Polls: federal Liberal leadership and Mark McGowan approval

One poll offers a new take on Scott Morrison’s declining standing, while another finds Mark McGowan’s approval down from phenomenal to outstanding.

No further national voting intention polls this week after the weekend Newspoll. Presumably this means the monthly Resolve Strategic will be along next week in the Age/Herald. Roy Morgan has for some time come along fortnightly and did not report last week, but the manner of its reporting is notoriously hard to predict. Together with the ongoing New South Wales by-elections count, which is covered in the post below this one, that just leaves the following:

• Roy Morgan did have an SMS poll of 1080 respondents conducted on Monday and Tuesday which found Josh Frydenberg favoured to lead the Coalition by 38.5%, ahead of Scott Morrison on 31% and Peter Dutton on 12.5%. The question specifically asked, “if you were a Liberal or National Party voter and helping to choose the Coalition Leader for the next Federal Election, who would you prefer”.

• The West Australian had a poll by Painted Dog Research on Wednesday which found Mark McGowan’s approval rating in Western Australia had fallen from 77% to 64% since December, having peaked at 91% in September 2020, with disapproval up from 14% to 25%. The poll was conducted Friday to Tuesday from a sample of 654.

• Recommended viewing and listening: Antony Green explains the dark art of election night results projection, while pollsters Peter Lewis and John Utting discuss the even darker art of opinion polling on 2SER’s Fourth Estate program.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

1,870 comments on “Polls: federal Liberal leadership and Mark McGowan approval”

Comments Page 1 of 38
1 2 … 38

  1. I’ve been in cars where the driver prayed for a parking space.

    Of course, when you’ve driven around twice without finding one, it’s easy to explain why God made you wait for the Right One to open up (“Oh look, it’s a Pillar 3 – it’s to remind us of the Trinity…”)

    I’ve also often mused about the dynamics of it.

    The parking space is a sort of Schrodingers Cat.

    God’s omnipotent, so he knows you’re going to need one, but the niceties of the situation means that you must put in a formal request via prayer before it is revealed to you.

    So the necessary chains of motion which must occur for the space to materialise – some random shopper inside the mall suddenly giving up on their quest to return to the perfectly placed car at exactly the right time – can’t be put in place until the actual prayer hits the carpet.

    Which means the random shopper is hovering nearby, at once returning to their car and not returning to their car, until the crucial moment.

    It’s possible, free will being what it is, that this requires several contingency plans – a skew of random shoppers poised to return to their perfectly placed car depending on where and when you do the praying.

  2. Fwiw, my son did a 3 day Essential voting intention and election issues poll this week, so that will probably be dropped next week. 🙂

  3. So, have we solved the answer to the problem of ‘Life, the Universe and Everything’?

    I could have told you the answer is ’43’.

    And for Snappy Tom, who is religious but does not believe in a corporeal entity with clearly-defined and delineated imagery, I have summed up his relationship with religion thus:
    https://youtu.be/SJUhlRoBL8M

    There we go. Sorted.

    Now, can we get back to politics?

    Hey, how about that Scott Morrison fellow? What norm isn’t he prepared to trash?

  4. Love that they’re polling on preferred alternate Liberal leaders, and so close to the election. It just fuels the instability and disunity stories 🙂

  5. One of Skinner’s experiments examined the formation of superstition in pigeons: A hungry pigeon is in a cage with a button and a closed door. The door shields the pigeon from a bowl of seeds. Like most other living creatures, the dove quickly associates the push of the button with a reward. But when a timer opens the door every 20 seconds, the dove starts to wonder: “What did I do to deserve this?” If it was flipping the wings on at the given moment, it will continue to flap the wings, convinced that it’s actions has a decisive influence on what happens. We call this “pigeon superstition”.

    With the experiment Skinner showed how creatures – including humans – tend to construct meaning. Even when cause and effect don’t have an evident connection, we want to create one ourselves. The principles Skinner used to influence the pigeons are similar to techniques magicians use to trick audience’s perception.

    https://pigeonsuperstition.org/skinner/

  8. I enjoy the discussions between 10pm-6am that often veer away from politics. I generally read all the posts during that time, unlike during the day when I scroll past pages of labor/green tirades.

  10. How about the Olympics last night? Vladimir Putin’s attempt at worldwide domination via sport dealt a hammer blow when the disposable, abused 15yo Russian female competitor who was supposed to sweep all before her fell over 4 times on the ice during her routine and ended up only coming 4th.

    Poor girl, my heart goes out to her. Just treated like a piece of meat on ice skates for the glory of Putin. If the IOC had a spine they would throw Russia out of the Olympics completely until such time as they allowed transparency and accountability wrt their athletes.

    Objective observers need to be able to come in on every step of a Russian athlete’s journey and monitor them and the conditions under which they are being trained (the girls in the Russian ice skating team are fed nutrient powder only, they eat no real food, so that they are light as a feather and able to do high twisting jumps!), and urine-tested so regularly for performance-enhancing drugs that they give up the ghost at trying to get away with it. It’s Child Abuse, pure and simple.

  11. Taz @ #NaN Friday, February 18th, 2022 – 7:07 am

    I enjoy the discussions between 10pm-6am that often veer away from politics. I generally read all the posts during that time, unlike during the day when I scroll past pages of labor/green tirades.

    I never read daytime posts. They stopped being informative some time ago.

    I find early mornings before work and the evenings are the most interesting.

  13. “Mark McGowan’s approval rating in Western Australia had fallen from 77% to 64% since December”…

    Scomocchio would sell his soul to Satan for a “fall” like that…. Oh, already done, but to no avail…

  14. Donald Trump and children must testify under subpoena from New York AG Tish James

    Today, a judge ruled that Donald Trump and his two oldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., must testify under a subpoena that was issued by New York AG Tish James in December.

    Judge Arthur Engoron issued the ruling following a two hour hearing with arguments from lawyers with James’ office as well as Trump’s lawyers, reported the Associated Press.

    “In the final analysis, a State Attorney General commences investigating a business entity, uncovers copious evidence of possible financial fraud, and wants to question, under oath, several of the entities’ principals, including its namesake. She has the clear right to do so,” said Engoron.

    While an appeal to the decision will likely be filed, if upheld, Trump will be faced with the decision to answer questions under oath or ‘plead the fifth’ and stay silent to prevent self-incrimination.

  15. “Recommended listening and viewing: Antony Green explains the dark art of election night results projection”….

    Is Antony already preparing the viewers for a very short night, so the Liberal party supporters don’t become shocked and start Trumpishly suspecting some fowl game?… I remember that the act of counting votes on election night for the latest WA state election achieved full consummation at the speed of light…. Much to the shock of the panel.

  16. Good morning bludgers

    Someone posted last night that the National Executive of the Liberal Party had acted to intervene in the NSW Liberal Party bun fight over pre-selections. No link to a source. I can’t find anything on it in the Guardian, Australian or ABC News. Might be fake. Has anyone seen anything on it ?

  17. No one is above the law. The Trumps haven’t comprehended that yet. Also, the law isn’t there to be bent to their will. Clive Palmer also needs to read that memo.

  18. Elmer_Fudd @ #16 Friday, February 18th, 2022 – 7:25 am

    Good morning bludgers

    Someone posted last night that the National Executive of the Liberal Party had acted to intervene in the NSW Liberal Party bun fight over pre-selections. No link to a source. I can’t find anything on it in the Guardian, Australian or ABC News. Might be fake. Has anyone seen anything on it ?

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-liberals-again-refuse-to-endorse-sitting-federal-mps-20220217-p59xgq.html

    Scott Morrison’s iron grip on the National Executive in action.

  20. Dennis Richardson, one of Australia’s finest diplomats and public servants, says what he thinks about the Liberals pathetic attempt to politicise national security. Worth a look at the whole article..

    “If they want to cast aspersions, then bring it on. It is grubby and it is an attempt to blacken people’s names.

    “It is despicable for them to want to engage in this sort of innuendo. The first thing they should do is get their facts right – that would help. To say that I advocated for Huawei’s involvement in 5G in 2018 is not even half true. It is extraordinarily misleading and it flies in the face of what happened in 2011.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/18/former-asio-boss-accuses-liberal-senator-of-grubby-attack-over-huawei-comments

  21. It’s going to go to the courts though if he tries it(except for the 3 Sitting MPs, Zimmerman, Ley and Hawke, who were endorsed last night):

    Earlier on Thursday, members of the NSW division’s Right faction warned they would seek to challenge any federal intervention in court.

  22. sprocket_,
    From memory Dennis Richardson came into prominence under Hawke and Keating. I bet the Liberals attempt to cast him as a Labor stooge or similar now as a result, when, in fact, the quality of the man saw Howard appoint him to high Public Service positions too.

  23. Morgan on Scomo vs Friedhamburger:

    “L-NP supporters: Morrison 47% cf. Frydenberg 38.5%;
    ALP supporters: Frydenberg 50% cf. Morrison 34%;
    Greens supporters: Frydenberg 65% cf. Morrison 27.5%;
    Independents/ Others supporters: Frydenberg 38.5% cf. Morrison 33.5%.”

    Yep, just as I suspected, everybody hates Scomo except his own side of politics…. Is that enough votes for Scomo to produce another “miracle”?… Nope, he and his mob are definitely on the way out…. and relying on the Pentecostal vote is just not enough….

  24. Important FACTS (something the Liberals seem incapable of dealing in):

    Richardson told Guardian Australia back when he was the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the government considered whether or not Huawei would be involved in the 4G network.

    “I was on the secretaries committee on national security which recommended against Huawei’s involvement in 4G,” the retired bureaucrat said. “I was not in government in 2018. And I challenge James Paterson to come up with any evidence that I advocated for Huawei’s unmitigated involvement in 5G.

    “Given that I was on the secretaries committee on national security that recommended against Huawei being involved in 4G, on what basis I would have advocated for Huawei being in 5G is beyond me.”

    Richardson said he had made a comment in the media that the United Kingdom “had negotiated a deal with Huawei that enabled them to be in part involved in non-sensitive areas”.

    “However the Brits subsequently overturned that. So James Paterson is being loose with the truth by a long margin. He ought to check his facts and get them right before he makes public comments about individuals.”

    It was reported at the time that Richardson suggested that Australia should follow the UK’s lead and establish a cyber-security unit to manage risks and safeguard Australia’s national interest, rather than banning the Chinese company outright.

    On Sky News on Thursday, Paterson also noted that it had been publicly reported that in 2011, when Richardson was secretary of Dfat, he went on leave “to negotiate on behalf of the Canberra Raiders a lucrative sponsorship agreement from Huawei for the Canberra Raiders”.

    Richardson rejected that. He said he was involved in one presentation at board level, and took half a day’s leave without pay to attend that event, but: “I never negotiated with Huawei their sponsorship of the Canberra raiders.

    “That is a claim that was put in a letter to the editor in the Canberra Times a couple of years ago which I refuted. Indeed, it was stated in the Canberra Times that I’d taken six weeks leave to negotiate this deal with Huawei, and as I pointed out in my response, I have never taken six weeks leave in my life, let alone taking six weeks leave to negotiate a deal with Huawei.”

    Richardson said the history recounted by Paterson was selective. “At the time we got that sponsorship from Huawei, no-one other than [former Liberal foreign affairs minister] Alexander Downer was on the board of Huawei – right?”

    “Alexander Downer was on the board of Huawei, and might I also add that in 2011, when I went to Senate estimates and was questioned by none other than the good senator [Eric] Abetz, who asked me about whether I had done this and that about Huawei, I told him what I’d done, and I said if you think I’ve done anything wrong, go to the public service board, go to the police, go to whomever you like.

    “He never pursued it. I subsequently deliberately accepted an invitation from Huawei to go to a match of the state of origin in Sydney.” Richardson said other guests of Huawei at that match included a federal liberal staffer and a senior Liberal from the NSW party.

    “If they want to cast aspersions, then bring it on. It is grubby and it is an attempt to blacken people’s names.

    “It is despicable for them to want to engage in this sort of innuendo. The first thing they should do is get their facts right – that would help. To say that I advocated for Huawei’s involvement in 5G in 2018 is not even half true. It is extraordinarily misleading and it flies in the face of what happened in 2011.”

  25. The NY Attorney General has been after Dotard and his family for years, over their dodgy business practices – in essence inflating the value of their properties to borrow more money, then deflating the value of the same properties to minimise tax.

    And now the ‘45th and 47th President’ as he has started referring to himself, gets to explain himself in the dock under oath…

  26. How about the Olympics last night? Vladimir Putin’s attempt at worldwide domination via sport dealt a hammer blow when the disposable, abused 15yo Russian female competitor who was supposed to sweep all before her fell over 4 times on the ice during her routine and ended up only coming 4th.

    They still won gold and silver.

    Kamila Valieva’s Olympic gold hopes vanish amid ROC anger, tears and joy

    A tearful Valieva slipped to fourth, Anna Shcherbakova quietly won gold and runner-up Alexandra Trusova wept in a chaotic, cruel figure skating finale

    https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/feb/17/kamila-valieva-anna-shcherbakova-winter-olympics-beijing-figure-skating

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xZmlUV8muY

  29. This will go down well in the Asian community:
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-17/chris-bowen-attacks-scott-morrrison-q-a-manchurian-china-russia/100841352

    “Prime Minister Scott Morrison has come under fire from all sides on Q+A for using parliamentary privilege to label Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles a “Manchurian candidate” and using the issue of national security as a tool by which to smear the opposition.”

    ——

    Maybe Boewar supports him?

  30. Thanks Cat. I should have known you would be onto it quick smart. Looks like Ley and Scomo’s lap dog are going to have their way one way or another. What a mess. They don’t even have a candidate in place to take advantage of ZSs funding declaration stuff up in Warringah last I heard. Oops.

  32. Good morning all.

    My view is that this gang of third rate crooks will sacrifice anything and everything to keep their snouts in the trough.

    A bipartisan approach to China? Out she goes!
    Politicizing national security agencies? No worries!
    Truth? Fuck that!
    Shovel pork? Quick!
    Personal vilification? Get the trip truck!

  33. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judge-orders-trump-children-answer-questions-business-practices-oath-rcna16659

    A New York judge on Thursday ordered former President Donald Trump and two of his children to answer questions under oath about the Trump Organization’s business practices in the state attorney general’s civil probe of the company.

    Lawyers for Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump had sought to quash the subpoenas from Attorney General Letitia James’ office, arguing her investigation is politically motivated and designed to provide fuel for an ongoing criminal probe into the company by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

    In his ruling, state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron gave the green light for the three Trumps to be deposed within the next three weeks. He portrayed the Trumps’ claims of being selectively targeted as overblown.

  34. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    Scott Morrison has gone negative early in the election campaign – but is Anthony Albanese a soft target, asks Michelle Grattan.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-18/morrison-goes-for-albanese-jugular-michelle-grattan-analysis/100841314
    Michael Koziol reports that Scott Morrison has taken the first move to dissolving the Liberal Party’s troubled NSW division, with the party’s federal executive voting to give state officials 10 days to “rectify” their issues and endorse sitting MPs or face a federal takeover.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-liberals-again-refuse-to-endorse-sitting-federal-mps-20220217-p59xgq.html
    David Crowe has a look at the mega-scare campaign kicking off and how Albanese is handling it.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/who-s-afraid-of-a-scare-campaign-albanese-had-better-watch-out-because-they-do-work-20220217-p59xaa.html
    John Blaxland tells us that the appearance of ASIO boss Mike Burgess on 7:30 was a rare and alarming intervention by a senior bureaucrat into the rough-and-tumble of domestic politics – one that points to an apparently dangerous breakdown in bipartisanship on national security.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/politicising-national-security-the-pedigree-and-pitfalls-of-wedging-an-opponent-20220217-p59x6j.html
    Katherine Murphy describes how one of Australia’s most respected former public servants, Dennis Richardson, has accused Liberal senator James Paterson of engaging in a “grubby” and “despicable” attempt to blacken his name over comments James Paterson made in an interview on Sky News.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/18/former-asio-boss-accuses-liberal-senator-of-grubby-attack-over-huawei-comments
    The federal director of the Nationals failed to disclose a $1 million payment from a key financial supporter until a federal audit forced the party to reveal the transfer almost two years after the last election. David Crowe reports that the payment meant the Nationals gained much more support from a private fund than the party claimed in its report to the Australian Electoral Commission in a series of errors identified years afterwards.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/nationals-failed-to-disclose-1-million-payment-until-after-aec-audit-20220217-p59x6q.html
    Morrison and Dutton are puffing themselves up like mini-me McCarthyists – and it’s beyond reckless, declares Katherine Murphy.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/17/morrison-and-dutton-are-imperilling-australias-national-security-to-hang-on-to-power
    John Howard may have used a dog whistle rather than Scott Morrison’s bullhorn, but there’s a long and dishonourable tradition of security scares in election campaigns, says Phil Coorey.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/from-ukuleles-to-ukraine-we-re-in-uncertain-times-again-20220216-p59wug
    Andrew Charlton reckons it’s time to return to Costello economics, whoever wins the federal election.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-s-time-to-return-to-costello-economics-whoever-wins-the-federal-election-20220217-p59xam.html
    It is to be feared that the forthcoming budget will be a mixture of spending bribes and unsustainable tax cuts. This is not what is needed to restore economic stability and the provision of essential government services, writes Michael Keating.
    https://johnmenadue.com/the-next-budget-what-can-we-expect-mm-need-to-put-in-a-link-to-article-22-9/
    The NSW government is grappling with how it will pay for the multibillion-dollar cost of building the Western Harbour Tunnel, and Perrottet has refused to rule out new Harbour Bridge tolls.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/premier-refuses-to-rule-out-new-tolls-on-harbour-bridge-20220217-p59x99.html
    Origin Energy’s plan to close Australia’s largest coal-fired power station seven years early has sparked fears over electricity supply and price spikes amid urgent calls for governments and industry to work together to manage the accelerating clean energy transition, write Nick Toscana and Mike Foley.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/origin-energy-to-bring-forward-closure-of-australia-s-largest-coal-fired-power-plant-20220216-p59x50.html
    NSW Treasurer and Energy Minister Matt Kean says NSW’s energy supply will be secured through a “super” battery to be installed by the private sector as Australia’s largest coal-burning power station prepares to close early.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/super-battery-to-boost-nsw-supply-once-coal-fired-power-station-closes-20220217-p59x9w.html
    Angus Taylor has slammed his NSW counterpart Matt Kean’s reliance on batteries as “delusional”, amid fresh fears energy prices will spike after Origin Energy’s shock decision to close the country’s biggest coal-fired power plant seven years early.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/early-eraring-closure-fires-up-the-energy-wars-20220217-p59xd3
    The early closure of Australia’s biggest coal plant caught Angus Taylor by surprise – but it shouldn’t have, writes Adam Morton.
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/18/on-coal-plant-closures-the-energy-industry-has-learned-to-keep-angus-taylor-out-of-the-loop
    Elizabeth Knight explains the economics behind the early closure of “dirty and expensive” coal-fired power plants.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/dirty-and-expensive-the-economics-of-origin-s-early-exit-from-coal-20220217-p59xcu.html
    Mark Ludlow tells us that the Australian Energy Market Operator is confident there will be enough new battery, gas and pumped hydrogen projects that will help fill the gap from the early exit of 2880 megawatt Eraring coal-fired power station when it closes in 2025.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/aemo-says-there-will-be-enough-capacity-to-replace-eraring-20220217-p59xby
    The early closure of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station in 2025 will test the energy grid and management of the inevitable transition from coal as these plants become uneconomic to operate, writes Jennifer Hewett who says Eraring is only the beginning of the end for coal.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/eraring-is-only-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-coal-20220217-p59xe3
    Mike Foley says that this coal plant closure shows Australia is at the forefront of the global clean energy experiment.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/coal-plant-closure-puts-australia-at-forefront-of-global-experiment-20220217-p59xao.html
    Ben Doherty reports on another harmful day in court for Ben Roberts Smith.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/17/ben-roberts-smith-warned-soldier-he-would-get-bullet-in-the-back-of-the-head-court-told
    Senior public servants have been accused of misleading a parliamentary committee over a contract which a department head concedes “wasn’t well handled” and could be in breach of Commonwealth procurement rules. Labor’s finance and public service spokeswoman Katy Gallagher is considering referring officials to parliament’s privileges committee amid claims they weren’t “upfront” in evidence relating to a contract to review a disability employment program. In explosive claims levelled in Senate estimates on Thursday morning, senator Gallagher named Nathan Williamson, a former Department of Social Services official who is now a deputy secretary at the Department of Finance, as one of the officers who had “misled” the committee over the past 15 months.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7624217/public-servants-accused-of-misleading-parliamentary-committee-over-controversial-contract/?cs=24204
    Retailers are raising prices to recoup unprecedented cost increases and protect margins, but if prices rise too far, too fast they risk denting volumes, explains Sue Mitchell.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/retailers-face-pricing-dilemma-as-costs-soar-20220217-p59xa6
    Michael Pascoe says that we should be careful what we wish for to cure inflation.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2022/02/18/michael-pascoe-inflation-complexities/
    Has legislation to protect Australian publishers when dealing with multinational digital platforms worked? It might depend on which ones you ask, or how big they are, suggests Enna McDonald as twelve months since the government intervention ticks over.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/one-year-on-from-facebook-de-friending-australia-is-local-journalism-any-better-off-20220217-p59xd0.html
    The Prime Minister’s abysmal ukulele performance is a parable for the off-key tune by which the Coalition governs Australia, Michelle Pini.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/coalition-gaffes-galore-to-the-tune-of-an-off-key-ukulele,16059
    Health officials say proof of a third vaccine dose may be required to enter Victorian pubs and restaurants in coming months, as the government wound back most of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/third-dose-mandate-may-still-be-needed-to-counter-winter-covid-threat-20220217-p59xd8.html
    Madonna King writes that COVID-19 is a numbers game when it comes to protecting lives.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2022/02/18/madonna-king-covid-numbers-game/
    The jump in the price of Rapid Antigen Tests over the summer outbreak has seen the competition commissioner refer 70 complaints to the Federal Police for investigation.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/business/accc-warns-retailers-of-rat-price-gouging-refers-70-complaints-to-afp/news-story/44792ce35b34cbc540be71dea5018a45
    The Religious Discrimination Bill debate got taken-over by religious extremists with the mainstream wedged in the middle, writes Paul Collins who describes the fundamentalist take-over of ‘Christianity’.
    https://johnmenadue.com/the-fundamentalist-take-over-of-christianity/
    Bank closures in regional Australia will be an election issue for the first time for years, as the findings of a Government inquiry are being handed down just before the Federal Election.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/regional-bank-closures-set-to-become-election-issue,16058
    One in five Australians quit their job within the last year, research by the National Australia Bank shows, and almost one quarter are considering changing their place of employment. NAB business banking executive Julie Rynski said the mass resignation over the past 12 months had not yet translated into higher wages but rather forced companies to offer perks and improve culture in an effort to retain staff.
    https://www.theage.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/extreme-burnout-1-in-5-australians-quit-their-job-last-year-says-nab-20220216-p59x0u.html
    The state government says former police commissioner Mick Fuller has been ruled out of the running for a position on the board of Racing NSW, two days after he confirmed his ambitions for the horseracing body.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/former-top-cop-mick-fuller-will-not-join-racing-nsw-board-20220217-p59xi0.html
    The US Justice Department has tapped a seasoned computer crimes prosecutor to lead its new national cryptocurrency enforcement team and announced that the FBI is launching a unit for blockchain analysis and virtual asset seizure.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/crypto-cops-fbi-forms-digital-currency-unit-20220218-p59xiw.html
    The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack is considering issuing a subpoena to Ivanka Trump to force her cooperation with the inquiry into Donald Trump’s efforts to return himself to power on 6 January, according to a source familiar with the matter.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/17/us-capitol-attack-ivanka-trump-subpoena-discussion

    Cartoon Corner

    David Pope

    David Rowe

    Andrew Dyson

    Matt Golding



    Jim Pavlidis

    John Shakespeare

    Mark David

    Simon Letch

    Warren Brown

    Glen Le Lievre

    Mark Knight

    Leak

    From the US







  37. As for the Manchurian Candidate, there is probably not a single state in the world that would not welcome Albanese as prime minister.
    All governments will have been briefed that Morrison leads an erratic and unpredictable clusterfuck of racist,arrogant, incompetent and venal pricks.

  38. I would suggest that there’s a strong element of dog-whistling in this “Manchurian Candidate” stuff.

    As for weaponising “national security”, the Coalition have been doing that for as long as I can remember.

  39. The Liberal party is now fighting with ASIO and large corporate players in the energy market. Seems a strange tactic for en election campaign.

  40. Steve777 @ #38 Friday, February 18th, 2022 – 8:00 am

    I would suggest that there’s a strong element of dog-whistling in this “Manchurian Candidate” stuff.

    As for weaponising “national security”, the Coalition have been doing that for as long as I can remember.

    There are large Chinese populations in Sydney (and other capitals?) that are anti communist. Love their mother country, hate the party. The Anglican Church in Sydney has many Chinese congregations and services are in Chinese. I assume that other denominations are the same. The ALP vote in Strathfield went down because the PM made the ALP supports the Communist party jibes. It’s clearly dog whistling.


  41. Tom
    …
    The ALP vote in Strathfield went down because the PM made the ALP supports the Communist party jibes. It’s clearly dog whistling.

    Not keeping up? There was a swing to the ALP relative to the LNP

  44. “The payment meant the Nationals gained much more support from a private fund than the party claimed in its report to the Australian Electoral Commission, (AEC) in a series of errors identified years afterwards.”

    Claiming you only got $71,000 from a donor instead of $1m is not an “error” and there was a series of so called “errors”. That is not an ‘error’, it is a deliberate misleading and false declaration. IF you are going to go after Zali Steggall, you better make sure your accounting is squeaky clean first. Doh.

  45. But wouldn’t an ALP supporter want the Liberals lead by the biggest dunderhead among them? There are plenty to choose from.

    As has been said many times, most people are not so engaged in politics. They may generally vote red or blue or green or blow in the wind, but most people don’t feel that tribal instinct to always be looking for a way to get one up on the opposing team.

    Sure, there will be a decent chunk of ALP-voting respondents to such a question who will answer “strategically” in a way that they think might look most damaging for the government, but most will just give as honest an answer as they can be bothered to give. And for many it will be “ooh I actually recognize that name and don’t feel anything particularly negative, I’ll tick that”.

  46. Fraser et al tried the big reds under the bed scare campaign when Hawkey came along. He laughed it off with one joke and that was the end of it. Different time and people. I doubt Albo could manage that now.

    One of these Honchos said it’s been decades since national security was politicised. Does anyone know what he is referring to?

  47. Tony Windsor-
    Morrison has always dog whistled race …the latest extension is Chinese people in a panicked attempt to create fear…destroyed farm trade only to see the US take our place in the market place.Our largest trading partner being used as a pawn in a domestic political game.

  48. Wow, if true.
    ‘ Sam Dastyari divulged that the Liberals asked the Labor Party for their dirt file on Michael Towke after he beat Morrison 82-8 in a ballot. How does he know that he said? “I was the one who supplied it to them.”
    Never has a party asked Labor for a dirt file on one of their own.’

  49. Andrew Charlton reckons it’s time to return to Costello economics, whoever wins the federal election.

    As a great philosopher once said

  50. “I enjoy the discussions between 10pm-6am that often veer away from politics. I generally read all the posts during that time, unlike during the day when I scroll past pages of labor/green tirades.”

    ***

    Absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying discussions that veer away from politics, nor is there anything wrong with discussing policies, the goings on in parliament, the election, and psephology on a site that is dedicated to covering the aforementioned.

Comments Page 1 of 38
1 2 … 38

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *