I’ve been a bit lax in keeping up on federal preselection developments of late, which have naturally been gathering pace as the big event gets closer. To keep things manageable, I will focus in this post on developments in New South Wales, which is where most of the action has been.
Things have been particularly lively in the Liberal camp, where Scott Morrison finds himself in the thick of factional warfare between his centre right faction and its principal numbers man, Mitchell MP Alex Hawke, and an alliance of the moderate and the hard right factions. As Mike Steketee at the Saturday Paper relates, the latter have accused the former of obstructing the process so as to avoid rank-and-file ballots that may not go their way, potentially endangering Hawke himself. Steketee reports expectations that the end game will be a deal that leaves all sitting members undisturbed, with ballots to proceed in a number of important seats where it may have been prudent to have had candidates in place quite a bit sooner.
• Jim O’Rourke of the Daily Telegraph reports the failure of Scott Morrison’s seemingly desperate attempt to recruit Gladys Berejiklian in Warringah leaves Jane Buncle, a “high-flying junior barrister who believes in climate change”, as the favourite to run against independent Zali Steggall. However, James Massola of the Sydney Morning Herald reported party polling tested the prospects of Berejiklian, Buncle, former Premier Mike Baird and management consultant Alex Dore (who according to the Telegraph is still considering running), and found only Berejiklian would win the seat.
• In a particularly helpful account of the broader state of play, Linda Silmalis of the Daily Telegraph reports three candidates have nominated in Parramatta, which the party is hopeful of knocking over with the retirement after 17 years of Labor member Julie Owens. These are Maria Kovacic, co-founder of Western Sydney Women; Felicity Findlay, acquisitions manager for property investment firm Merc Capital; and Charles Camenzuli, engineer and unsuccessful candidate for the seat in 2010 and 2019. Silmaris notes the party has extended nominations in the hope that a stronger candidate might come forward. Former Parramatta councillor Martin Zaiter is “being wooed”; efforts to interest Geoff Lee, who holds the state seat of Parramatta, have come to nothing.
• One of the preselection challenges Alex Hawke is keen to head off is that against Environment Minister Sussan Ley in Farrer, where she is threatened by Christian Ellis, a public relations specialist who has made a name locally campaigning for water rights. Linda Silmaris’s report says “Mr Ellis’s supporters believe their candidate has the numbers, triggering panic among those backing Ms Ley”.
• Hawkesbury councillor Sarah Richards has been preselected to run against Labor member Susan Templeman in Macquarie, where she fell short by 371 votes on her first attempt in 2019.
On the other side of the aisle:
• Sarah Martin of The Guardian offers a revealing account of the complex state of play in Labor’s preselection for Parramatta. Local branches are dominated by the soft left faction associated with Laurie Ferguson, which duly favours a rank-and-file ballot. However, the faction is split between supporters Julia Finn, member for the state seat of Granville, and Durga Owen, criminal lawyer and Western Sydney University lecturer, neither of whom are “seen as acceptable to the federal executive”. This would appear to include Anthony Albanese, who may be about to sanction a push for the executive to take matters into its own hands due to familiar concerns about branch stacking. Albanese’s own branch of the Left favours Abha Devasia, legal director of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. However, the Right seemingly wants in as well, demanding compensation for the selection of the unaligned Daniel Repacholi to replace Joel Fitzgibbon in Hunter.
• Also noted in Sarah Martin’s article is that a rank-and-file ballot to choose Sharon Bird’s successor in Cunningham is expected to be won by Alison Byrnes, a staffer to Bird and the wife of state MP Paul Scully.
• Labor’s candidate for Lindsay, which Melissa McIntosh won for the Liberals from Labor in 2019, will be Trevor Ross, a firefighter of 36 years.
Welp, at least we all know what Beorwar’s going to be spamming us with for the next three months.
For Scott, everything is an opportunity to campaign.
Lizzie:
Jesus. Doesn’t he have a empathy adviser to stop him from doing shit like this?
Scomo is one of those people who insist that they do not need a psychologist ….
lizzie @ #1102 Saturday, December 18th, 2021 – 10:54 am
I’d like to say I’m surprised but I’m not.
BTW, we do still have a Governor General?
Quoll @ #1096 Saturday, December 18th, 2021 – 10:47 am
Unbelievable, isn’t it? Or rather, it should be unbelievable. Sadly, it is all too believable.
If you want to see the end of fossil fuels, vote Independent.
The Spam “to vote this way or that way, or you can never trust this party, or this party teams up with their kin as they are an anti-my party guff or you should vote independent because they are independent” is a waste of time and keyboard strokes. Everyone shuts off as soon as they see it – except the “target” who then responds with their own line of guff and we get a game of Guff Tennis. It’s like regular tennis, only even more boring (how is that possible???). Did you guys also have the pre-requisite demented parental figure required for tennis success???
Having said that, I’m off to make some TOAST I tells ya!
Then I might cut the grass #MissYaKJ
I saw a puppy today.
Vote Independent.
According to ABC report, Indonesian fisherman are illegally fishing, gathering kelp and injuring the coral reefs off the coast of Broome. They also bring disease.
There are apparently “not enough vessels patrolling the area”.
Some time ago, it was suggested that coastal patrol boats/submarines to protect our coastal waters would be more effective than military hardware to fight distant enemies.
Fulvio Sammut @ #1108 Saturday, December 18th, 2021 – 11:00 am
The puppy would thank you 🙂
‘Asha says:
Saturday, December 18, 2021 at 10:52 am
Welp, at least we all know what Beorwar’s going to be spamming us with for the next three months.’
——————————–
The ACT is a key component of any effort to save the Bogong Moth from extinction. The Greens are busy spamming Labor using the Bogong Moth so to do. I reversed the ferret. If that does not meet your pathetic monitoring standards, use your bloody scroll wheel.
Donald Trump said that the American Jews “no longer love Israel” in a recently aired interview, claiming that “evangelical Christians love Israel more than the Jews in this country.”
“People in this country that are Jewish no longer love Israel,” Trump told Israeli journalist Barak Ravid in a Friday episode of podcast “Unholy: Two Jews on the news.”
Trump continued: “I’ll tell you, the evangelical Christians love Israel more than the Jews in this country. It used to be that Israel had absolute power over Congress. And today I think it’s the exact opposite.”
“The New York Times hates Israel, hates them. And they’re Jewish people that run the New York Times. I mean, the Sulzberger family,” the former president added, referring to the paper’s publisher.
Trump also made sure to note that he “was very close to many Jewish people” because of his experience in “Brooklyn real estate, Brooklyn and Queens.”
https://www.salon.com/2021/12/17/goes-on-anti-semitic-rant-claims-israel-controlled-congress-jews-run-new-york-times/
Of those donations from Origin Labor have actually done better than the Lib/Nats
Though apparently Origin have a far better return on their investment than any of the parties in auspol
Origin Energy donations 2014-15 to 2019-20
Lab 259,526 Lib 186,974 Nat 52,735 Total 499,235
Any wonder that Qld Labor sneak out the news on the last friday afternoon before christmas, at the end of the year, during a pandemic resurgence, because they really really want the public to be informed about such matters
Tedious bore can cry me a whole Barka/Darling river worth of crocodile tears about the Bogong
Holdenhillbilly @ #1111 Saturday, December 18th, 2021 – 10:09 am
Did he talk about how he has a black friend, too?
I am always suspicious now, when the PM announces funds for specific projects, since the conditions are always narrow and rarely eventuate.
Poroti
Dr. Noack
Had to croak
Snorted graphene
With his coke
Trump may be getting litte addlepated.
The single biggest donor to Trump’s 2019-2020 POTUS campaign was the late Sheldon Adelson – an American Jew. I will refrain from speaking ill of the dead, noting that with Adelson there is plenty of scope.
The problem for the either/or Republicans seems to be that American Jews have diverse political views.
It is noteworthy that British Labour ran into somewhat similar problems during Corbyn’s tenure and that both extreme Left and extreme Right give some credence to the horseshoe theory by dabbling in anti-semitism. It is as if they cannot help themselves and a couple of millenia of acculturation pops out all by itself.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/12/adelson-super-pac-gop-458380
The old environmentalist Greens would have known that the Bogong Moth story is an ecological disaster of major proportions.
The Comrade Greens use it as a political club to beat Labor with.
So today we have two stories from Ff and Quoll: how wonderful the ACT Greens are, despite their role in the Bogong disaster, and how awful Labor is cos the Bogong Moth.
Were they stoked when they devised this bit of political bastardy?
Or is it SOP?
AE, Shellbell, Mavis and other legal luminaries of PB
Some International Legal News. Let us say If this has happened to an Australian citizen, Australian media would have ensured the victory of Morrison government in next Federal election (not that they are doing now). It is a news from Indian source. BTW, all other readers of PB are invited to read it.
* BREAKING NEWS – The Chief Justice of the International Court of Justice has been elected! *
Great win for India!!! Chanakya Diplomacy of Prime Minister Modi. Britain’s defeat on the world stage. This is a classic example of how PM Modi has developed relationships across the globe. Justice Dalveer Bhandari has been elected as the Chief Justice of the International Court of Justice. Justice Dalveer Singh of India got 183 votes out of 193 votes (one from each country represented) and defeated Justice Christopher Greenwood of Britain. He broke the 71-year monopoly on this post of Britain.
PM Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs are working for the last 6 months to achieve this! It was a very difficult task to contact representatives of all 193 countries and explain to them India’s position regarding a British candidate who was sure to win it easily. In 11 rounds of voting, Justice Dalveer Bhandari got 183 out of 193 votes in the General Assembly and all 14 out of 15 members of the United Nations Security Council ( I am not on the authenticity of numbers of UN Security council).
Justice Dalveer Bhandari will hold this post for a term of 9 years. This is a classic example of how courteous, respectful and great relations our PM Modi has built with countries across the world after 70 years of our independence.
“I am always suspicious now, when the PM announces funds for specific projects, since the conditions are always narrow and rarely eventuate.”
Allocate
Announce
Make the funding bureaucratically inaccessible
Re-Announce periodically
Recycle the $ into Rorts next budget period
You know it makes sense. 🙂
I had my Pfizer booster on last Thursday. Other than soreness near bicep where injection was given, I am fine till now.
Aqualung
I’d like to say I’m surprised but I’m not.
BTW, we do still have a Governor General?
_____________________________
Yes we do. And his number one job is to stay out of politics. So is his number two job and, yes, his number three job.
There are incredibly limited circumstances in which a GG (or Governor) will need to become involved in politics – and these are pretty much to do with maintaining the structural elements of the Constitution. For example, if the Prime Minister refuses to advise an election before the constitutionally required date.
John Kerr’s intervention in 1975 (which was utterly wrong because it was a political, not a constitutional, stand-off) will have scared off any GG from ever doing something again unless the PM of the day insists on doing something constitutionally unlawful. And then only if it is not justiciable in the High Court.
“The Comrade Greens use it as a political club to beat Labor with.”
I think the Greens have a problem with picking who is actually in Govt and who is the Opposition.
imacca says:
Saturday, December 18, 2021 at 11:32 am
“The Comrade Greens use it as a political club to beat Labor with.”
I think the Greens have a problem with picking who is actually in Govt and who is the Opposition.
_______________________________
They have no problem picking who is THEIR opposition.
https://kevinbonham.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-overrated-impact-of-reps.html
[b]The Overrated Impact of Party Preferencing Decisions]/b]
…being mainly a debunking of assorted strands of commentary seen lately about UAP, Green and independent preferences. Federal elections are more influenced by shifts in the relative major party primary votes than changes in preferencing behaviour.
I am confused. With the PM presenting at the tragedy, public monies being spent to support the families, friends and community, and a mandated school castle ban put in place…. is it now good to have government in people’s lives?
So Dom has brought the NSW surge on through sheer incompetence and now want the other states’ booster shots so his state can get done at four months. He’s beginning to sound a lot like Gladys.
Thanks Kevin. Always enjoy reading your stuff.
He photobombed both the finding of the little boy in WA and the William Tyrell case too. At each he prefaced his remarks with “As a father…”
Fuck him.
In the case of William Tyrell he joined his mate and neighbour Commissioner Mick Fuller to put on simultaneous “sad” faces and those looks of “gritty determination” that they believe reek of sincerity.
Now we know the search was fruitless. It must have cost millions, for no result. There would be no triumphant exit for Fuller.
The foster parents in the Tyrell case are simultaneously up on an unrelated charge of “common assault against a minor” to which they have pleaded Not Guilty. Putting to one side the possibility that this charge is the result of vindictive harassment by police, designed to smear the reputations of these people (as well as “rogue” ex-detective Gary Jubelin, who removed them from his list of suspects), the shameless behaviour of almost all NSW broadcast and print media organisations in publishing leaks from their police informants has caused those foster parents to now live in fear of their lives, as formally reported to the court just yesterday in an application for a suppression order on the current matter.
A point I have been trying to make here in recent months is that this is what happens when the lynch mob mentality takes over where the truth left off. We should all take a sober warning from it. Lynch mobs rarely deliver justice. Neither Prime Ministers nor private citizens have any legitimate excuse for being members of them.
Massola – good little Sir Echo:
Ven
I developed a large swelling under my arm after the booster. Quite common apparently.
My doctor said women were reporting their breasts had enlarged after the booster.
I would have thought that to be totally ridiculous beforehand, not so now.
I just realised that Massola (article above) says Morrison spoke in Hobart. Is that a mistake or did Morrison not even visit Devonport?
While kicking around waiting for the cricket to start……
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/12/turkish-company-unveils-new-sdv-project-for-special-forces/
I want one. 🙂
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/12/us-navy-tests-high-energy-laser-weapon-system-in-gulf-of-aden/
Eat this you hyper-sonic anti ship missile you.
And on a more serious note:
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/12/south-koreas-first-nuclear-submarine-looks-closer/
The Korean developments are interesting and i suspect relevant to Australia, especially in terms of the time-frame issue for Australia acquiring new submarines. Broadly, seems to me that they are building large conventional boats and, very broadly, (im well open to being corrected on this) replacing the Diesels with an LEU nuclear reactor, probably based on French tech. In fact, maybe based on the older, smaller reactors from the Rubis class??
Going nuclear / electric for propulsion rather than geared steam turbine (as is the trend in nuke design these days). Reverse of what the French proposed with the Attack class.
Makes me think that a quicker, cheaper path to an updated subs capacity for us would be to build new conventional boats, and import a reactor module / plug with an LEU reactor from the French.
Pretty much what the Swedes do with AIP modules?
“France’s latest Suffren class submarine as a slightly larger hull diameter than KSS-III. Diameter is the most important dimension here because it dictates the physical size of the systems. It is possible maybe, that the French reactor could fit inside KSS-III hull however. The earlier Rubis class is much smaller still, demonstrating that nuclear propulsion does not necessarily require a physically large submarine.
KSS-III is relatively large for a non-nuclear submarine. The nuclear reactor could slot in, replacing the hull compartment currently used for AIP. Together with reducing the batteries, it might allow only a small increase in overall size. Naturally the exact arrangement of the propulsion machinery, and degree of sound insulation, may be a factor. But it is not hard to imagine a KSS-III based boat with a French reactor. Or French assistance wit a Korean reactor.”
We would wind up with smaller boats that we actually have a hope of crewing. If the early hulls were completed as conventional boats, they could possibly be converted to nuke when they come up for their first long docking / maintenance after we have 1 or 2 nukes in operation and have some experience with those??
Meanwhile, we keep and develop the local skills / jobs base going with the Collins LOTE program and we can take some time working out how to deal with nuclear fuel supply / sovereignty issues.
We could end up with boats that better suit our needs, and are more of a complementary capability to our allies, than if we aim for the big Virginia or Astute classes or their successors, and in a time-frame that is actually useful?
“The single biggest donor to Trump’s 2019-2020 POTUS campaign was the late Sheldon Adelson – an American Jew. I will refrain from speaking ill of the dead, noting that with Adelson there is plenty of scope.
The problem for the either/or Republicans seems to be that American Jews have diverse political views.”
***
What’s also noteworthy is that the left wing nominee for the 2020 Election was Bernie Sanders – someone of Jewish heritage.
The idea that all Jews think the same way or have the same political leanings is actually pretty prejudice and racist.
Speaking generally, the left aren’t anti-Semitic at all. We are very supportive of Jewish people and wish them all the peace and happiness in the world. What we do have a big problem with though is the apartheid-like policies and abuse of Palestinians that the Government of Israel engages in.
Likewise, we are also very supportive of Palestinians and wish them all the peace and happiness in the world. Again though we have a problem with hostile actions directed towards Israel.
It’s not the people we have an issue with – they are the victims on both sides – it is the warmongering administrations that are the real problem. Frankly, both sides need to pull their heads out of their backsides and cut it out.
Asha @ #1088 Saturday, December 18th, 2021 – 10:42 am
Rubbish. He’s not a counsellor. He’s a politician and legislator. He should stay the fck away and let the families grieve.
https://www.pollbludger.net/2021/12/16/preselection-latest-nsw-edition/comment-page-23/#comment-3776831
May be the priest that would have thought the witches hammer was appropriate, and this is after we paid for an empathy consultant?
”
Dsays:
Saturday, December 18, 2021 at 11:55 am
Ven
I developed a large swelling under my arm after the booster. Quite common apparently.
My doctor said women were reporting their breasts had enlarged after the booster.
I would have thought that to be totally ridiculous beforehand, not so now.
”
D
I am not laughing at large swelling under your arm after the booster. I sympathize with you. No I am laughing at what Doctors are saying about women. 🙂
Quollsays:
Saturday, December 18, 2021 at 11:13 am
Any wonder that Qld Labor sneak out the news on the last friday afternoon before christmas, at the end of the year, during a pandemic resurgence, because they really really want the public to be informed about such matters.
_____________________
Similar to Victoria . Throw in the Devenport tragedy and Vic Labor could not get the Westgate backflip out quick enough.
They had been sitting on it for weeks. Just waiting, waiting, waiting.
Disgusting from the Vic ALP, but that’s the way they do business.
I can find a few issues with Bandts leadership, but his tweet re yr 12 students yesterday was as genuine and real world as a politican gets.
Rex Douglas says:
Saturday, December 18, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Rubbish. He’s not a counsellor. He’s a politician and legislator. He should stay the fck away and let the families grieve.
__________
I agree. It does no good for politicians to be getting involved in tragedies like this. Even if they aren’t primarily motivated by politics, which is impossible to prove in any case. Thus they are always open to claims of seeking to obtain a political advantage.
Taylormade @ #1138 Saturday, December 18th, 2021 – 12:03 pm
It was shitty business by Pallas. He should resign or be managed out.
“I think the Greens have a problem with picking who is actually in Govt and who is the Opposition.”
***
No, we just understand that being the de jure Opposition doesn’t mean a party can escape accountability for how they vote. We also understand that being in opposition isn’t an excuse to roll over and do whatever the government of the day wants – if anything it’s even more of a reason to actually oppose the government’s agenda and offer a real alternative.
……. Thus they are always open to claims of seeking to obtain a political advantage
—————————
I know where this is going. It is a nath trap! Beware!
Just read the ABC article on Morrison in Tasmania.
So he went to Hobart to speak with Gutwein and made a funding announcement on $800,000 for trauma counselling. Then he is going to Devonport to “pay his respects”.
Double the exposure to no doubt repeat what he said in Hobart. How much more politicking can he squeeze out of this tragedy?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-18/scott-morrison-funding-or-jumping-castle-tragedy-hit-community/100711122
Rex
Are you suggesting that there’s a considerable number of young people in the ‘real world’ who spend a couple of years stoned?
Or that we should think that that’s a wise life choice?
imacca @ #1123 Saturday, December 18th, 2021 – 11:32 am
When you look at their climate policies, you can understand why.
I would much rather my kids having a puff instead of doing MDMA or GBH. Which is rampant.
C@t, @9.38
Seth Abrahamson –
‘ As I’ve written repeatedly, there’s a small group of men Trump trusts to commit crimes on his behalf. The same men reappear in each Trump scandal and are never held accountable, which propels them into the next scandal. They’ll keep doing so as long as US “rule of law” is a joke.’
Can recommend Seth’s “Proof”Trilogy , including “Proof of Corruption “, “Proof of Consiracy” and “Proof of Collusion “.
Nostradamus says:
Saturday, December 18, 2021 at 10:31 am
“I see Morrison is in Tasmania today and doing a ghoulish visit to the grieving town from the jumping castle tragedy.”
Ghoulish? Not so. Not only is it the morally the right thing to do, electorally it’s very smart. The Coalition could sew up the seats of Braddon, Bass and Lyons then and there.
Jesus, if I were him, deep down I’d almost be happy the event happened. I’d be grateful to God for the opportunity to show compassion for the grieving mothers.
Morrison is attempting to make political capital from the deaths of children. He is a complete abomination. Anyone who has experienced the sudden death of a loved one will see this for what it is: political self-promotion-by-tragedy.
Quasar,
‘All the President’s Men’. 😡