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.
The whole purpose of offshore “processing” is to put unwanted / despised / inconvenient people beyond the protection of Australian law.
The Canadian Anti Vaccine Mandate Trucker and Encampment protest outside parliament in Ottowa, Canada has been broken up. And that’s a good thing.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/18/trucker-convoy-protest-canada-ottawa-police-arrests-latest-news
Granny Annysays:
Saturday, February 19, 2022 at 12:00 am
BW is just a full-on racist prick.
Bert @ #498 Saturday, February 19th, 2022 – 2:36 am
Thanks Bert. I particularly enjoyed the characterisation of the Nasty Party:
“As for the Rustic Party, that souser BJ has the bladder control of a Wiggles concert mosh pit and an entirely misunderstood interpretation of the comfort to be derived from “thy rod and thy staff”. Sweaty Betty McKenzie, Miss Appropriation 2019 and the fastest drawers in the west would re-gift her nastiness yet she’s the 2nd best the rubes have to offer? FMD!”
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
Laura Tingle, disgusted with the way the government is carrying on, has written a scathing assessment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-19/discussion-australia-national-security-defence-descent-madness/100843768
After one of the ugliest political weeks in recent memory, it’s still not clear what Scott Morrison’s agenda is, writes Katherine Murphy.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/19/after-one-of-the-ugliest-political-weeks-in-recent-memory-its-still-not-clear-what-scott-morrisons-agenda-is
The SMH editorial declares that the Coalition’s China scare campaign against the ALP crossed the line.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/coalition-s-china-scare-campaign-against-the-alp-crosses-the-line-20220218-p59xtk.html
Parliament has abandoned policy debate for an orgy of wedge and sledge. It is impressing nobody, and there is still time to stop, urges the editorial in the AFR.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/a-failure-of-australia-s-political-market-of-ideas-20220217-p59xgu
Paul Kelly provides a decent assessment of Morrison’s scare tactics.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/morrison-draws-battle-lines-over-beijing/news-story/25a6bfabf18f1ebf8b91b52485ac85c7
Karen Middleton tells us that key Liberal figures are pressing the case for Josh Frydenberg in a leadership ballot, worried by the prospect of Peter Dutton replacing Scott Morrison.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/02/19/liberal-mps-push-frydenberg-step/164518920013354
John Hewson expounds upon Morrison’s two-faced approach to religious freedom.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/02/19/morrisons-two-faced-approach-religious-freedom/164518920013364
If you were to believe the Morrison government, you’d think Anthony Albanese as prime minister would sell out Australia’s interests to China, give criminals a break, and perhaps sneak in a death tax, writes Michelle Grattan who wonders if the seeds of the scare campaign launched this week will grow. She concludes with, “What we do know is that the Chinese government must be enjoying this spectacle immensely.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-has-sown-seeds-of-a-scare-campaign-but-will-they-grow-20220218-p59xl2.html
The raucous, shambolic penultimate sitting of federal parliament this year is all the evidence you need to know Scott Morrison is running very scared, writes Paul Bongiorno. He says, “It’s debatable if Morrison’s ‘lovely wife’, as veteran broadcaster John Laws calls her, can persuade the two-thirds of Australians who have lost confidence in the government to regain it … There was something jarring in seeing Morrison, already under fire for always laying blame elsewhere, sit back and allow his wife to cop it.”
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/02/19/home-with-the-morrisons/164518920013365
In his examination of how Morrison has likely survived a full term as PM, Peter Hartcher says, “there has been a price to pay for Morrison’s grip on his party. Apart from the inadequacy of the government’s climate policy. One heavy price of his survival is that he has sacrificed accountability and probity.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/arise-scott-morrison-our-first-full-term-pm-since-howard-20220218-p59xji.html
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and his Labor shadow Jim Chalmers say they are focused on the post-pandemic recovery. But neither wants to talk about economic reform, writes Ronald Mizen.
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/in-the-election-budget-battle-ambition-is-missing-in-action-20220217-p59x90
The Coalition is backed into a corner, and its white teeth anger is frightening, writes John Lord.
https://theaimn.com/the-coalition-is-backed-into-a-corner-its-white-teeth-anger-is-frightening/
David Crowe tells us that Liberal members are preparing to go to court to block a decision that could help Prime Minister Scott Morrison choose candidates for the coming election in a brawl over the rights of party members to vote on whom they want in Parliament. Trouble in Paradise?
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/political-bastardry-liberals-prepare-court-action-as-preselection-for-key-seats-stalls-again-20220218-p59xq7.html
Peter van Onselen says that we should not expect key crossbenchers today to be binary, choosing to align themselves with either major party in some sort of formal pact in the distinctly possible situation of a hung parliament.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/unaligned-crossbench-may-be-the-big-winner/news-story/42c9684e41276b0f5a065ddc336cfa44
As the Greens draw up election maps, choosing seats they believe they can win, they are hoping the so-called teal independents will boost their chances of up to 12 senate spots, says Mike Seccombe.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/02/19/greens-reveal-their-target-seats/164518920013357
Disunity, disloyalty and incompetence abound as the L-NP abandons its chosen messiah and stumbles to the end of its season in power, writes Geoff Dyer.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/coalition-faces-the-final-curtain,16063
Long-time national security watchers are concerned with the way in which both major parties have politicised the issue over the past week, writes Anthony Galloway.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/has-australia-lost-its-bipartisan-consensus-on-standing-up-to-china-20220218-p59xof.html
The Liberal party has flooded social media with ads criticising Anthony Albanese’s “weak” national security record, as the Coalition intensifies its personal attack on the Labor leader’s stance on China, reports Josh Butler who says that the ads targeted at young men spread claims of Greens-Labor coalition and attempt to position the Coalition as stronger on national security.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/19/liberals-spend-up-on-anti-albanese-national-security-attack-ads-on-facebook
Greg Sheridan posits that Putin’s Ukraine gamble raises the danger for Taiwan.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/putins-ukraine-gamble-raises-the-danger-for-taiwan/news-story/9478ba0342a80630ffc102d5172518eb
Nick McKenzie and Cloe Read tell us that Australian police have disrupted an alleged plot by two Queensland-based businessmen to traffic military hardware from Russia to China, a small part of what sources have revealed is a broader investigation into a suspected Chinese Communist Party spy network with ties to a relative of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Nasty stuff.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/afp-uncovers-suspected-chinese-spy-s-alleged-plot-to-smuggle-military-equipment-20220218-p59xld.html
Andrew MacLeod explains that conflict is looming between Russia and the Ukraine and why it matters to Australia.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2022/02/18/russia-ukraine-australia/
Adele Ferguson explains how laws to implement one of the last remaining measures from the banking royal commission, a scheme of compensation of last resort for dudded customers, fell over this week. She says the sad reality is the government never had a strong appetite to launch such a scheme. If it had, the scheme would have been introduced years ago.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/banking/dudded-customers-thrown-on-the-political-scrap-heap-as-promises-broken-20220218-p59xsn.html
Millions of taxpayer dollars are being poured into an Aboriginal education venture headed by prominent Indigenous leader Noel Pearson against departmental advice to the education minister that it should not receive any more federal government money, reports Natassia Chrysanthos for The Age.
https://www.theage.com.au/education/millions-flow-to-noel-pearson-s-education-organisation-against-department-advice-20220202-p59t8z.html
This contribution from James Robertson is headlined, “The worst since Bronwyn Bishop? Speaker’s performance under scrutiny”.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/2022/02/17/speakers-performance-under-scrutiny/
The interest rate debate is missing a crucial ingredient, writes Ross Gittins.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-interest-rate-debate-is-missing-a-crucial-ingredient-20220217-p59xh9.html
An expansion of the proposed taxpayer-funded power station at Kurri Kurri in the Hunter Valley is being considered by the government amid a scramble to fill a baseload generation gap caused by the premature closure of the Eraring coal plant.
https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/expanded-kurri-kurri-gas-plant-an-option-to-replace-coal-closures-20220218-p59xou
The Coalition as “superior economic managers”? The data demonstrates the polar opposite. Alan Austin looks at the leading measures of economic performance over 10 years and finds Australia has slumped sharply against other nations. The bright spot? Corporate profits.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/zombie-doctrine-belief-in-coalition-as-super-economic-managers-sticks-despite-proof-otherwise/
The country’s worst performing default superannuation fund has been forced to exit the industry, after mounting pressure, explains Charlotte Grieve.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/australia-s-worst-default-super-fund-to-merge-with-hostplus-20220218-p59xod.html
John Kehoe writes that the rising cost of stamp duty has slashed the number of properties being sold each year by hundreds of thousands of dwellings, as homeowners are deterred from moving and opt to stay put.
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/surging-stamp-duty-slashes-home-sales-20220218-p59xmc
Josh Gordon asks, “Is the government ready to take on pubs and clubs, as well as Crown?”
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/is-the-government-ready-to-take-on-pubs-and-clubs-as-well-as-crown-20220217-p59x6k.html
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has launched a probe into predecessor Mick Fuller over his horse racing interests while he was the state’s top officer.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/police-launch-investigation-into-mick-fuller-over-racing-interests-20220218-p59xtl.html
Deborah Snow writes, “As Ben Roberts-Smith basked in the glory of having the nation’s highest military award pinned to his breast in 2011, the chances of one day confronting a dramatic fall from grace must have seemed vanishingly small. Yet if the evidence presented to the Federal Court in Sydney this week is to be believed, behind the scenes the elite soldier was showing himself to be a dangerous man to cross.”
https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-two-faces-of-war-hero-ben-roberts-smith-20220217-p59xfr.html
The crisis in mental-health care has been exacerbated by a breakdown in the college responsible for accrediting new psychiatrists, pushing waitlists to as long as a year, explains Rick Morton who tells us the truth about spiralling mental-health waitlists.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/2022/02/19/the-truth-about-spiralling-mental-health-waitlists/164518920013355
Here’s Amanda Meade’s usually entertaining weekly roundup of what’s happening in the media.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/feb/18/a-tale-of-two-stories-as-the-age-and-the-australian-search-for-truth-amid-the-haze
Under the pretence of Covid-19 precautions, prisoners are being locked in cells without access to communication, fresh clothes, soap or sanitary products, writes Wendy Bacon.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/2022/02/19/prisoners-suffering-under-punitive-covid-19-measures/164518920013358
All Australian high school students will be taught about coercion in sexual relationships and teenagers will rehearse how to seek, give and deny consent under a new national health curriculum that has the support of the country’s education ministers. Nice work, I’d say.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/consent-and-coercion-in-sexual-relationships-to-be-part-of-national-curriculum-20220218-p59xmx.html
Dear old Gerard Henderson has yet another when about the ABC.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/flawed-pell-claims-tumble-down-the-abcs-memory-hole/news-story/3a4f30b9a2191d0f27ceba44c1045990
Kate Halfpenny wants a PM with policies, not prayers. Not one of her better efforts.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-want-a-pm-with-policies-not-prayers-20220218-p59xjr.html
Prosecutors have not yet decided if they will proceed to a third trial for former footballer Jarryd Hayne, after his sexual assault convictions were quashed on appeal this week, a court has heard, reports Georgina Mitchell.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/prosecutors-still-considering-prospect-of-third-jarryd-hayne-trial-court-told-20220218-p59xpm.html
Cartoon Corner
Cathy Wilcox
Alan Moir
David Rowe
David Pope
Andrew Dyson
Jon Kudelka
Matt Golding
Peter Broelman
Matt Davidson
John Shakespeare
Simon Letch
Jim Pavlidis
Mark Knight
Leak assuring his pay cheque.
From the US
The SMH editorial declares that the Coalition’s China scare campaign against the ALP crossed the line.
Desperate men do desperate things.
Political suicide bomber:
The prosecutor called the witness who said George Pell could not have been at the scene of the crime. Prosecutors are required to call all relevant evidence, helpful and unhelpful.
What concerned the HC, and the dissenting Judge in the Victorian Court of Appeal, was that evidence was unchallenged.
“ For the reasons to be given, it is evident that there is “a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof”.
Being a fly on the wall when the Victorian DPP was grappling with the exculpatory evidence would have been fascinating. Presumably, not taking the matter to trial was considered.
Looking at Mark Knight reminds me: the anti whatever we’re currently doing about COVID brigade are presently obsessing about the state of businesses in the CBD.
Apparently Australia’s response to a deadly pandemic should be shaped around the needs of a few coffee shops and sandwich bars in the inner inner city.
Where virtually no voter actually lives.
Where such businesses have had well over two years to adjust their operations – as every other entity in the world has had to do – to new realities.
In the present climate, the actual challenge most of these businesses would face would be finding staff. If people aren’t buying coffee in the CBD, they’re buying it closer to home, and as no one lives in the CBD, people who work selling coffee to people are also finding work closer to home.
I worked in the CBD over forty years ago. I couldn’t understand then why the job I was doing was based in the CBD. It could have been done anywhere in the country – indeed, even then, it could have been done from home (it would have been more difficult in those days, but it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility).
The conversation should be shifted to one about the new realities. Should we be decentralising? Should we be working from home on a more fixed basis? Are these things going to happen regardless of the needs and wishes of a few cafe owners (and, more importantly, investors in office buildings)?
If they are inevitable shifts brought on by the new reality, then what everyone concerned should be looking at is what needs to be done to facilitate this.
I don’t think anyone really is.
Here is a good one for churches!
The churches do not pay taxes
They don’t pay land tax
And yet the churches car parks are marked as private and you must show authorisation or ELSE you get fined.
Insiders – Sunday 20th February
David Speers is joined by Niki Savva, Jennifer Hewett and James Campbell to discuss the government’s attempt to frame Anthony Albanese and Labor as weak on national security and China, political donations plus energy policy.
Guest : James Paterson – Chair Of The Joint Parliamentary Committee On Intelligence And Security
It’s all about the trophy CBD office building, the trophy executive office suite with harbour views etc.
Melbourne should do what Sydney and other vibrant cities have done, especially post-pandemic, and convert unused office space into residential property. It gives the lifeblood of a city, and the attendant small businesses there, a shot in the arm.
Problem. Solved.
more of the same. No policy just insults from a sad little party that has done nothing.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/voters-sick-of-labor-says-new-greens-candidate-for-richmond-20220218-p59xl6.html
Melbourne has no shortage of apartments. One of the few markets where prices are declining.
Searching the Murdoch’s Daily ToiletPaper today for hysterical boosting of ScoMo’s memes for the week, looking for :
– Albo’s little red book
– Labor soft on deporting criminals
– Labor soft of Defence
– secret weapon Jen
– and even Angus Taylor’s indolent ‘I Know Nuthink’ response to more coal power stations closing
Not a mention in the headline, which is what most glance at.
Instead we have the steady diet of
– booming Sydney house prices – the ‘Billionaire Burbs’
– crime
– NRL puff pieces
– domestic violence of a sporting star, Alex Bunton
– shark attack
– bimbo and himbo ‘influencers’
– and this singular piece (see opinionista to follow) on politics lauding Matt Kean
phoenixRED @ #511 Saturday, February 19th, 2022 – 8:17 am
Gawd, Niki Savva the only reason to watch tomorrow. Think I’ll catch it on iView instead.
The word cloud in my head that I’m getting from the commentary about Morrison’s behaviour in parliament and beyond this week as he attempted to mischaracterise Albanese and the FPLP, is ‘absurd brinkmanship’.
Also, this observation from the smh editorial is more than apt:
The Coalition’s attacks are based largely on innuendo rather than serious differences of policy.
The Coalition (has) tried to smear ALP politicians for cultivating ties with China years ago, even though at the time both sides of politics saw working with China as vital to Australia’s interests.
And who are the ToiletPaper’s opinion writers for the weekend?
Barnyard’s better half, Vikki Campion on ‘Politics of Protest: Agree or go home’
Staff Clown Joe Hildebrand on ‘its clear: Covid scaremongering exposed’
Failed Liberal candidate Erin Molan on ‘Grow up whingers- it’s not all the government’s fault’
Campion looking for another angle to criticise Albo, must be panic in the spin doctor crew..
Politics of protests: Agree or go home
It appears Labor empathy only applies to certain crusades because when thousands took part in a massive rally in Canberra last weekend, Albo just told them to “go home,” Vikki Campion writes.
Frednk @ #425 Saturday, February 19th, 2022 – 8:38 am
So why did zoomster say no one actually lives in the CBD of Melbourne!?!
Having observed the PM, together with the Mayor of Alice Springs spruiking their fix alls for the entire nation, the NT and the Alice it is clear that between now and when the federal election is called, (and the election itself), the behind in the polls PM is concocting a recipe of “re-arranging the truth” in an attempt to garnish another miracle .
How much support will the MSM lavish on Morrison?
How much has social media changed the rules?
How much will Palmer and the Liberals spend on advertising?
How much do the voting public even care?
It’s already a very long election build up!
Howard’s last victory and the 2019 miracle leave many concerned.
The start of the footy season may save the “hypocritical, lying advertising” bogan from “the Shire”!
Or not?
I think that lots of CBD workers would be quite pleased at being able to work without having to commute. Sometimes you need to work with colleagues face to face but for most back-office workers, even those in front-line management roles, that’s not a big proportion of your day. Most routine meetings can be conducted online and most of your work you can do on your own with good online access and a phone. Anyway, who’s got time to go out and get coffee?*
I used to work in the Sydney CBD. I mostly liked by job. The part I liked least was commuting. I’d have been glad to lose that part of my work day.
Times change.
* one of my pet peeves – people who show up to meetings late with a cup of coffee they bought outside?
‘Granny Anny says:
Saturday, February 19, 2022 at 12:00 am
Boar, you nominated 6 countries that have committed crimes against humanity, it decending order of magnitude Nigeria, China, Burma, Russia, Sri Lanka, and Israel.
I can’t find much evidence of people denying the guilt of of the first 5, but there is plenty denying the guilt of Israel, including Morrison:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/03/no-country-is-perfect-morrison-critical-of-amnesty-international-report-on-israel
Why is that do you think?’
———————————–
Your question seems to be ‘Why single out Israel for either attack or defence from other countries with the same or worse record?’ Why, for example, are politicians choosing to defend Israel rather than, say, Sri Lanka?
My suggestion in both cases would be that, in part, politicians such as Corbyn and Morrison are speaking to their respective bases. The question then becomes this. ‘What are those politicians telling us about the perceptions of their respective bases?’
Indi is a long way from Melbourne.
There are plenty of people I know who are going to be returning to the workplace in a hybrid capacity. Their employers see the benefits of keeping people working from home such as reduced rent because you can downsize office space. My employer is going to embrace a hybrid working model where you can work from home up to 50% of the time.
Nick Coatsworth starting to show his true colours..
Former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth has been booked as a guest speaker at two Liberal Party-linked events next week, including a political fundraiser for Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
But the high-profile infectious diseases expert says the appearances shouldn’t be seen as evidence of any political leaning or a step in advancing his own political career, insisting he would happily accept invitations from any of the major parties to speak about the management of the pandemic.
Dr Coatsworth, who is not a member of a political party, said he agreed to speak at next week’s events because he wants to spread the message about Australia’s successes through the crisis.
“We are really stuck in a ‘what did we do wrong’ narrative at the moment,” he told The Canberra Times.
“If we stay there, we’re actually at risk of ditching the things that we did right.”
Dr Coatsworth is no longer working as a public servant, meaning he has the freedom to accept the types of political speaking engagements he turned down while helping to steer Australia’s response at the start of the pandemic.
He is booked to speak at a meeting of the Canberra Liberals’ Kurrajong branch on Wednesday night. Dr Coatesworth confirmed Mr Frydenberg had also invited him to speak at an event later in the week, understood to be hosted by the treasurer’s Kooyong 200 fundraising group.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7625428/nick-coatsworth-to-speak-at-liberal-events/?cs=14329
C@t, “Melbourne should do what Sydney and other vibrant cities have done, especially post-pandemic, and convert unused office space into residential property. It gives the lifeblood of a city, and the attendant small businesses there, a shot in the arm.
Problem. Solved.”
Pre-pandemic Melbourne’s nightlife and street crowds (even weekdays) at night were thriving partially because so many people lived in apartments in the city centre (about 40,000 in the actual CBD alone, and thousands more in nearby areas of the city – Carlton, etc.). I went to Sydney in 2019 and couldn’t believe how dead the centre was. Glady’s now overturned anti-fun laws? Turning offices into flats is not the answer in Melbourne. People have different habits in the Covid-age. It is a pointless exercise for Sydney.
Josh Gordon asks, “Is the government ready to take on pubs and clubs, as well as Crown?”
_____________________
Fat chance of that happening.
Even the recommendations on Crown will be watered down knowing the Andrews govt.
I think that Israel is treated differently because it’s regarded as part of the Western ‘family’, unlike the other countries listed.
It was indeed the anti-fun laws, which in turn rendered cultural businesses uneconomic, so the nightlife stayed dead even post-repeal.
VIC records 20 deaths, 365 hospitalisations, 6,280 cases
………………………………………………………..
NSW records 12 deaths, 1,297 hospitalisations, 7,615 positive tests
Morning all. Thanks for the excellent roundup BK. Some very good pieces on Morrison’s very bad week.
The Pentecostal candidate has cheek raising questions about the security risk of Labor. Arguably Australia’s two greatest security failures in the past decade were the selling of Darwin Port to a Chinese company approved by a Liberal defence minister, and the ten year failure of LNP governments to start building the extra submarines Rudd identified as being needed back in 2009. And need I mention the failures in Iraq and disastrous withdrawl from Afghanistan? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Its like getting a lecture on probity from Donald Trump.
Why is Israel’s record a topic of discussion at the moment?
Amnesty International recently released a report about the situation there and Morrison referred to it.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/02/israels-apartheid-against-palestinians-a-cruel-system-of-domination-and-a-crime-against-humanity/
NSW:
– 1,297 hospitalisations
– 81 people in ICU
– 12 lives lost
– 7,615 positive tests: 4,768 RAT & 2,847 PCR
Joe Biden saying the Russian invasion is about to happen.
Meanwhile on Ukrainian TV, things get somewhat heated..
https://twitter.com/gkates/status/1494789108874551299?s=21
I haven’t been to the Sydney CBD since before anyone had heard of Covid. Unless you work there’s not much reason to be there.
The name of that Ukrainian TV show translates as ‘Free Speech”
Liberal MPs who fear Defence Minister Peter Dutton is positioning to seize the prime ministership on the eve of an election are pressing the other would-be contender, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, to step up.
With the Liberal Party desperately trying to haul itself out of what some fear is an electoral death spiral, discussions about Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s leadership are ricocheting around the Coalition.
Liberal Party conversations over the past fortnight, both inside Parliament House and beyond it, have canvassed how much of the party’s travails are due to the Coalition’s policy positions and how much is related to Morrison’s plunging popularity.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/02/19/liberal-mps-push-frydenberg-step/164518920013354#mtr
What about Saudi Arabia – Australia friend ?
Beheading, murdering and raping.
Also control freaks
Soc,
Scott Morrison IS Australia’s Donald Trump. So, yes, he will behave like him every day until the election.
Australia has quietly passed three million Covid cases since the start of the Pandemic. Over 90% of these cases have been reported since Christmas.
Sohar,
I’ve been to Sydney a few times post Gladys’ Fun Killer laws and post the worst of Covid and it seemed to be thriving. I was there at the end of January, being the latest time, and it seemed possibly a little down on what it could be if it was at maximum thriving level but still bustling all the same.
Cat
“Scott Morrison IS Australia’s Donald Trump. So, yes, he will behave like him every day until the election.”
Agreed. At this point Morrison is simply a desperate man in search of any political wedge he can find. Women’s rights, gay rights, immigration, religion, national security, climate, jobs. He will use any issue he can make up.
Morrison care factor? Zero.
You have to wonder now if the whole secrecy around the AUKUS deal, and burning the French relationship by lying to Macron about the Naval contract was purely domestic politics.
What was the security reason that we could not tell the French in advance we were cancelling their contract? Sure Defence might have wanted to keep the nuclear deal secret till the UK and US signed up, but why not give fair warning about the contract cancellation? It only increased risk.
Domestic politics is left as the only explanation. By going straight from contract cancellation to AUKUS announcement, Morrison neatly avoided any public debate about the nuclear submarine decision, and any parliamentary scrutiny about why the French contract was cancelled.
Self-interest explains everything with Scomo.
C@tmomma says:
Saturday, February 19, 2022 at 8:47 am
Frednk @ #425 Saturday, February 19th, 2022 – 8:38 am
Melbourne has no shortage of apartments. One of the few markets where prices are declining.
So why did zoomster say no one actually lives in the CBD of Melbourne!?!
A lack of apartments is not the reason. The apartment build has all happened over the last 10 years.
My own view, the building is going to stop. This is going to cause a big problem in the Victorian economy.
I think because of the improvement in communication the change was inevitable, covid has accelerated it. I don’t think people are going back.
My son worked for a firm that has gone completely remote, this has opened the talent pool up as they can now hire people from other states and have. They have abandoned their office space.
Because there is no commute and no commute expenses my son reckons it is worth $20,000 a year to him.
There is no way that firm is going back.
Thanks to BK for another excellent round-up, including the SMH editorial saying Morrison ‘crossed a line’ re Albo and China.
Ditto to Sprocket at 8.38am for braving the Daily Toilet Paper and finding zero headlines (or stories) boosting Morrison’s nonsense.
Are these indicators of a less compliant media than 3 years ago? Or was it easy to tar Shorten as ‘shifty’ whereas basically nobody (not even the Lieberals) believes the ‘red Albo’ bullshit?
Looking forward to Hitler Youth’s appearance on the Insiders tomorrow. Although with a Liberal Party backbench senator being his guest, it looks as though Speers is scraping the bottom of the talent barrel. Where are the safety and security heavy-hitters like Dutton?
Will we find out whether young James sees himself as a Tinder 6 or a 10?
I linked this yesterday. There will be construction happening in Victoria.
Victoria to impose $800m levy on property developers to fund social housing https://t.co/DYwEAk4pGp @GuardianAus
Frednk, Confessions
I agree with you on CBD office space and behavioural change. It is permanent. I am part of the change.
The large firm I used to work for sold off half the CBD office space it had on long term rental. Now people average 2-3 days w a week in the office, and that is in Adelaide, where covid impacts were well managed (till Marshall went mad in December). I still have some office space rented in town myself, including parking space, but only use it once a week. I normally only go in when there is a FTF meeting people want. We ran an interstate workshop with 20 participants last week on Teams. It worked well.
The cost saving from going hybrid or 100% remote is so large that any firm that goes back to 100% staff in a CBD office will lose out to their competitors. So they won’t do it. Nobody is going back to 5 days a week in the CBD.
CBD landlords need to face the fact that perhaps 50% of office space should be re-purposed to residential if it is to be occupied. The resultant increase in CBD population is the only way CBD shops and restaurants will survive.