To mark the occasion of today’s announcement of May 21 as the date of the federal election, I have given my federal election guide a thorough overhaul, which it needed, having not been seriously updated since January. A great many candidates have been announced since then, among the most notable being those Liberal candidates in New South Wales whose positions were not confirmed until Friday, when the High Court definitively quashed a long-running challenge against the manner of their selection. In addition to confirming incumbents including Sussan Ley in Farrer, Alex Hawke in Mitchell and Trent Zimmerman in North Sydney – the first two being cabinet ministers – a further nine candidates had been rubber-stamped by a committee consisting of Scott Morrison, Dominic Perrottet and former party president Christine McDiven, including five in seats of actual or potential interest:
• Jenny Ware, a moderate-aligned lawyer who works at Georges River Council, will run against Craig Kelly, now of the United Australia Party, in Hughes. The choice of Ware appeared to throw a bone to the local party membership, who were angered by earlier plans to impose Manly-resident PwC Australia management consultant Alex Dore on the electorate. They were nonetheless deprived of the preselection ballot that would otherwise have pitted Ware against state Holsworthy MP Melanie Gibbons, presumably reflecting Perrottet’s determination that there should be no by-election for Gibson’s existing seat.
• Jerry Nockles, Pharmacy Guild executive, navy veteran and former staffer to politicians including Senator Jim Molan, will be the candidate for Eden-Monaro. Dan Jervis-Bardy of The Canberra Times reports a rival candidate, former Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council deputy mayor Mark Schweikert, withdrew his nomination after the cancellation of a rank-and-file ballot, saying he did not wish to be seen to endorse the national executive’s takeover.
• Maria Kovacic, Franchise Council of Australia director and former owner of an ANZ franchise, will face off against Labor’s Andrew Charlton in Parramatta. Another nominee for the preselection was Charles Camenzuli, engineer and brother of Matt Camenzuli, who had pursued the legal action against the takeover of the preselection process.
• Katherine Deves, a lawyer and co-founder of a group that campaigns for strict definitions of biological sex in women’s sport, will seek to recover Warringah from independent Zali Steggall. Deves was given dispensation to run despite not having been a financial party member for the requisite six months, as the party hierarchy cast around for an option better suited to local sentiment than arch-conservative Lincoln Parker.
• Pradeep Pathi, a project manager at Westpac, will run against Labor’s Michelle Rowland in Greenway, where he might find himself buoyed by the results of a new seat poll, on which more below.
Another legal issue worth noting is that the Liberal Democrats have found a loophole in legislation designed in large part to force them to drop the word “Liberal” from their name, and will accordingly contest the election under their existing name. Antony Green relates that the party withdrew its voluntary application to change its name on March 22, compelling the Australian Electoral Commission to lodge a notice to deregister it for falling foul of the new law, initiating a process that will not be complete by the time the existing register of parties is set in stone by the issue of the election writs.
Polling news:
• The News Corp papers yesterday published four seat polls by Redbridge, which were a mixed bag on voting intention, to the extent that the reporting allowed this to be discerned. A poll for Bass had the Liberals on 36% (down 6.3% on the 2019 result) and Labor on 36% (up 1.3%); in Paterson, Labor were on 38% (down 3.1%) and the Coalition were “0.58% higher”, which I think means 33%;; in Greenway, Labor was on 38% (down 7.9%) and Liberal were on 40% (down 0.6%); and in Longman, the Liberal National Party was on 34% (down 4.6%) and Labor were on 33% (down 1.1%). This suggests Labor would knock over a 0.4% margin in Bass but fail to defend its 2.8% margin in Greenway, while falling slightly short against a 3.3% margin in Longman and suffering a survivable swing against their 5.0% margin in Paterson. Results on economic questions seem to be worse for the Coalition than usual, with Labor “neck-and-neck” on economic management, cost of living and interest rates, and no majority support for the notion that the Liberals were “a safe pair of hands in these uncertain times” or that “taxes will always be higher under a Labor government”. The polls sampled “between 800 and 1000” respondents and were “conducted in the past week&8221; – further clarification on both counts will shortly be forthcoming when Redbridge publishes its methodology statement.
• InDaily has published results of a Greens-commissioned uComms poll from across South Australia showing Labor with a lead of 58-42, a swing in their favour of 7.3%. The primary votes were Liberal 33.2%, Labor 39.4%, Greens 9.6%, United Australia Party 3.6% and One Nation 3.1%, with 5.6% undecided. The results in 2019 were Liberal 40.6% (plus 0.3% for the Nationals), Labor 35.4%, Greens 9.6%, United Australia Party 4.3% and One Nation (who ran in only one seat) 0.8%. Also featured was a result on Senate voting intention, which was remarkably poor for Nick Xenophon: Liberal 32.2%, Labor 36.1%, Greens 11.6%, Nick Xenophon 5.2%, Rex Patrick 3.0%, One Nation 3.9% and United Australia Party 2.7%, compared with 2019 results of Liberal 37.8%, Labor 30.4%, Greens 10.9%, One Nation 4.9%, United Australia Party 3.0% and Centre Alliance 2.6%. The poll was conducted on Tuesday from a sample of 1052. InDaily reports the result were at odds with Labor internal polling conducted before Nick Xenophon announced his run, which found 16.3% would vote for him if he did so, along with 30.8% for Labor, 27.7% for Liberal, 8.9% for the Greens and 5.2% for One Nation.
There are also all the European democracies with proportional representation or MMP, which are nearly always governed by multi-party coalitions negotiated after each election.
EDIT: Labor ad on SBS, featuring Albo. Australia deserves a PM who shows up. Albo talks about policies.
As I expected, on Vote Compass I am precisely where Labor used to be before they lurched to the right.
Player One @ #401 Sunday, April 10th, 2022 – 7:15 pm
It seems quite a few remaining Labor partisans are finding themselves to the left of Labor.
Rex Douglas @ #403 Sunday, April 10th, 2022 – 7:17 pm
Not surprising. There is much more room here now.
Lars Von Trier:
Sunday, April 10, 2022 at 6:58 pm
[Thank you Mavis.
Mathilde is determined to hang on for Albo – she was very upset today when people switched off their hearing aids at her retirement community when Albo’s press conference came up on the communal telly.’]
My dear old mum would’ve turned 100 on April, 8 but the stress of
staying alive in order to receive “the” telegram may’ve resulted in her premature death at age 95. Moreover, other inmates in St Paul Villa (Ashmore) took exception to her demand that Kamal’s greatest hits be played around the clock. I don’t mean to be critical, but some of them were very cruel. I mean, she did give them a choice: Rieu.
What do Alan Tudge, Andrew Robb, Christian Porter, Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton, Barnaby Joyce, Scott Morrison, Paul Fletcher, Gladys Liu, Andrew Laming, Stuart Robert, Bridget McKenzie, Gladys Berejiklian, Arthur Sinodinos, Chris Spence, Josh Frydenberg, Amanda Stoker, Mal Brough, Tim Wilson, Michael Sukkar, Garry Edwards, Michaela Cash, Nigel Scullion, Gladys Liu, Jamie Briggs, Mathias Corman, Fiona Martin, Gareth Ward, Dave Sharma, David Davis, Sarah Henderson, , Barry O’Farrell, Andrew Bragg, Joe Hockey, Linda Reynolds, George Brandis, Tim Smith, Alex Antic, Barnaby Joyce, Ian Macfarlane, Darrwn Webber, Sussan Ley, Therese Gambaro, Chris Hartcher, Michael McCormack, Keith Pitt, George Christensen, Peter Dowling, Tim Whetsone, Vicki Dunne, Troy Buswell, Bronwyn Bishop, Stuart Robert, Angus Taylor, Marie Ficarra, Michael Pengilly, Mike Gallacher, Michaela Cash, Craig Baumann, Julie Bishop, Bruce Billson, Malcolm Turnbull, Troy Bell, Wendy Lovell, Michael Ferguson, Joe Hockey, Pru Goward, Tim Owen, Andrew Cornwell, Scott Morrison, Louise Archer and several unnamed Coalition MPs have in common?
They are all current or former members of the Liberal or National Party. After that they show individual initiative and enterprise – sometimes in broad daylight, sometimes allegedly and sometimes reportedly:
announcing leaving ministerial position despite following ministerial guidelines with respect to having sex with, and inflicting abuse on, a staffer. (There are unconfirmed reported that negotiations for a six figure deal are underway between the Morrison Government and the staffer)
then quietly NOT leaving the ministerial position and pocketing the ready by the thousands of dollars
walking into $880,000 job with a billionaire with close links to the Chinese Communist Party and straight after negotiating a free trade deal with China
secretly giving $4 million in taxpayer’s money to an entity associated with Hillsong
standing down from the Party following evidence of donation of $10,000 in cash
having 15 staff walk out but not hearing any complaints
scoring a nice earner in the ATT
resigning after admitting making more than 90 false claims and agreeing to repay $7,000
spending $675,000 of taxpayers funds while spending less than three weeks on the ground as ‘drought envoy’
being paid by a lobby group while still a member of parliament
paying for sex in parliament house
spending over $5000 of the taxpayers’s money to attend a Liberal fundraiser
standing down after sexting scandal
granting $550,000 to an organization which has a member married to minister’s staffer
claiming allowances for being in two places at the same time
going on a taxpayer’s funded helicopter trip to a wedding; over $5,000 repaid.
allegedly making racist statements about a pre-selection opponent
resigning following evidence being made public relating to a conspiracy to hide idonations
engaging in ‘inappropriate’ behavious (several but unnamed)
standing down from the Party following allegations to solicit money in return for favours
being stood down from the Party for soliciting illegal donations
being sacked from the Party for taking illegal developer donations
resigning from the ministry following an ICAC raid on his office
billing the taxpayer $5000 for flight costs to attend a birthday party
resigning after it came to light that he had accepted a $3,000 bottle of wine
showering over ten million dollars of taxpayers’ money on a rain maker
joking about making one of your mates a ‘special envoy’ to Pamela Anderson
calling an aide a ‘lying cow’
resigning after taking illegal developer donation of $20,000
resigning after taking illegal develop donations of $10,000
allegedly making sectarian statements about a pre-selection opponent
being hustled into quarantine following refusal to state vaccination status
facing charges relating to the theft of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars
associating himself with the ‘Ditch the Witch’ campaign
appointing himself as Minister for Women
sludging $444 million into the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. Tranparency rules and value for money rules were breached.
engaging in inappropriate behaviour towards a female staffer
losing his minister’s position after having an affair with a staffer
masturbating onto a desk of a female MP
failing to make statements of income
failing to register ownership of assets
making false (and creepy) claims about a News Corp female journalist being harassed in a woman’s toilet
accusing mothers of fraud by double-dipping on paid parental leave
facing scrutiny for regular trips to adult entertainment venues in the Philippines
attending a fundraiser which had ‘Julia Gillard’s small breasts’ on the menu.
using $2600 of taxpayer money for personal travel
making derogatory comments about Indigenous people and Pacific Island people
accepting a $40,000 watch from a Chinese billionaire
being handcuffed to a stripper’s pole in a nightclub in Russia
handing $150,000 in targeted Indigenous funding to a non-Indigenous peak fishing body
handing $170,000 in targeted Indigenous funding to the NT Amateur Fishing Association
allegedly not finding out whether six figure payments to ASIC appointees were actually illegal
allegedly not acting initially in relation to a five figure payment to an ACMA appointee who was illegally working two APS jobs
handing $165,000 in targeted Indigenous funding to the NT Cattlemen’s Association
attending a fund raiser attended by a property developer, John Woodman, a person of interest to the Victorian IBAC.
insulting Hindus and denigrating Hinduism in comments described by the Hindu Council of Australia as ‘brazen’, ‘racist’ and ‘Hindu-phobic’
scrapping $65 million in car parks three years after they had been, without much by way of apparent probity process, community or council consultation, or competitive process, announced during the last election campaign
resigning following a $74,000 donation to the Liberal Party by Australian Water Holdings. Sinodinos, who was Deputy Chairman of AWH at the time knew nothing.
being treasurer and finance director of Liberal Party when $700,000 flowed into party coffers from ‘secret donors’. Denies knowing or having to do with any illegal donations
having ties to groups with links to the Communist Chinese Government
denying allegations of rape
allegedly standing to make millions from ‘dodgy dealings’
managing to sell land worth $3 million for $30 million
managing to sell water for $80 million which was allegedly worth nothing
getting called ‘autocrat’, ‘liar’, ‘hypocrite’, ‘bully’, ‘fraud’, ‘complete pycho’, ‘horrible, horrible person’, and ‘lacking a moral compass’, by his Liberal and National Party colleagues
engaging in class war by telling brutally poor renters that they should buy a house
refusing to repay $8,000 in claims following an official audit
allegedly changing explanations about the circumstances of official travel
resigning from the Ministry after being unable to name mystery donors to a blind trust that was supporting his defo action
implementing Robodebt – possibly illegal, definitely punitive, linked to suicides
voting for ‘It’s OK to be White’
possibly using the resources of the Commonwealth Solicitor General to support an action involving solely the Liberal Party’s internal processes
displaying Chinese election designs made to look like AEC signs
delivering sports rorts
delivering car parks fiasco
resigning after something, something about ICAC
facing a swag of allegations of illegal sexual behaviour
putting out scurrilous public advertising in cahoots with a gang of ultra right ratbags
being pissed at a public engagement
snapping the bra strap of a staffer
allegedly urging colleagues to profit politically from a sectarian hate campaign against muslims
allegedly engaging in sexual harassment of a woman
stating that we were ‘back in the black’ when we were in the red and the red is now the biggest ever
engaging in class warfare in relation to social housing
billing the taxpayer for flights to the Melbourne cup for himself and the wife
sniffing a chair on which a woman had set
putting down teachers in government schools
allegedly grabbing the crotch of another Liberal
making an ‘error of judgement’ in dunning the taxpayer for four trips to the Gold Coast to make a property investment.
putting down child sexual abuse victims
facing allegations of plagiarism
filing a false living away from home claim
facing in court multiple cases of aggravated assault against a woman
allegedly misusing ministerial entitlements
driving a government vehicle into a flooded creek and writing it off
running an office that is allegedly linked to criminal behaviour relating to police tip offs
allegedly threatened a woman, also a Senator, with jail
allegedly being linked to a company that allegedly cleared an endangered ecosystem
running an office that is allegedly linked to alleged criminal behaviour relating to a forged document falsely accusing a public figure of misbehaviour
allegedly lying about the restoration of cardio surgery having been restored at Sydney Children’s Hospital
threatening legal action to try to shut down public debate on their voting records
threatening funding by trying to withdraw charity status from an organisation which publishes contrary views
driving while pissed
crashing into a house while pissed
committing nine speeding offences in the space of three years
writing a letter of support for a federal grant for a company in which his wife allegedly has shares
allegedly without testing the market went straight to a Liberal donor company to buy 70,000 tonnes of COAL
getting mentored by, and being friendly with, a disgraced church leader and… just possibly, lying to the MSM about not having been to Hillsong for 15 years
Was there a constitutional reason for Scott Morrison to travel to Canberra to ask the Governor General to dissolve Parliament
Couldn’t he have spoken to the Governor General by popping through the gate from Kirribilli House to Admiralty House?
Would have saved a lot of money to pay for nurses in aged care
It’s a worry that Le Pen is in the race, Macron spending his time quite reasonably attempting to ameliorate Putin’s murderous assault on Ukraine. I think he’ll (Macron) prevail but it won’t be a lay-down misère.
BeaglieBoy @ #396 Sunday, April 10th, 2022 – 7:10 pm
I took that into account, but I am quite sure the reference was to Star Wars, rather than my good self. I hope the puppy doesn’t upset the camel. There were also several references to my not being here, because some participants mistakenly appear to believe that WB has ‘suspended’ me. In fact, he merely upbraided me with some vehemence for raving on about unholy books, and exchanging insults with a couple of reprobates.
GG needs someone to feel superior to, which much be quite difficult for him. If I serve to fulfil that role then I am happy that I can help.
I intend to settle back and absorb the general hysteria, while working away to get Emma re-elected.
Boerwarsays:
Sunday, April 10, 2022 at 7:24 pm
____________________
As Mumbles used to say.
“Yellow card for length”
“It seems quite a few remaining Labor partisans are finding themselves to the left of Labor.”
That’s not surprising. Just as the Liberal base it very right wing, mostly well to the right of the party’s official positions, something similar applies to Labor partisans.
displaying Chinese election designs made to look like AEC signs
You’ve got to wonder what they’ve got up their sleeves this time.
Was it necessary for him to fly back to Canberra from Avalon etc. just to apparently collect his bags before flying onwards to Sydney?
Was it necessary to use a different, larger plane to fly back from Sydney to Canberra today, just to say g’day to the GG?
Took Vote Compass for the first & last time.. a pathetic joke, barely novelty value.
It would appear one or two questions determine your end preference.
Edit
The biggest single failure & it’s a massive one.. the survey assumes you know the base or neutral position on questions of value, which 80% of people don’t.
So you are being judged against your own perception.
Dropped by hotcopper political forum to get a feel for how the right wing extremists are seeing the election…
They are claiming the forum has been taken over by lefties, it seems people there are questioning the economic credentials of the LNP.
Its a doomsday scenario for LNP if if polls swing AGAINST the LNP from here, there is precedence to say it wont happen, but i see nothing else to justify such as belief.
Not a bad piece on Albanese.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/how-anthony-albanese-emerged-from-the-shadows-to-become-a-leader-in-the-spotlight-20220401-p5aa64.html
Less than 2 hours until Newspoll !
Morrison continues to treat voters with contempt.
Sceptic @ #413 Sunday, April 10th, 2022 – 7:35 pm
No doubt run by Greens who’ve rigged it.
Catchy ScoMo anti promo ad:
https://youtu.be/rAYgc2W7hWc
I am the virus,
I am the illness!
I am the worst Prime Minister, Australia’s had!
Does anyone know when taxpayer funded ads for Morrison must cease?
The SBS NITV channel just showed the completely political “Australia’s Economic Plan” ad.
What was watching election results in 1965 like?
Oakeshott Country @ #400 Sunday, April 10th, 2022 – 7:13 pm
Confessions @ #354 Sunday, April 10th, 2022 – 6:39 pm
Ditto. It’s Mickey Mouse.
First ALP ad – slicker than ‘the ring’ one from the Liberals
https://twitter.com/albomp/status/1513067457010757635?s=21&t=ShKzgPNlBquNuYLaJsOyqg
Rex Douglas @ #418 Sunday, April 10th, 2022 – 7:45 pm
What this says is that Morrison is comfortable with men who abuse women and have affairs whilst married, as his Ministers. Some Christian.
My mother was Jack Renshaw’s private secretary for 18 months. She’d be 109 if she was still alive.
@citizen – tomorrow morning, when the Government goes into Caretaker.
Count for me is 1 Palmer, 1 labor, 1 kim4canberra and 1 aec advert.
Went to the Palm Sunday March for Refugees today at midday. On the way home through the southern suburbs saw several David Pocock corflutes being installed. They were quick off the mark.
Havent seen any other signs as yet.
Saw my first ALP ad on TV- hate to say it but it was weak as hell, about this-and-that…..no clear message, slogan, no over-arching ‘statement’ for change.
I am sure they have market tested it, but it was truly uninspiring.
Monique Ryan, Teal candidate looking to unseat Josh Frydenburg had her launch in Kooyong today…
Caught up on Albo’s presser earlier. Excellent stuff, with some great rebuttals to the lines that the government are (and will be) trying to run on him.
Call Morrison a liar in the parliament and there’s apoplexy
Out in the real world it’s open slather
What a strange place the parliament is
Gotta get Tassie out of the way…
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese will start day one of the election campaign in the Liberal-held marginal Tasmanian electorate of Bass. Travelling media just touched down in Launceston @FinancialReview
@Boerwar
You forgot one in that they gave a $Billion ICT contract to a mate’s company and one of my mates raised this issue and was told to shut up or he would never working in Canberra again. I have already seen the submission to the future ICAC. It will be quite interesting investigation.
This government hides behind religion – just like Joh from Queensland, but they turn out to be the most corrupt governments in Australian’s history.
A pity they did not use the Beatles’ tune for ‘I am the Walrus’
C@tmomma:
Sunday, April 10, 2022 at 7:32 pm
[‘You’ve got to wonder what they’ve got up their sleeves this time.’]
I listened to the BBC World Service this evening, with it predicting that it’s going to get very dirty. Morrison and his corrupt cabal have a lot to lose if a federal ICAC gets legs – those are the stakes.
What Labor needs is a cut-through head-kicker, whom encapsulates the message, willing to match the other side’s lies. At this time, I can’t name a suitable candidate – can you?
And although Karvales seemed to be over-excited on Sunday, I’m not sure about Marles, who was all over the place, almost a train-wreck, as he didn’t won’t to offend – offend, you must!
Sprocket – what the f…k is this get Tassie out of the way?
I doubt very much any federal politicians will be seen in the south of the state where I am, yep I understand Bass and Braddon are and have been marginals and always get more attention.
The whole Tudge… situation is just bizarre. It’s yet another unforced error that wastes the government’s oxygen (on the first day of the election campaign, no less!) and adds to the perception of Morrison being a duplicitous double-talker.
What’s all this fuss about Zoe Daniels? She’s just another right wing neo liberal.
Latest from juicemedia.
https://youtu.be/iCRDseUEEsg
clem attlee @ #439 Sunday, April 10th, 2022 – 8:18 pm
For a start, she’s not Tim Wilson.
There’s a message that Tony Abbott really hammered in the 2013 campaign that I think Labor would do well to get across during this campaign. Even if you like your local member, if you want to change the government, if you don’t want Scott Morrison to be Prime Minister, you need to vote for your local Labor candidate. Obvious to us who are politically engaged of course, but an important message to reinforce, as it may also help get first preference votes from people thinking about voting for minor parties.
Mavis’ late Mum was not, however, with all due respect (and doubtless there is plenty due) Kamahl’s greatest fan.
That would be my Mum.
She has a cherished collection of dusty C60 tapes, dutifully copied off her pristine vinyls by my father, with labels in his despairing hand such as “Kamahl Sings”, “Kamahl Sings Some More”, “Kamahl Sings … AGAIN”, “Greater Love Hath No Man: Kamahl Still At It” and so forth. She thought he was merely jealous. Actually, he was.
She was also a massive fan of Eric Jupp’s wife Shirley.
She’s not too well right now but the election has given her a shot in the arm. She is highly invigorated by the cheering prospect of spending six weeks snorting at the Courier Mail and Sky After Dark* preparatory to spending several happy pre-polling hours working out who to put bottom of the senate ballot while re-electing Terri Butler. If they ever redistribute her out of Griffith and into, say, Bonner I fear the worst.
* I know, I know. Subscription only encourages them, but she get enormous perverse satisfaction out of watching them all being Wrong.
Scout, the Tassie lower house voter gets a 50% weighting on the rest of Australia – don’t start me on the 12 Senate seats. Lovely place, outrageous seat allocation.
Good to see Albo pay due homage first up down there.
Matt31:
That is definitely the message Labor are going with in many Liberal-held electorates, especially the ones with relatively benign “moderates”.
With Easter and the Election coming up, The Last Supper has been reworked…
Sprocket – I saw a look of those people when I went for a jog at about 5 today. I figured something had been happening.
Also whilst out I saw my first Green corfulte in Kooyong. Tons of Ryan ones around about and big “real estate” type Frydenberg versions (including one across the street from me) but the first Green one (and one Liberal Democrat one too).
Isle
I was under 10 and my memory may be faulty but I remember Jim Dibble on the ABC cover and the number of seats won were represented by ping-pong balls in tubes. The votes numbers for each seat were on swinging boards with someone behind the board chalking on new numbers. As the polls closed at 8 pm, I must have been allowed to stay up very late.
The bright spot was that our cousin by marriage, Sam Jones won Waratah back from Purdue the independent Lord Mayor of Newcastle.
Renshaw had become premier in 1964 after serving his time, but he was unsuited for the Premier’s role with no media skills compared to the slick, but very corrupt, Askin. Despite this, it was a close election and Labor lost by 1 (independent) seat despite gaining 100k less votes than the coalition
Who says Murdoch hasn’t given us anything of value?
At his early public performances, from 1958, he shortened his name to Kamal, but successive masters of ceremonies announced him as “camel”; so he changed its spelling to Kamahl.[1] Rupert Murdoch was an early important sponsor and tipped Kamahl £10 at an Adelaide concert in December 1958 and encouraged him to move to Sydney.[1] Without asking, Murdoch arranged for Kamahl to perform a six-week season at the Australia Hotel in Sydney.[3] After that season, he boarded with the Murdochs for two years.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamahl