaviour and short-lived policies and wonders why there aren’t more people (and pundits) predicting a Coalition election loss.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-04/in-a-year-of-bad-behaviour-pundits-wary-of-election-predictions/100673160
    George Megalogenis declares that “It’s the stupid economy – and navigating its volatility will test the PM’s grip on power”. He presents a lot of figures and concludes that the danger for Australia is that we may have further to fall, and that our people, already divided by the experience of COVID, may become even grumpier in 2022.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-s-the-stupid-economy-and-navigating-its-volatility-will-test-the-pm-s-grip-on-power-20211202-p59e6e.html
    Peter Hartcher says, “Labor has been accused of running a “small target” strategy. Not true. We’re about to see that it’s actually running a “no target” strategy. This doesn’t mean a “no policy” approach. Labor will be offering a fair few policies. It means that its offerings are designed to be as unthreatening as possible.”
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/why-albanese-is-playing-a-dead-bat-20211202-p59e60.html
    Paul Bongiorno opines that symptoms of decay are exposing Morrison’s old and tired government.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2021/12/04/symptoms-decay-expose-morrisons-old-and-tired-government/163853640013021
    A string of independents who have broken away from conservative politics could define the next parliament, says Mike Seccombe.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2021/12/04/independents-inside-the-insurrection-the-centre/163853640013012
    Paul Kelly in this evaluation says the economic recovery is the only game in town now left for the bedraggled Morrison government – and that story is filled with short-term gain and long-run problems.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/morrisons-future-tied-to-the-economic-recovery/news-story/cfae99e1c3207edcae8f29fb9165542d
    John Hewson says, “One Nation is an opportunistic, populist mob that is very much the creation of the Howard government’s failure to call them out at birth. Subsequent Coalition governments have let or encouraged them to run amok across our political and policy landscape, and sought to do ridiculous preference deals with them.” He points to Jacqui Lambie’s impassioned speech in the Senate calling out that ragtag mob.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2021/12/04/jacqui-lambie-did-what-john-howard-and-the-liberal-party-wouldnt
    Michelle Grattan says that it was a grotty week for the PM as Parliament’s noxious culture was laid bare.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/grotty-week-for-pm-as-parliament-s-noxious-culture-is-laid-bare-20211203-p59eft.html
    David Crowe outlines Labor’s position on climate policy.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-launches-election-fight-over-climate-change-and-household-costs-20211203-p59en8.html
    Crowe says that Labor caucus members admitted yesterday that they were nervous about a new climate target that would bring them under attack from both sides for doing too little or too much.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/nerves-aplenty-over-climate-policy-powderkeg-20211203-p59epm.html
    Jacob Greber writes, “Labor is the only party in Australia today with a credible climate policy. Despite the low bar set by more than a dozen years of political warfare and leadership destruction, Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen will take to the next election a plan that creates a meaningful differentiation from the Coalition, without being crazy brave.”
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-aims-high-but-not-too-high-on-climate-20211203-p59eo0
    The climate war is destructive, dumb as a bag of hammers, but Scott Morrison is prepared to wage it anyway, bemoans Katherine Murphy.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/04/the-climate-war-is-destructive-dumb-as-a-bag-of-hammers-but-scott-morrison-is-prepared-to-wage-it-anyway
    Phil Coorey reckons Albanese’s moment to step up is now.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/albanese-s-moment-to-step-up-is-now-20211202-p59edt
    Geoff Chambers writes that Anthony Albanese will force Australia’s biggest emitting companies to cut pollution at a faster rate under a plan to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, sharpening Labor’s appeal in target inner-city seats while seeking to win back bush electorates through a promised regional jobs boom.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/labor-reveals-2030-emissions-target-of-43pc/news-story/d4b381f2c4001842ec1069d2514794c8
    According to Mike Foley, big business is backing the Labor party’s climate policy to cut greenhouse emissions 43 per cent by 2030, setting the scene for a bitter election battle between the major parties over the economic costs and opportunities of climate change.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/big-business-welcomes-labor-s-industry-focused-climate-policy-20211203-p59eo4.html
    The editorial in the SMH says that the ALP’s climate plan is weak but better than the Coalition’s.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/alp-s-climate-plan-is-weak-but-better-than-the-coalition-20211203-p59ep9.html
    Ross Gittins writes that the rebound to a growing economy seems assured but returning to the old normal isn’t looking like being all that flash.
    https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/a-quick-economic-rebound-seems-assured-but-then-what-20211202-p59eaz.html
    What would Menzies say? Treasurer Josh Frydenberg would have us believe Australia’s economy is back to leading its rivals after two years of pandemic. The latest economic update shows instead that we are not only lagging the field, we have had one of the poorest outcomes in the developed world, writes Alan Austin.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/australias-economic-horror-show-is-in-the-data/
    Waleed Aly says we saw Omicron coming, but we didn’t think to act.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/we-saw-omicron-coming-but-we-didn-t-think-to-act-20211202-p59e1h.html
    “That the people of Australia have lost faith in our system of Government is unsurprising. To say that we are ambivalent about our politicians is an understatement, and we are now ashamed”, laments John Lord.
    https://theaimn.com/democracy-a-work-in-progress/
    To say that our democracy has taken a beating from the hard-Right of Australian politics over the past decade is no exaggeration.
    On Tuesday, as the prime minister prepared to present a report describing sexual harassment, bullying and assault within parliament and its precincts, his deputy warned colleagues to be careful when getting drunk in public in case their pictures ended up in the newspaper, writes Karen Middleton who is looking at the Jenkins report.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2021/12/04/exclusive-barnaby-joyce-warns-drunk-mps-after-jenkins-report
    Crispin Hull argues that the religious discrimination bill should be replaced with a broader bill of rights. He says, “Perhaps the reason religious organisations feel they are being put upon is their growing irrelevancy. Fewer people care what church leaders say, these days, compared to the 1950s when politicians supplicated on their every word.”
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7535878/finding-the-right-bill-for-religious-freedom/?cs=14264
    The protests against Victoria’s pandemic legislation are larger – and stranger – than people realise, explains John Safran.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2021/12/04/pun-times-dispatch-the-protests/163853640013018
    Carrie Felner tells us that an internal investigation has uncovered more than 70 key risks to the environment posed by one of the NSW’s coal-fired power plants, Bayswater, as a whistleblower warned parts of the plant are “literally falling apart” and threatening to spew toxic pollution into surrounding communities.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/falling-apart-internal-report-reveals-dozens-of-toxic-risks-from-power-plant-20211130-p59dg5.html
    Families who can afford to pay private fees are still waiting months to have their distressed children seen by a psychologist amid staff shortages, while universities say they are losing money on psychology courses, writes Dana Daniel.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/universities-lose-money-on-psychology-degrees-as-waitlists-languish-20211203-p59ei0.html
    Mining giant BHP’s attempt to require all staff at a massive coal mine in the NSW Hunter Valley to be vaccinated against COVID-19 has been rejected by the national industrial tribunal in a blow to private sector jab mandates, explains Nick Bonyhady.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/bhp-s-coronavirus-vaccine-mandate-rejected-by-fair-work-commission-20211203-p59eoz.html
    The rejection of ethical and accountability standards that is undermining our political system has left voters cynical, posits Charles Sampford who proposes a package of reforms that will restore trust and protect our democracy.
    https://johnmenadue.com/the-integrity-vacuum-in-our-federal-politics-and-how-to-fix-it/
    Adele Ferguson gleefully reports that the controversial cosmetic surgeon Dr Daniel Lanzer has quit as the regulators are circling. She points to the statement from AHPRA, “Dr Lanzer’s decision to surrender his registration will not stop us from continuing our investigation.”
    https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/controversial-cosmetic-surgeon-dr-daniel-lanzer-quits-as-regulators-circle-20211203-p59en7.html
    After a year of painful conversations about the treatment of women and traumatic disclosures of appalling incidents, the federal government has a blueprint to fix things, writes Katina Curtis who wonders what hope there is for politics.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-year-of-reckoning-over-the-treatment-of-women-so-what-hope-is-there-for-politics-20211202-p59e8o.html
    Anthony Fauci has said COVID-19 vaccine makers have contingency plans to deal with the Omicron variant that include a combination vaccine against the original version and the variant as well as a variant-specific booster dose.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/vaccine-makers-have-plans-to-make-omicron-specific-booster-says-fauci-20211204-p59eqt.html
    South Australia’s Covid chiefs are meeting on Saturday and are expected to crack down on borders with NSW, ACT and Victoria amid rising fears about the Omicron variant. I’d rather them use every stick and carrot available to force the unvaccinated to get the jab and stop holding the state to ransom. It also raises the question of what metric will be the determinant of the borders reopening.
    https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/coronavirus/sa-health-is-set-to-announce-the-covid-situation-after-yesterdays-norwood-cluster-announcement/news-story/409fa8042bfdb90aaeb03250908ec07f
    New details have emerged regarding the spread of Omicron to Europe, but it is still not clear how significant the Covid-19 strain will be, explains Rick Morton.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2021/12/04/omicron-variant-what-happens-now/163853640013011
    The Coalition’s vindictive legal campaign reveals its contempt for democratic rights and shows how easily prosecution can slide into persecution, writes Spencer Zifcak about “he contemptible prosecution of Bernard Collaery”.
    https://johnmenadue.com/the-contemptible-prosecution-of-bernard-collaery-is-an-assault-on-the-rule-of-law/
    In his weekly whine, dear old Gerard Henderson is upset the people (ie those of the left) hold Morrison in contempt.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/left-intelligentsia-writes-off-the-pm-to-its-own-chagrin/news-story/2e925b19a22be6158349803259019e6c
    Today is local government election day in NSW., writes Elizabeth Farrelly who says, “Together, if we wish, we can rid ourselves of the developers and real estate shonks who infest our local councils and distort our local hoods. This election, we could flush them out. But will we?”
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/local-democracy-is-the-new-black-but-need-it-be-so-blackened-by-developers-20211202-p59e6x.html
    Here’s Amanda Meade’s weekly media rundown.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/03/au-revoir-for-abc-luminaries-while-leunig-lays-into-the-age
    The federal MP Craig Kelly – who has been permanently banned from Facebook and criticised for the online distribution of “seriously misleading” information about Covid-19 vaccines – has been appointed to a parliamentary committee looking into social media and online safety. WTF!!!!
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/03/craig-kelly-mp-banned-from-facebook-appointed-to-parliaments-social-media-inquiry
    Angus Thompson reports that a two-time former Liberal mayor vying for another term on council has declared he is not a close associate of property developers despite having helmed a company with them. Ah, local government and developers!
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/second-shire-liberal-candidate-fails-to-declare-developer-links-20211202-p59ed7.html
    A young athlete who represented Australia at the last Youth Olympics has been charged with rape after allegedly not using a condom during sex when he said he would. This will be an interesting case.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/condom-claim-youth-olympian-charged-with-rape-20211203-p59eme.html
    Jonathan Freedland tells us that the Republican party is embracing violence in the name of Trump.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/03/republican-party-democracy-political-violence-trumpism

    Cartoon Corner

    David Pope

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    Mark David





    Jon Kudelka

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    Glen Le Lievre (with a gif)
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    Leak

    From the US








  21. Personal preference is we restrict mobility for omicron until we known more. And it is looking increasingly like we should restrict mobility until have modified vaccines.

    p.s. the Federal Government is screwed.

  24. BK @ Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 7:46 am

    Thank you for the dawn patrol! From perusing the headlines, the vibe is that the media has yet to factor omicron into the political equation.f

    EDIT: Correction. Rick Morton is on the case. He has impressed me greatly over the past 18 months and deserves a wide audience. Double correction – describing the official line on the state of play. Yet to consider political angle.

  25. Insiders Sunday, 5 Dec (Final for 2021)

    David Speers joins Phil Coorey, Niki Savva and James Campbell to look at the final sitting week, cultural problems in parliament, Labor’s 43% emissions reduction target by 2030 plus the year’s absurd moments.

    Guest : Josh Frydenberg – Treasurer

  26. Thank you BK for a great collection as always.

    Judging by the general mood of the articles, can we dare to hope that there is a gathering pushback amongst the media and business against the Coalition turning the next election into yet another war zone over climate?

  27. Judging by the general mood of the articles, can we dare to hope that there is a gathering pushback amongst the media and business against the Coalition turning the next election into yet another war zone over climate?

    Unlikely. When the coalition figure out how they’re going to attack Labor’s policy the media will again be back to ‘he said, she said’, just like they are with any other political issue.

  29. Fess, you’re probably right. However, any Coalition attack will have to be somehow calibrated not to offend in the seats where independents are challenging. That’s going to be difficult.

  30. WTF?!

    The leader of Western Australia has blamed white supremacists in the United States for spreading online misinformation about coronavirus vaccines among Aboriginal people in his state.

    Premier Mark McGowan, whose state is home to the city of Perth, told reporters Thursday that the groups did not have the best interests of Australia’s First Nations people at heart and “wouldn’t be unhappy if bad outcomes occurred” to them. He urged Indigenous people to listen to medical experts about vaccines instead.

    McGowan said he was made aware of the misinformation by local leaders. A senior Aboriginal affairs official in Western Australia, Wanita Bartholomeusz, said some misinformation was coming from Facebook groups, including one that had a cover image of former U.S. president Donald Trump. She also said inaccurate information is being relayed to Aboriginal communities and that the material was linked back to groups in the United States, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC).

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/03/australia-aboriginal-coronavirus-vaccine-misinformation/

  31. GG, I played park cricket for years. That kind of stuff, and the series about ‘the Grubs’ was our normal Saturday afternoon. Good times!

  32. Oh and don’t forget that a different variant may behave differently – there is concern that young children are being hospitalised to a greater extent than delta. Weak observational evidence but it is all we have as yet:

    ⚠️KIDS HOSPITALIZATIONS—The “highly transmissible” #Omicron variant is putting disproportionately large numbers of children under the age of 5 years old in hospitals, a top South African government medical adviser said Friday. #COVID19 https://t.co/ZdYaN19oFr pic.twitter.com/8aaleyNnUf— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 3, 2021

  33. rhwombat @ Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 8:06 am

    The value-added missionary tradition from colonial times has been passed on.

    I shall grab me coat.

  35. rhwombat @ #28 Saturday, December 4th, 2021 – 8:06 am

    Interesting correlation between evangelicalism (& not just Christian evangelicalism) and COVID transmission.

    And further ironies is when they publicly push anti-vaccine messages only to end up dying from Covid themselves.

    Marcus Lamb often spoke out against the Covid-19 vaccines on his show. In an episode earlier this year featuring anti-vaccine activists Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Del Bigtree, Lamb said the Covid-19 vaccine was “not really a vaccine,” but an “an experimental shot” that was “dangerous. Marcus Lamb alleged that people were dying or having neurological disorders from the vaccine.
    …
    Marcus Lamb’s son, Jonathan Lamb, described his father’s Covid-19 diagnosis as a “spiritual attack from the enemy” as he hosted the show on November 23. “There’s no doubt in my mind that this is a spiritual attack from the enemy. As much as my parents have gone on here to kind of inform everyone about everything going on in the pandemic and some of the ways to treat Covid, there’s no doubt that the enemy is not happy about that, and he’s doing everything he can to take down my dad,” Jonathan Lamb said.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/01/media/marcus-lamb-covid-death/index.html

  36. Hamish Cumming
    @HamishCumming
    ·
    37m
    Appalling deceitful behavior of #wind farm consultants. As I raked hay I caught them on film scaring birds off wetlands & then doing a second pass to photograph so they can claim no birds, no buffer. I was fuming as they cleared 8 wetlands on my farm & then did all the neighbors

  37. Lizzie

    Yep. The vic govt managed to get through pandemic bill and this anti discrimination bill.

    Meanwhile the neo fascists are apparently still going to protest in city today.

    I hope not. Although I did see the truck with billboard of KILL the BILL, have a repeal sticker over it now.
    So I guess that is their new ball to chase.

    Repealing the bill.

  38. Thanks BK.

    I found myself in town last night for the first time since the borders opened. It was busy. Not mad busy tho. It made me think what those city streets will be like in a couple of months with the Fringe, the Tour etc. I know it is crazy to suggest it…. I do wonder if closing some streets to traffic and encouraging more alfresco and less inside gatherings might be something they could try. The mask exemption for eating/drinking is a necessary evil – moving peeps outdoors and better spacing indoors would help.

    I saw Dune. I read BBs post of an unfavourable review during the week and the review has some good points. But I suggest the reviewer is a little confused when saying the movie is an attempt at a classier Marvel. It is nothing like a Marvel movie. My teenage child who loves Marvel found Dune unlikeable and incomprehensible and…. long.

    If one was to try to compare Dune to other movies (which one shouldnt)…. it was more like 2001 – A Space Odyssey mixed with Jason Bourne, Star Wars and Lawrence of Arabia.

    See, I told you one shouldnt compare.

    But you wont be disappointed in the cinematic experience.

  39. Meanwhile the neo fascists are apparently still going to protest in city today.

    Proof that these morons aren’t protesting anything, they just want to gather in public and shout and make a nuisance of themselves. Hopefully with christmas approaching, they’ll get distracted and forget about behaving like selfish assholes.

  41. rhwombat @ #3 Saturday, December 4th, 2021 – 7:12 am

    Griff et al:
    Lancet has just published another (larger) Israeli study on the effect of (>5month) boosters in a time of Delta. Bottom line – it works, albeit with the same caveats re Omicron.

    JAMA has an interesting early Canadian study on the timing of second dosing of mRNA vaccines. Bottom line – longer seems better. Don’t panic.

    2c worth.

    That first link (Israel, delta) is ‘dead’ to me. If, as pretty well established, is shows that longer between 1st and 2nd doses is better, then the question I’m interested in is what for those who foreshortened, as encouraged at least in NSW, the interval. MacIntyre is on record as saying boosters are worthwhile from 2 to 6 months, implying if not overtly saying, get boosted.

    The second (as noted) is a pretty young cohort.

    I think the Oslo party data is interesting, in that all were vaccinated, and all tested negative on entry, so good clean base data. No data on what vaccine, or timing, except we know Norway dropped AZ earlier in the year and went with Pfizer and Moderna.

    One other interesting tit bit – the escalation of case numbers and emergence of Omicron in SA coincided, to the day, with the introduction on RATs, and the need to factor that into incidence data.

  44. All the references to “politics”

    The fact is that it was Turnbull who introduced “no bonking” rules for the reasons he did

    Perhaps we just need the other side of politics in government to address the culture which saw Turnbull act as he did

    This is a Liberal Party problem

    An elitist, sexist and racist political party

    To hide behind “politics” is not the way forward

  45. I wonder if Labor just lost the Hunter region yesterday?

    A weak target of 43% yet one which focuses on the heaviest polluters being priced out.

    Not hard to see the impact on the extractive / resources base of the Hunter. Too bad for the 600 blue collar workers and their families who work at the biggest polluter in nsw?

    MAybe they’ll be able to retrain to work as wine tasting serving staff?

  46. I was holding off on Dune, having posted a glowing review from the Guardian (Bradshaw) before seeing it, at home (pretty good set up, large screen and designer sound system, OH’s business). I was really disappointed, and in fact didn’t finish it in one sitting. A major issue for me casting.

  48. One other interesting tit bit – the escalation of case numbers and emergence of Omicron in SA coincided, to the day, with the introduction on RATs, and the need to factor that into incidence data.

    I was thinking about that the other day and remembering when Sydney construction workers had to be tested every 3 days.

  49. LVT

    I wonder if Labor just lost the Hunter region yesterday?

    Unlikely but not impossible. It’s no secret that Labor is struggling in the seat of Hunter, and it really can’t afford to lose the seat if it wants to win government. None of the other Hunter region seats are at risk.

    In my view, Labor is functionally offering the same target as 2019, but it is the framing and communication that has undergone a major change. Jobs and prosperity will be the focus for Labor in talking to voters in seats like Hunter – not the moral imperative of addressing climate change.

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