Market research:
• My first of what will be regular contributions to Crikey each Wednesday through the campaign makes the case for taking opinion polling seriously again, though you may think that I would say that.
• Today’s Financial Review reports focus groups of undecided voters in Sydney and Melbourne found Scott Morrison to be “smirking, unkempt, immature and dishonest”, to which women added “annoying and patronising”. However, he was also considered a hard worker and “good orator”, and marked up for his response to the Ukraine war. Anthony Albanese was “dull, uninspiring and too negative”, and his failure to have made a clear impression meant Labor had failed to fully shake off perceptions it planned to abolish franking credits and introduce a death tax. The focus groups were conducted for the paper by Ipsos on Tuesday – there is no indication that Albanese’s stumbles over unemployment and the cash rate the previous day were raised.
• Miranda Ward of the Financial Review reports Nielsen Ad Intel data shows the United Australia Party has spent $3.49 million in media advertising this month, compared with $472,247 by Labor, $103,265 by Liberal and $42,991 by the Greens.
Candidate news:
• George Christensen’s plan to run for One Nation proved to be a damp squib for everyone but his accountant, the big idea being to run for the inconsequential third position on the party’s Senate ticket. This will entitle him to six months’ worth of their salary, or over $100,000, as part of a “resettlement allowance” paid to defeated but not retiring incumbents. According to Andrew Tillett of the Financial Review, Christensen’s claim that he would have been entitled to it anyway on the grounds that he was effectively knocked back for Liberal National Party preselection does not square with the rules set out by the Remuneration Tribunal.
• Fairfield deputy mayor Dai Le will run as an independent in Fowler, seeking to capitalise on discontent over Labor’s preselection of Kristina Keneally over a member of the seat’s substantial Vietnamese community. Le came within 2.1% of gaining the state seat of Cabramatta for the Liberals in the party’s 2011 landslide and polled 25.9% as an independent there in 2019. Her campaign is backed by Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone, who had earlier floated the possibility of running himself.
On the ground:
• David Crowe of the Age/Herald reports Scott Morrison will be in northern Tasmania today dispensing $219.5 million from a forestry industry fund, with a view to shoring up the Liberal-held marginals of Bass and Braddon and perhaps snaring Labor-held Lyons.
• Barnaby Joyce was in the Northern Territory on Tuesday to target its two Labor-held seats, promoting the budget’s $1.5 billion of spending on new port facilities in Darwin and promising to spend $440 million on logistics hubs elsewhere in the territory, respectively of interest to Solomon and Lingiari. According to David Crowe of the Age/Herald, this points to Coalition hopes it can “gain ground in the regions despite poor polling in the cities”.
• Katherine Deves, who is running for the Liberals against independent Zali Steggall in Warringah, was found to have deleted social media posts relating to trans rights issues, one of which referred to “vulnerable children surgically mutilated and sterilised in furtherance of an unattainable ideal”. This was evidently thought to have exceeded her brief as a campaigner for strict definitions of biological sex in women’s sport, but even here Scott Morrison now appears less keen than he did when he rated it a point in her favour after rubber-stamping her preselection last week.
William sounds like everybody will be waiting for 9pm on the East Coast on 21 May for the WA voting Tsunami to hit.
So, Deacon George’s change of jersey is for the base motive of money.
$105,000 for ‘resettlement’? That’s 4 million Philippine pesos!
9pm on the east coast will be time to sit back with a nice liqueur to round off the evening’s celebrations.
Oh, dear. Captain Scotty’s pick in Warringah wreaks Deves-tation on the Liberals’ hopes:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/14/nsw-liberal-candidate-described-campaign-supporting-lgbt-youth-as-grooming-tactic-used-by-gender-extremists?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/election-2022-dont-underestimate-scott-morrison-says-bill-shorten/news-story/88b39cf1fef49818361735bfa48ffb9d
‘The Epic Fail of Captain Scott’
Meanwhile, Dr Kevin reads the tea leaves:
“The historic pattern predicts Labor will be more likely than not to win a majority if it gets above 50.5% 2PP, while my seat model as of today wants to see 51.1.”
https://kevinbonham.blogspot.com/2022/04/two-party-swing-is-fine-predictor-of.html
On what planet is Scott Morrison a “hard worker”?!
He works hard at promoting himself and peddling bullshit. That’s all.
Good to see I’m not the only one who has noticed he often appears dishevelled and as though he doesn’t care for his appearance. Probably why he’s now always in a suit where he can hide his beer gut and at least give the appearance of having made an effort.
Regarding the voter feedback on Scomoe, hardworking????? He would have to be the laziest PM we’ve ever had and this phoney character and his government deserves to be consigned to memory. Even if he ( heaven forbid) wins he will be gone in a year.
the media seems to have given up on morrison all the conservatives focusing on albaneses gath but no coveerige of the much hiped port of darwin anowsement or fuel security plus just shows how much pm disrespects our so called pacifick family to send his moost junier minister to triy and bulley the solamon islands to pull out of the china deal when we say all the time we wont be coersed as a client state the deal is not great but we have to respect sovrinty
just on the hung parliament stuff not shore about the theorey that the greens are liberal plants but dealing with the greens is a better outcome then dealing with one nation or palmer who vote with liberals 80 perccent labors enemy is thecurupt lnp not the greens were falling in to another dead cat when we atttack the greens
William,
I have been wavering about whether I want to put my hardworking influence dollar to work by supporting Crikey again, after being royally pissed off in 2019 that they did not hold the Morrison government to account.
However, now that you are writing for them for the upcoming election, I have signed up front a 2-year bells and whistles subscription.
I should let them know that you working for them was the deciding factor for me.
juston the hung parliament seemscrozbeys stratigy is that the lnp kknow can not win a majority and are on the nose so use the greens and hung parliament to triy and weaken labors vote so a hung parliameent happens on current poleing seems like a land slide is mor likely in sa penberthy and all the other lib apolagists were ashoring us that mallinuscass could not win a majority and there would be a hung parliament of corse it wassjust wishful thinking
+ 1 for pleased I hung onto my Crikey subs as well.
DAn andrews may be a good federal leader has the similary ability of scot morrison to stay calm under pressure no matter what is thrown at him even with read shirts and somyurek ccovid did not rattle him how ever belt and road would not help mallinuscass would proply be there best bet or mc gowan apart from charmers and wong labor has better members strongist performers are at the state rather then federal levil focus groups are interesting albanese as to negative tony abot was the most negative opposition leader i can remember and had very few policies yet he won in a land slide because the msm never asked him tough questions so he was able to say any thing with out being chalenged much apart from mark rykley on afganastan and obrians if not scripteed dont trust me but albanese comes a cros similar but as labor is questioned mor has a similar style to beazly as well
We’re in Lyons at the moment, went shopping yesterday, there was a Brian Mitchell table with three people outside Coles. We had something to eat, and while sitting there, there was no interest at all from passers-by. We had a chat to one of the people, she said that in 2019 there was a lot of interest in the first couple of weeks of the campaign and then it died down, this time it’s very quiet.
After we did the shopping, there were a few customers and a couple of staff outside the self-checkout talking about the election. Some of the comments were, ScoMo is a bit of a dill but better the devil we know, Albo is a nice bloke but out of his depth he doesn’t even know the unemployment rate, a bottle of Coles olive oil has gone up from $7 to $11 in one jump – inflation is unbelievable – it’s too scary to have Labor come in right now, interest rates will go through the roof with Labor, even if Albo becomes PM that weasel Shorten will stab him and take over. The one positive comment was that Albo seems real, ScoMo is a fake. When my wife said that this government is just so horrible and corrupt, one of the customers said, yeah right her son bought a property in 2018 for 600,000 and it’s now worth 1.3 million “easily”, how horrible is that.
Anyway, we certainly didn’t see any baseball bats in that particular shopping centre. Hopefully they are out in some others. I thought that maybe this is a Lib area of Lyons so when I got to the computer I checked a few local booths results from 2019. They were Labor TPP 70.21, 68.38, 64.32, 68.22, 61.35.
Received an email that the Coalition have reignited the ALP death tax lie.
On the news last night it reported the Coalition are confidante they can win the Qld seat of Lilley. Grrrr…wtf!
Notice Morrison has been time limited to 3-4 hours a day on the campaign trial , brief afternoon press conference ,no meeting and talking with the general public in the streets/shops .
One of the worst starts to a liberal party election campaign for a sitting prime minister to be told not to be allowed out in the public, because he makes too many gaffes and the public do not trust him.
wong and shorten do have the quality to stay on mesige and not rattled but wong is in sennot and shorten had his chance up until johnathen lee started the save sfm campaign shorten was disaplind on pm he reminds me of bob carr of spin disapearing when there is a bad news making a minister take the blame famously skulley in transport selective leaks to friendly jernalistssocializing with them when morrison stufs up he never gets qquestiond about it because his minister has to take the blame plus avoids answers at presers by making rambling speeches then handing over to a minister then a burocrat like kelley frewan or merthey to back him in which only leaves time for a few questions so he can control the narive how ever cconseence is not looking good in gilmore so gues its tasmania now so the path to victory is in nsw stratigy failed
Given that ultimately the economic situation is the single issue that impacts every Australian, Labor really need to attack the Coalition on this issue highlighting incredible debt, outrageous housing costs, impossible rental increases and growing inflation and interests rates all under their watch. Albo needs to repeat these facts daily and often so they sink in, gain traction and undermine the myth.
how could lnp be ahead in lily there candadate ryan shw had to step down aftur a friendly jordies investergation Constance is not looking goood in gilmore he wanted the seat in 2019 but pulled out claming that morrison government would not fund an upgrade to the princess highway enogh then said he would retire then got morrisons baking for edan monarow but pulled out afgter barilarow then garith wards pick got pushed to pull out of preselection so morrison could install constence and his trying to protend hill stand up to pm andis an independent desbite only reazon he is even runing is thanks to hawke and mat kean
Stop the polling, just get Andrew Gold to lurk around shopping centres around the country listening in to conversations
Scott Morrison doesn’t only have a candidate in Warringah that’s a Transphobe, he already has a Senator in parliament that is one (and, let’s be honest, it’s because these women are religious cranks):
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/13/scott-morrison-abandons-support-for-trans-sport-ban-after-hand-picked-candidate-katherine-deves-apologises-for-tweets
I don’t know why people let him get away with saying he was ‘unaware’ of her statements. Wasn’t she a hand-picked candidate of his?
I am getting older, so perhaps my recollection isn’t as clear as it once was.
Haven’t recent polls shown a trend of fewer undecided voters? More so than previous elections, the overwhelming majority of voters have already made their minds up? So why is the AFR focus group on undecideds even newsworthy?
Not only that, she was the head of the lobby group Save Women’s Sport.
He should be made to be more definitive than saying they have “no plans” for the bill to become a government initiative. “No plans” is the oldest trick in the book. Particularly given he has said the bill has his support in the past.
C@t
For eg. Yesterday Morrison confused the name of the seat he was campaigning in.
If it was Albo, we would be reminded of it day in. Day out.
Andrew
I must have been very lucky!
We live in an ultra safe blue ribbon Liberal seat.
Whilst waiting for my procedure there were two others.
Very lucky indeed when we started chatting about the news before us.
They were scathing of Morrison, the corruption & the feeling of abandonment during covid.
I held my cards close. They were not sure about Albo. So I told them better to vote for the drovers dog than give this mob another term. Albos promising an anti- corruption watch dog & as all sides are saying, Albo is a man of good character.In the end moi just said if people vote for Morrison they’re voting for more of the same & voters need to consider their responsibility in enabling corruption & incompetence.
Even the staff were smiling in what appeared to be agreement.
I too find Albanese uninspiring and boring and as dull as dishwater, the tragedy is Morrison should be beatable and this government deserves to be tossed out, yet Federal Labor has the habit of putting the wrong people into leadership positions. Jason Clare or Jim Chalmers would beat Scomo easily, yet I imagine the factional support would be with Richard Marles.
https://theunaustralian.net/2022/04/14/press-pack-turns-on-albo-after-he-serves-only-domestic-wine-at-media-mixer/
Yes, I noticed the oldest trick in the book too. They have ‘no plans’… until they do. It’s just a brush-off to get them over the uncomfortable truth that that’s exactly what this bunch of religious extremists want to do because that’s what they truly believe, and no faux apology is going to cut it.
Hard working? Morrison has always struck me as a five day a week, 9-5 man who is only flushed out after hours to deal with “crises”.
Stuart @ #32 Thursday, April 14th, 2022 – 7:10 am
After hours he seems to get on the jungle juice.
Re Morrison being a hard worker.
We really have no idea which Prime Ministers are hard working and even if that is a good metric to consider.
Compare the perception of Rudd micro-managing everything and Hawke delegating to his ministers.
I’ve known people who were very effective at casting the perception at being hard working; this might include walking fast around the office, appearing distracted by paperwork and adopting a permanent frown when doing so.
Of course it might be that having a less hard working Prime Minister is more desirable if they eventually come to a wise conclusion.
AFR has some focus group results, find ways to suggest the end isnt nigh
Oh no ALP are doomed because of some loud mouthed tory voters at the supermarket. These unengaged voters knew all about Shortens nefarious plans and are prepared to broadcast their sons property windfall etc etc. My take on this election all along has been it will be close. I’ve never thought Albo was an inspiring leader but I think he will make a good PM. The weight of history is against the LNP this time and Scomoe is irritating and three more years of this hopeless lot will be too much for most of us if not the people at the Lyons self serve checkout whose son is now a property millionaire.
It should be remembered that serial killers and mass murderers are invariably ‘hard working’. We should have more appreciation for laziness in our society. Lazy people are less likely to commit crimes and cause trauma for others.
Albo has positive runs on the board.
Show me anything Morrison has touched that has been within budget, time & a legacy for the future.
Hard working means shit if everything you touch is a f*ckup.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers. Here’s a pre-Easter monster!
Albanese needs to perform for the cameras, but on his terms, writes David Crowe. He says Albanese’s performance yesterday showed that Albanese recognised the problem.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-needs-to-perform-for-the-cameras-but-on-his-terms-20220413-p5adbc.html
According to NineFax, the jobless rate is expected to slip below 4 per cent but data shows consumers are gloomier about cost of living pressures, just days into the election campaign.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/unemployment-set-for-50-year-low-but-australians-downbeat-about-inflation-20220413-p5ad7r.html
After his early blunder, the Labor leader must stop the waffle and quickly wrest control of the political narrative, opines Shaun Carney.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-needs-to-fix-more-than-gaffes-to-win-over-voters-20220413-p5ad48.html
Peta Credlin writes that the biggest risk for Albanese after his ‘shocker’ is loss of confidence.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/election-2022-biggest-risk-for-albanese-after-shocker-is-loss-of-confidence/news-story/b86899266fd56618c746e13eea0a6168
Greg Jericho rightfully points out that it’s more important to know the impact of your policies than to know economic figures off-hand. In his article there is a compelling chart that shows the very high proportion on non-full time jobs in the recovery.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/14/its-more-important-to-know-the-impact-of-your-policies-than-to-know-economic-figures-off-hand
Phil Coorey writes that focus group research conducted exclusively for The Australian Financial Review finds views of Morrison are largely, but not entirely negative, but Albanese is regarded as dull, disinterested, uninspiring and too negative.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/better-the-devil-you-know-undecided-voters-lean-towards-pm-20220413-p5ad3u
Anthony Albanese wanted to be kicking with the wind in the final quarter. But he may find himself defending an early lead for too long against a scrapper like Scott Morrison, says Coorey.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/this-election-is-going-to-be-a-sprint-to-the-finish-20220412-p5acsl
Katherinne Murphy writes that Scott Morrison has effectively abandoned his promise to establish a federal anti-corruption watchdog, confirming he would only proceed with legislation in the new parliament if Labor agreed to pass the Coalition’s heavily criticised proposal without amendments.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/13/scott-morrison-effectively-ditches-his-promise-to-establish-a-federal-anti-corruption-commission
Labor’s urgent care centres are a step in the right direction – but not a panacea, explains Stephen Duckett.
https://theconversation.com/labors-urgent-care-centres-are-a-step-in-the-right-direction-but-not-a-panacea-181237
The forestry industry will be promised $219.5 million in federal funding to make more wood products in Australia and set up a major research hub in Launceston, as Scott Morrison heads to the Tasmanian city today to campaign in marginal seats.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-to-pledge-support-for-forestry-workers-in-tasmanian-campaign-stop-20220413-p5ad91.html
Warringah MP Zali Steggall has slammed her Liberal rival Katherine Deves for recruiting her ex-husband’s wife, high-profile Sydney barrister Bridie Nolan, as a key figure in her campaign to win the seat.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/new-low-steggall-slams-liberal-rival-for-recruiting-ex-husband-s-new-wife-20220413-p5ad52.html
Meanwhile, we see Katherine Deves, has described Wear it Purple Day – a day billed as celebrating diversity – as a “grooming tactic” promoting “extreme body modification” on a now-deleted website. The NSW Liberal party has gone to ground on the issue.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/14/nsw-liberal-candidate-described-campaign-supporting-lgbt-youth-as-grooming-tactic-used-by-gender-extremists
And following this, Morrison has backpedalled after flagging the Coalition might support a bill banning transgender women from playing women’s sport, following a backlash from Liberal moderates and independents.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/13/scott-morrison-abandons-support-for-trans-sport-ban-after-hand-picked-candidate-katherine-deves-apologises-for-tweets
Tony Wright writes scornfully about cheap journalism and “gaffes”.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/google-it-mate-the-postmodern-answer-to-a-politician-s-nightmare-20220413-p5adbd.html
Katina Curtis says that Scott Morrison has been doing a tour of factories to spruik male-dominated jobs.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-does-the-tour-of-factories-to-spruik-male-dominated-jobs-20220413-p5ad9o.html
If optics are everything in an election campaign, it doesn’t get much worse than talking about creating local jobs inside a factory poised to cut local jobs, writes Gerald Cockburn who reckons Morrison in hot water over his visit to Rheem.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7699345/optics-all-wrong-on-marketing-mans-rheem-visit/?cs=14329
It would appear the $1.5 billion gas port that Barnaby Joyce wants to build in the Port of Darwin doesn’t stack up on any measure, potentially laying claim the title of least meritorious pork barrels of the election campaign, writes Callum Foote
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/a-darwinian-survival-story-our-northern-port-is-even-more-of-a-disaster-than-first-thought/
Adam Bandt’s speech to the National Press Club Wednesday makes it abundantly clear that the Greens are a grave threat to Australian national security, says Greg Sheridan.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/world/greens-leader-adam-bandts-vision-is-a-national-nightmare/news-story/f7d9a7accec04c2e694f2c5b053ec258
Bill Crews, the charity founder who has spent several Christmas Days dishing out lunch to vulnerable people alongside Anthony Albanese says he is disappointed Labor is not taking a plan to raise JobSeeker to the election.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-decision-to-shelve-possible-jobseeker-improvement-disappointing-20220413-p5ad44.html
“Why don’t politicians get that $46 a day isn’t enough to live on?”, asks ACOSS’s Cassandra Goldie.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/why-don-t-politicians-get-that-46-a-day-isn-t-enough-to-live-on-20220413-p5ad4d.html
The SMH editorial agrees that JobSeeker is still not enough to survive on.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/jobseeker-is-still-not-enough-to-survive-on-20220413-p5adaq.html
Retailers seeking zero to low growth in the minimum wage may struggle to attract and retain staff amid high vacancies and rising living costs, writes Sue Mitchell.
https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/retailers-face-wages-dilemma-as-job-vacancies-surge-20220412-p5ad0y
Morrison’s 1.3 million jobs promise depends on net migration, explains Abul Rizvi.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/morrisons-13-million-jobs-promise-depends-on-net-migration,16258
Callum Foote tells us that the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) popular Inflation Calculator has been taken down without explanation, just as the election race kicks off. The rising cost of living has placed inflation front and centre on every Australian’s mind, with some grocery bills doubling over the last year. The RBA is the primary institution in the country responsible for controlling inflation.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/rba-inflation-calculator-taken-down/
Jenna Price writes about the education revolution that we’ll keep paying for. She chronicles the collapse of opportunities for those wanting to study beyond year 12.
https://www.smh.com.au/education/the-education-revolution-that-you-ll-keep-paying-for-20220411-p5acrc.html
Anthony Albanese and his colleagues could surely storm to victory if they enthusiastically acted on the arguments presented by climate experts. They would certainly attract the support of the millions of Australians who understandably fear the consequences of our current, disastrously inadequate approach to this topic, writes Bob Douglas.
https://johnmenadue.com/bob-douglas-this-should-be-a-climate-change-election/
Michelle Grattan explains how the new One Nation candidate George Christensen is set to win financially from losing.
https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-new-one-nation-candidate-george-christensen-set-to-win-from-losing-181275
Australians are represented in federal parliament by 151 elected members to the House of Representatives and 76 senators: this is not enough. By increasing it, we can arrest the soaring trust deficit Australia has with our political class and increase the diversity of our parliament, argues Philip Citowicki.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/we-need-more-politicians-20220410-p5acbi.html
If Matt Kean is going to lecture business on women, he’d better measure up himself, writes Alexandra Smith who reckons Kean squibbed it when an opportunity arose.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/if-matt-kean-is-going-to-lecture-business-on-women-he-d-better-measure-up-himself-20220413-p5ad4s.html
Labor senator Kristina Keneally was allegedly threatened with serious harm and made to fear the threat would be carried out, court documents have revealed.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/kristina-keneally-threatened-with-serious-harm-court-documents-allege-20220413-p5ad6e.html
Six politics experts take us on a trip around Australia to give us a report on the state of the states with respect to the federal election.
https://theconversation.com/state-of-the-states-six-politics-experts-take-us-on-a-trip-around-australia-180861
Victoria could be a demographic ticking time bomb with the state’s fertility rate not only a record low for the state, it was the lowest rate in the nation, explains Josh Gordon.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/baby-bust-victoria-s-birth-rate-hovers-near-its-lowest-in-history-20220413-p5ad49.html
Adam Bandt has called for gender affirming surgery to be available through Medicare as he declared his party’s support for trans rights.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/greens-call-for-gender-surgery-to-go-on-medicare-20220413-p5ad8z.html
A dozen staff were furloughed and emergency cubicles were at capacity on the day a man died after waiting more than three hours in the emergency department of a hospital in East Gippsland. These sorts of stories are popping up everywhere.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/investigation-continues-after-man-dies-awaiting-hospital-admission-20220413-p5ad9d.html
The federal Attorney-General’s bid for an appeal to redact more parts of a judgment that ruled for an open trial of Bernard Collaery has been adjourned after three High Court judges questioned the application with one describing the case as being “fragmentation of a criminal proceedings at its worst”.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7698050/a-criminal-proceedings-at-its-worst-high-court-scrutinises-collaery-case/?cs=14329
House prices could fall by a similar amount to their last major correction if new Reserve Bank modelling comes to pass, but interest rate rises will hit households harder than in the past, economists have warned. Elizabeth Redman goes into the details.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/what-happened-last-time-house-prices-fell-and-is-this-time-different-20220412-p5acv3.html
More than one million Australian homeowners have never experienced an increase in the official cash rates. And most of these have never seen the price of their house go down. After two years of a supercharged property market, that’s set to be an uneasy feeling for a new breed of property owners and potentially a damaging time bomb to be handled carefully for whoever wins the May election, writes The Australian’s Eric Johnston.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/business/property/after-the-housing-boom-brace-for-the-fall/news-story/ac9e416d5fe230a78463865b1f0d67cb
Despite holding steady at a record median $600 for the March quarter, Domain’s latest Rent Report shows house rents in Greater Sydney were up 9.1 per cent for the year. They are rising at their greatest rate for six years.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/boxed-in-sydneysiders-hit-with-fastest-growing-house-rents-in-13-years-20220412-p5ad16.html
Elizabeth Knight says the rental crisis is another COVID hangover and it’s going to get worse.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/rental-crisis-is-another-covid-hangover-and-it-s-going-to-get-worse-20220413-p5ad9f.html
Harrowed aged-care and disability service providers have hailed a last-minute reprieve by the NSW government on a deadline for mandatory COVID booster shots over fears it would slash more staff in the already decimated sector.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/aged-care-disability-booster-mandates-delayed-in-nsw-due-to-staffing-crises-20220412-p5acsz.html
The NSW auditor-general has found that the government was slow to implement its own plan for identifying and rectifying buildings with potentially dangerous combustible cladding and even four years after announcing the plan, there was insufficient information to know whether all known affected buildings were safe or not.
https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/confusion-inconsistency-dog-nsw-cladding-fix-20220413-p5ad6l
AGL Energy will be able to charge and discharge a 70-megawatt battery without actually building or owning it as part of a first-of-a-kind deal with French renewables player Neoen that will help it manage its huge electricity load in NSW more efficiently, reports Angela Mcadonald-Smith.
https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/agl-inks-virtual-battery-deal-with-neoen-20220413-p5ad7d
She also tells us in a long contribution that high in NSW’s rugged Snowy Mountains, one of the world’s most ambitious engineering projects is battling an onslaught of cost pressures, supply chain delays and transmission challenges to realise its role as an enabler of Australia’s energy transition.
https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/the-battle-to-build-snowy-2-0-heats-up-20220303-p5a1i2
Nick Toscano tells us that Australia’s electric vehicle industry has seized on the Morrison government’s decision to funnel more taxpayer funds to the nation’s oil refineries and accused it of failing to design an adequate plan to drive uptake of electric cars.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/electric-car-sector-dismayed-at-mounting-oil-subsidies-20220413-p5ad80.html
For the first time the world is in a position to limit global heating to under 2C, according to the first in-depth analysis of the net zero pledges made by nations at the UN Cop26 climate summit last December.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/13/historic-global-climate-plans-can-now-keep-heating-below-2c-study-shows
Investigators from the underpayment watchdog have launched surprise inspections on 15 stores of troubled bubble tea chain, Sharetea, after allegations that some staff members were being paid flat wages below legal minimums.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/bubble-trouble-wage-investigators-swoop-on-15-sharetea-stores-20220413-p5ad8y.html
Boris Johnson says he is sorry – although he doesn’t seem convinced he broke any law – but now a majority of voters (and a decent chunk of his colleagues) think he should resign, writes Rob Harris.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/partygate-war-in-ukraine-can-t-save-boris-johnson-from-ambush-by-cake-20220413-p5ad2p.html
“Lie, deny and move on – how much longer will the Johnson mantra plague British politics?”, asks Martin Kettle.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/13/boris-johnson-partygate-tory-party
According to Latika Bourke, the prime ministers of Sweden and Finland will decide within weeks whether to join NATO, saying they want protection from Russia following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/finland-and-sweden-could-apply-to-join-nato-within-weeks-20220414-p5add9.html
Russia said it had taken control of the port in Mariupol and that more than 1000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered in the devastated city.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/more-than-1000-ukrainian-marines-surrender-in-mariupol-russia-prepares-for-new-offensive-20220414-p5addj.html
Extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene are the future of the Republican party, says Thomas Zimmer.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/13/extremists-like-marjorie-taylor-greene-are-the-future-of-the-republican-party
Cartoon Corner
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From the US
Evan says:
Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:08 am
I too find Albanese uninspiring and boring and as dull as dishwater, the tragedy is Morrison should be beatable and this government deserves to be tossed out,
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Stop reading too much of the corrupt lib/nats propaganda media hack Phillip(Gladys the women who saved Australia ) cooley
then you will be see what its like in the real world
Fortunes must be made doing the legal work for the CFMMEU. Here a loss in the High Court on the method of fining admitted breaches of industrial law.
https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/HCA/2022/13.html
Very interesting commentary on the issue of deterrence be Edelman J from paragraph 75 onwards.
The Murdoch media works in mysterious ways.
As expected the narrative in the MSM is depressingly going to support Morrison and his cronies.
Twitter and other social media platforms are different, Brandt deservedly getting a lot of airplay.
This election and every election should be about policy and ideas instead of like some sporting event. Naive I know but f..k it depresses me.
What’s that saying? Politics is showbiz for ugly people? Well, that’s definitely true and in this age of 24/7 media it’s a lesson Albanese needs to keep front of mind every day during the campaign. People are watching. More than they are tallying up the policies. That’s why Scott Morrison gets away with being a virtual policy free zone. He does impressions on the brain, with very few words out of his mouth because he knows that sells him better. Labor need to get with that program.
Flawed logic surrounding the Coalition’s economic strength.
The economy is good under the Coalition so people vote for the Coalition.
The economy turns doubtful or bad under the Coalition but people then question whether they can trust the ALP.
So at what stage would they ever vote for the ALP based on the economic situation?
‘WeWantPaul says:
Wednesday, April 13, 2022 at 10:19 pm
“Hey mate, Google my response”
If only google translated arrogant over confident moron to intelligible human.’
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Go Google ‘personal abuse’
Cronus @ #45 Thursday, April 14th, 2022 – 7:49 am
And the answer, as you’ve probably correctly inferred, is never, according to the Coalition.
Stuart
“ Hard working? Morrison has always struck me as a five day a week, 9-5 man who is only flushed out after hours to deal with “crises”.
You’re too kind, in fact he went on holiday to Hawaii during a major crisis.
Log in, read the latest updates and get outta here before the “its game over man, game over” brigade get here
“This election and every election should be about policy and ideas instead of like some sporting event. Naive I know but f..k it depresses me.”
If the media did its job every day would be about how corrupt and policy free Morrison is and how much better labor is. They don’t want to do this because Murdoch Stokes and Costello don’t want them to do this.
When Morrison talks policy he is usually talking about shrinking govt, leaving more and more to unregulated greed of companies.
Labor doesn’t think it could sell water to a person dying of thirst so they have very limited ability to actually highlight policy differences and if they did they’d need to fight hard for them because Murdoch Stokes and Costello evil minions would work day and night to tear it down.
For decades there has been complaints about the media and retorts to just play the game and leave the media to do its thing.
I think these calls have always been wrong. The media is part of the war and they have been fighting a class war for the billionaires and they have been winning handsomely.