It’s an off week for Newspoll and Roy Morgan, but this week should see the release of federal polls from Essential Research and, I would assume, Resolve Strategic. With all the SA election post clogging up the board though, I need a new open thread sooner than that, so I’ll hang one off the latest release of JWS Research’s occasional True Issues survey of issue salience.
This finds very little change since the previous survey in November, with the war in Ukraine only eliciting a slight bump in defence, security and terrorism, which remains well down the list.
The biggest movers are cost of living, the index score of which is up from 11% to 16%, and housing and interest rates, up four to 14%.
Respondents continue to rate health as the issue governments should be most focused on, which would not surprise observers of the South Australian election campaign. The level of concern is unchanged on November with a score of 37%, but still well down from earlier in the pandemic. In second and third place are the environment and climate change on 27%, down one, and economy and finances on 24%, up two. The survey was conducted March 4 to 8 from a sample of 1000.
The thing that upset me the most about Sam Maiden’s attempt to justify Kimberley Kitching’s actions was how she constructed an artifice to explain away Kitching’s call to Linda Reynolds over Signal, so not via ordinary modes of communication, to warn Reynolds about the alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins in Reynolds’ office. That was way out of bounds and not excusable in any way, shape or form.
Which, after Maiden’s good work wrt the Brittany Higgins story I just can’t understand why she is letting Kitching off the hook so lightly?
The more we learn about it, the more it becomes obvious Penny and co, at the very least, had good reason to exclude her form tactic meetings. The Samantha Maiden’s of the world are looking sillier and sillier.
Sheridan is pretty out of touch if he thinks that Ukraine will allow Russia to keep a massive amount of territory and allow sanctions to be lifted. Firstly, Europe and America don’t want that and they are the one’s laying the sanctions. Ukraine really has to play for time and let the sanctions do their work.
“Birmo always reminds me of the cartoon kid on the front cover Mad Comics.”
Alfred E. Newman.
Perhaps apt, given the line on the SA result he was peddling, that Newman’s catchphrase is/was ‘What, me worry?’
The other reason that sanctions will not easily be lifted is public opinion is massively behind the Ukrainians. If the Russians were allowed back into International Sport there would be riots and boycotts left right and centre.
I doubt the Kim K story will last beyond Monday – still unpleasant how so many on here attack her now in death.
Who would want to be in politics? Anything or everything is now fair game for either of the 2 party duopoly , party wise or faction ally to score a point it seems.
”
sprocket_says:
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 9:06 am
ScoMo displaying his trademark lies in WA. He must think the voters are stupid – or have the memories of goldfish
”
Or probably both.
fess,
I’m pretty sure that Maiden won the Gold Walkley just the other day.
Very bad vibes on Insiders this morning. Maiden was clearly in a foul mood – which she covered up by laughing excessively at things that weren’t funny – and resented anyone (paticularly Mark Kenny) who dared to challenge her in her self-appointed role as the global expert on all things Kimberley Kitching. Her comment, seemingly directed to Kenny, that “maybe I should get myself a Moleskine notebook and I could present myself as a public intellectual” came across as a bit snarly, although it’s always difficult to tell the tenor of such banter. (I personally was more concerned about Kenny’s moustache, which I’m very pleased to see he has shaved off.)
Maiden is good value in terms of being able to befriend people and somehow get them to divulge information they have kept from others. But IMO she’s not that hot on analysis, as she demonstrated again this morning.
Her explanation of how it was unfair for Kitching to be accused of having been a leaker to the Libs was pretty unconvincing IMO. (Whether it was appropriate in terms of maintaining teamwork for Kitching’s Labor colleagues to make such an accusation – if indeed anyone did – is a different question, but nobody on Insiders went there.)
Anyway, everyone looked uncomfortable with each other this morning. Except for Greg Sheridan, who looked emaciated and unwell. Is there something wrong with him? (I hope not. He was a contemporary of mine at uni, and – whatever one might think of his political views – he was a rather nice guy.)
“ I doubt the Kim K story will last beyond Monday – still unpleasant how so many on here attack her now in death.”
I, for one, were prepared to attack her in life.
I was shocked by her death. A truly terrible thing. But only spoke out when the unholy LNP-MSM cartel began to lionise her to triangulate against Labor. Aided by the currently losing and desperate grouper sub faction from Victoria. Which is exactly what you are doing, you toxic troll with your ‘same-same’ duopoly lie. Fuck off.
An interesting aspect of the SA result that I have not seen commented on is that all the seats taken from the Libs were won by women and a number of those still in play have women candidates.
We’ve seen the Women Teal candidates dominating publicity in the lead up to the coming Frederal Election. Could be a trend and partially help explain why Morrison and the Libs are doing so poorly in current polls.
All Labor’s confirmed new MPs so far with deputy leader Susan Close: five women entering state parliament
Saratov is on the Volga River. Are sanctions affecting the average Russian? – a truck selling bags of sugar out the back is doing good business…
https://twitter.com/alexandruc4/status/1505198364811534339?s=21
Maybe the electoral pattern since COVID hasn’t been so much to return incumbent governments, but to retain and restore ALP governments. If so, what does this mean for the Coalition in May?
Andrew_Earlwood says:
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 10:43 am
I was shocked by her death. A truly terrible thing. But only spoke out when the unholy LNP-MSM cartel began to lionise her to triangulate against Labor. Aided by the currently losing and desperate grouper sub faction from Victoria.
_________________
She was not well liked by the Left in Victoria. If for nothing else her close friendship and frequent appearances with Andrew Bolt simply dismayed many.
Steve777 says:
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 9:06 am
Thank you once again BK for the Dawn Patrol.
Sometimes I find the cartoons intriguing but obscure. The one with the nice lady shopping (plus a giant pretzel and other giant grocery items) is one such. I did an image search and found this: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/money/saving/is-costco-really-cheaper-than-woolies-let-s-find-out-20220318-p5a5wh.html
(Answer: yes, with caveats).
———————————————————————–
The problem with that analysis is that it equated the quality of house brands. All house brands are not created equal.
Costco’s Kirkland house brands are often as good or better than the advertised brands. I don’t think you would say that of the Coles or Woolies plain wrapper products.
The same could be said of Aldi. These two international organizations obviously spend a lot of time selecting their suppliers and controlling quality.
So you can take her first analysis which showed a dramatic difference in price in favor of Costco. Added to which is Costco’s no questions asked return policy and variety and quality of non-grocery items.
Emma,
Labor tends to be strong on delivery of services in a time of crisis. So, you may have a point.
Morrison and the Lib Government have always had an antipathy to welfare issues. Certainly, Morrison and his Government have been slow, poorly organised and indifferent (apart from words) to implenting desperately needed responses to Covid, the floods and bushfires.
Another collectors item from the Herald Suns coverage of elections.
Chinda63 says:
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 10:19 am
I also think the Liberal Party is in decline as a representative of urban voters. Having been colonised by Pentecostals and laissez-faire ideologues, they are now completely out of touch with contemporary expectations and values.
As an organisation, aside from its reactionary colonists, invitees, shareholders and chaperones, the Liberals have only trinkets inside. They are a carton with a sticker on the outside. Naturally, the contents of the box are not as described on the label. Open the box and what do you see? Dress-ups. Costume jewellery, a velvet waistcoat, a moth eaten cloak (dark blue with ricrac trim and ruffles on the collar) funny felted hats, feathers, plastic daggers, swords and a pistol, Auntie’s crocheted mittens, buckled boots, a cigar box, a ukulele.
In the bottom of the box can be found a folded map of the London Underground from 1953. There’s a much-worn copy of Biggles Flies Again by W.E. Johns and a book-marked edition of Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead. A toupee. A Groucho Marx nose. And several wigs. An inkwell, blue ink long-since dried and flaking. Photos of Ava Gardener, Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Reynolds, Richard Burton and Kirk Douglas. An ancient Revlon lipstick.
Forgotten fantasies in a cardboard carton. The LRP.
Fess
Just catching up on your earlier comment.
I have been around. Not so much last week, as i was away.
Greensborough Growler @ #112 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 10:44 am
Labor will be better for having more women in the party room.
Fair enough i say.
Kitching leaked Brittany Higgins’ allegations to Linda Reynolds. That’s why Labor dropped her from the tactics committee.
https://t.co/a0ergopGr7
”
Greensborough Growlersays:
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 10:44 am
An interesting aspect of the SA result that I have not seen commented on is that all the seats taken from the Libs were won by women and a number of those still in play have women candidates
………..
………
”
One from last night below.
bug1says:
Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 10:39 pm
The 5 seats ABC is showing ALP gaining are all female MPs, and another ahead in doubful.
Currently heading for 12F, 13M
Bushfire Bill @ #99 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 10:04 am
Maybe it’s because he’s asleep most of the time? 😐
Greensborough Growler @ #112 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 7:44 am
The problem here is that this just gets Labor SA close to parity with many of the women in marginal seats.
They need to get 50% in the safer seats, so the disparity isn’t recreated after the next poor election result.
Victoria @ #124 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 11:20 am
She was being duchessed by the Libs, just like Kevin Rudd was by Julie Bishop after Julia Gillard deposed him.
nath @ #115 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 11:04 am
I think she just hung out with the wrong crowd.
Her strong will and determination was admirable, but misdirected.
Any big (for Sth Australia 👿 ) scalps taken last night ?
Hear bloody hear
——–
Neil Hauer
Something I’ve noticed over the past week or so here: almost every Ukrainian I spoke to has made it clear that they blame not only Putin, but the average Russian as much (or more) for this war. The view is: we overthrew our corrupt government, and they accept their murderous one.
I mean, what was the Labor leadership supposed to do? Provide a back door into the thinking of the tactics committee? Loose lips sink ships.
Rex Douglas @ #128 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 8:24 am
Maybe she hung out with them because they had common beliefs.
poroti @ #130 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 11:25 am
Almost the Premier Steven Marshall, himself. He currently leads by only 95 votes I think.
Voters in Maribyrnong can do the nation a great service by putting the Shorten and the Lib last and second last. Get him the hell out of the joint.
Give the Victorian Socialist candidate Daniel Nair Dadich a go, who would be much like Dan Andrews.
The sugar buying in Russia is panic buying as they apparently have a lot of Sugar in storage at the moment. Russia is also the world’s largest producer of Beet Sugar, 5.2 million tonnes of sugar. However, this is may not actually be enough to cover the whole demand for sugar (350 kilo per person seems a lot however, but they do make a lot of ethanol out of it for consumption (Vodka) and industrial purposes).
So the panic buying is caused by the fear that there will be short term shortages and that the price is going to skyrocket.
Victoria says:
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 11:26 am
Despatching the Tsar has always been more easily said than done. Tis a duty of the court more than the peasantry, who have few opportunities to resist, and no power whatsoever.
No surprise the personal smear attack on Labor is starting to look like its backfired on the Libs/nats and their corrupt propaganda media units, their stories are changing
Rex Douglas @ #134 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 8:30 am
Why would they want to do that?
They seem pretty happy with him.
Last election he increased his margin and is likely to so again at the next one.
C@t
Thanks. Chased up the electoral commission, he’s listed as having 50.3% . The Libs themselves barely manage to have a 3 in front of their vote. 30.2%.
Mike Galsworthy
@mikegalsworthy
14h
If you haven’t seen it yet:
The Tory MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke, tried to join the protest over the P&O sackings yesterday, but was swiftly called out by the crowd for having voted against Labour’s attempt to put a stop to fire & rehire practices.
From
James Bryant
Worth clicking through to watch the video 🙂
https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/1505118478398894088
Rex Douglas says:
Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 11:30 am
Voters in Maribyrnong can do the nation a great service by putting the Shorten and the Lib last and second last. Get him the hell out of the joint.
Give the Victorian Socialist candidate Daniel Nair Dadich a go, who would be much like Dan Andrews.
________________
Albo would be fully justified in leaving Shorten out of the ministry after the past week with all the backgrounding of journalists and the campaign against Albo so close to an election.
I had no strong views about Kimberley Kitching. The little I saw was reasonably impressive, although I was quite unhappy about her using coward’s castle to allege the name of a Chinese person as the ASIO ‘puppeteer’. I was even more unhappy that she put it to the DG of ASIO, knowing full well that he could neither confirm nor deny. It was cheap.
However I was shocked by her early death and, like others, felt sympathy for her family and friends.
Then came the leaks. Now, these leaks are particularly cowardly, because they were made on the basis that, so soon after her death, the people who were leaked against (and the other targets) could not defend themselves without speaking grossly ill of the dead even before her funeral.
Publicly, the Senate leaders (who all happen to be women) have responded very carefully and properly to the allegations being pushed. Privately, however, it is clear that those who feel not well disposed towards the late Senator have pushed back hard.
The really sad thing is that if it was her genuine friends who pushed the allegations about bullying into the open straight after her death, they did her memory a huge disservice. She may have been buried with all due honours for a Senator who died in harness and her best performances remembered while the negatives were buried with her. Instead, she will be remembered within the Labor Party and its supporters for all the wrong reasons – as a potential ‘rat’ and leaker.
I can’t imagine anyone who really cared about her would this to be her legacy.
He’s right.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/desperate-despondent-ignored-australian-science-at-crisis-point-20220310-p5a3g2.html
TPOF
Agree wholeheartedly!
My bad…. Russia’s per capita sugar production is about 36kg and their consumption is 41kg (I was out by a factor of 10). So they might have to import ~20% of their sugar but I am sure that India, China and Cuba* can make that up.
*Interestingly in Cuba there is a sugar refining town called Australia.
poroti @ #139 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 11:35 am
Not quite the ringing endorsement of his tenure as Premier by his own electorate. I heard the ALP candidate who ran against him say that urban infill in the electorate was THE hot topic when she was campaigning.
Rewi @ #105 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 10:15 am
Alfred E. Neuman is 70 years old
For no particular reason
Sceptic @ #147 Sunday, March 20th, 2022 – 12:08 pm
There’s a miniature in a corner of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.
https://www.eutouring.com/images_paris_statues_301.html
Not watching the Morrison lunch time Sunday press conference at Kirribilli. Has he debuted in stubble and hoodie yet?
https://twitter.com/themarkjacka/status/1505341200567762950, #AusPol checklist