The Australian reports the second Newspoll since the election has produced an even weaker result for the Coalition than the first four weeks ago, with Labor’s two-party lead out from 56-44 to 57-43. Labor’s primary vote is steady at 37%, with the Coalition down two to 31% – their equal worst result in Newspoll history, matching the third poll under the Rudd government in February-March 2008 – with the Greens up one to 13%, One Nation up one to 7% (their strongest result in three years) and the United Australia Party steady on 2%.
Anthony Albanese is steady on 61% approval and up three on disapproval to 29%, while Peter Dutton is down two on approval to 35% and up two on disapproval to 43%. Albanese’s lead as preferred prime minister has widened from 59-25 to 61-22. The poll was conducted Wednesday to Saturday from a sample of 1505.
He’s largely been MIA since the election. What will it be once he starts being seen by people?
I can read a graph. This is a truly random sample of people who are monitored weekly for flu and COVID-19 symptoms:
It looks like the NSW Liberals have been told to try and take some paint off the federal government:
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/arrogant-nsw-transport-minister-lashes-feds-amid-rail-dispute-20220904-p5bfa9.html
Fewer and fewer people are wearing masks on public transport, despite it being mandatory. I honestly don’t know why they bother with the mandate if you aren’t going to enforce it.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/transport-minister-flags-changes-to-mask-mandates-20220904-p5bfaz.html
Another legacy of the Coalition government. There are so many things Labor has inherited that need to be fixed.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/transparency-has-been-killed-by-obstruction-as-officials-flout-foi-rules-20220904-p5bf7r.html
Some parts of the Australian Defence Manufacturing Industry are going gung ho and Ukraine has noticed:
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/ukraine-s-pitch-to-australia-use-our-army-as-your-guinea-pig-20220904-p5bf7l.html
Morning all.
Confessions
You can’t enforce a mandate if you want the same idiots breaking it to vote for you.
Good news for Ukraine – Germany is finally “all in” on support. Recognising the Russian gas threat for what it is, Scholz has passed a package of financial assistance to people to cope with high gas prices, and prepare for a tough winter. This neuters Russian closing of Nordstream.
Meanwhile there will now be more German weapons delivered to Ukraine.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/04/ukraine-pm-thanks-germany-solidarity-calls-more-weapons
Soc,
Look at the graph I put up. Numbers of cases are almost back to pre-pandemic levels in the random sample of people who contribute to the weekly flu tracking survey. And it’s only called Flu Tracking because it started before COVID-19.Now, though, it incorporates COVID-19 monitoring. It’s not as scientific as the numbers collected by the Depts of Health but it’s not nothing. I’d say that vaccination is having its desired effect. And yes, masks give you pretty much 100% protection but I believe that now it should be a personal choice.
Confessions
“ While the media uses FOI law to seek policy documents, most applications are from individuals and 77 per cent of all requests last year were for personal information. ”
You have to wobder how much of LNP FOI policy related to hindering fights against Robodebt and denied visas. Covering for failed ministers was a bonus.
The Hawkei has significant advantages over other vehicles, including the fact it can be transported by helicopter directly to the battlefield. CREDIT:DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE
The Australian government is spending $1.3 billion on a fleet of 1100 Hawkeis to replace most of the army’s fleet of blast-protected Land Rovers. The last of the vehicles rolled off the production line at Bendigo last month.
The vehicles, which can carry up to six soldiers, have removable armour and optional mounts for weapons including automatic grenade launchers.
Socrates @ #60 Monday, September 5th, 2022 – 6:23 am
Yes, that’s a good point.
David Pocock’s gambit to get his vote for the Climate Change Bill:
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/no-integrity-pocock-attacks-labor-s-climate-bill-ahead-of-senate-debate-20220904-p5bf90.html
I think their requests are fair enough. I’d allow them if I were Chris Bowen and the government.
Another stellar Newspoll. With luck, the government can cash in on the positive sentiment and translate it into support for a Yes vote at the Voice referendum.
Striking while the iron’s hot is a good idea. As Kevin Bonham’s excellent analysis from a few weeks back shows, the duration of electoral honeymoons for Federal governments in recent decades has ranged from nil/minimal to 2 + years (Rudd in 2007):
https://kevinbonham.blogspot.com/2022/08/poll-roundup-albanese-honeymoon-phase.html
Labor can form Majority government with a primary vote around 33%
The lib/nats combined primary vote of 31% on federal election day would result in another 20+ seats lost for the lib/nats
The Lib/nats will not be in government for a long time unless they can get the combined primary vote over 40% +
C@tmomma says:
Monday, September 5, 2022 at 6:43 am
“David Pocock’s gambit to get his vote for the Climate Change Bill….. I think their requests are fair enough. I’d allow them if I were Chris Bowen and the government.”
+1 C@T, they’re sensible and collaborative and it makes a good point re transparency. They even give the government future wriggle room to improve things in the second term.
Yes, it became obvious to me years ago that the effect of Godwin’s law was to prevent people calling out parallels between people like Trump and Hitler.
The comforting thing was that people apparently had learnt a little from history – when Trump tried to ban people from certain countries coming to America, the pushback from ordinary people was immediate and decisive.
With the lib/nats combined primary vote of 31%
The liberal party primary vote would be close to 18-20%
Cronus,
It will be an interesting piece of business to watch unfold in the Senate this week. Plus, I understand the FICAC Bill is being introduced into the Lower House. Phew!
C@tmomma says:
Monday, September 5, 2022 at 6:55 am
Cronus,
“It will be an interesting piece of business to watch unfold in the Senate this week. Plus, I understand the FICAC Bill is being introduced into the Lower House. Phew!”
A promising week indeed C@T, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Ahem. The Hawkei PMV-L is named after a species of Death Adder, not our former PM. That snake was however, named after Hawkie.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthophis_hawkei
Andrew_Earlwood @ #72 Monday, September 5th, 2022 – 7:08 am
I could have put that in but I chose not to. Next. 😐
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
The electoral honeymoon for Anthony Albanese continues. As does the post-election nightmare for Peter Dutton and the Coalition, writes Simon Benson about the latest Newspoll results. He opines that it shows Labor’s dominance is less about its own rising fortunes and satisfaction with Albanese’s performance over the past month than it is about the sinking state of the Coalition.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/newspoll-honeymoon-continues-for-anthony-albanese-as-peter-duttons-nightmare-grows-worse/news-story/a23551554211932536c7c30f7380539f
Alan Kohler says that, among its outcomes, the jobs summit underlined the irrelevance of the Opposition. He says the best thing about the summit was that it was both an exercise in humility – of listening – and a statement that governing is not a venture in ideology, but in competence and consultation.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2022/09/05/summits-exercise-in-humility/
The stage 3 cuts, as they stand, are unfair and difficult to defend. But with tweaks, the government can make them more equitable, and politically palatable writes Steven Hamilton who calls for them to be redesigned.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/redesign-stage-3-tax-cuts-to-better-balance-equity-and-efficiency-20220904-p5bf7v.html
Tom Rabe reports that senior NSW ministers have launched a scathing attack on the Albanese government for its foray into the long-running dispute between the state and rail unions.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/arrogant-nsw-transport-minister-lashes-feds-amid-rail-dispute-20220904-p5bfa9.html
The debate on Labor’s climate change bill sets up the first major test of the Albanese government’s relationship with the Senate crossbench, write Lisa Visentin and Mike Foley.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/no-integrity-pocock-attacks-labor-s-climate-bill-ahead-of-senate-debate-20220904-p5bf90.html
“Albanese warms to the top job, but has he the skills to deliver?”, wonders Sean Kelly.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-warms-to-the-top-job-but-has-he-the-skills-to-deliver-20220904-p5bf7t.html
Unions are again playing a central role in corridors of power writes Ross Gittins who says that the Libs didn’t know the union bosses and didn’t want to know them. They were the enemy – always had been, always would be. Big business bosses, on the other hand, would be privately consulted and were always welcome to phone up for a quiet word with the minister.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/unions-again-play-a-central-role-in-corridors-of-power-20220904-p5bf8g.html
Richard Mulligan writes that the Australian Public Service has been tarnished by Scott Morrison’s ministerial portfolio scandal and says the episode raises the general issue of the public service’s function as guardian of constitutional propriety and due process. It is a reminder that recent concerns about falling standards of government integrity have involved the failings of public officials as well as those of ministers.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7887190/public-service-not-unscathed-in-scandal/?cs=14329
Behind closed doors, the big industry super funds have clearly told the Albanese government that they’ll only invest in ‘national priorities’ if the risk/return ratio improves, writes Karen Maley.
https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/jim-chalmers-rude-awakening-from-his-super-dream-20220904-p5bf83
Jim Chalmers, has asked the competition watchdog to crack down hard on any price gouging when the petrol excise cut expires at the end of September. The letter to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, released on Monday, confirms the government’s intention to reintroduce “the full excise” on 29 September.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/05/consumer-watchdog-will-crack-down-on-petrol-price-gouging-when-tax-cut-ends-labor-says
A former Reserve Bank economist has suggested that the Greens’ push for an interest rate freeze is nonsensical.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/04/former-reserve-bank-economist-suggests-greens-push-for-interest-rate-freeze-is-nonsensical
John Menadue says that the Greens are at it again and threatening to block the referendum on the ‘Voice’ which promises to give effect to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
https://johnmenadue.com/john-menadue-the-pompous-greens-are-at-it-again/
Federal officials are flouting their own rules by rejecting fair requests to release documents and disclose the reasons for sweeping decisions, sparking a new warning about a “culture of secrecy” in politics and government, says David Crowe.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/transparency-has-been-killed-by-obstruction-as-officials-flout-foi-rules-20220904-p5bf7r.html
And Geoffrey Watson and Max Douglas write that bogus reasons are being used to keep controversial documents secret. They say that over the past 15 years or so, and particularly in the last five, the FOI architecture has been left to decay while uninterested governments stood idly by.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/bogus-reasons-are-being-used-to-keep-controversial-documents-secret-20220902-p5bf0r.html
Matthew Elmas discusses “QantasKeeper” and whether or not Australia’s largest pandemic bailout was a rip off.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2022/09/03/qantas-keeper-bailout-ripoff/
The US private prisons operator likely to take over Australia’s offshore processing regime on Nauru has previously been accused of “gross negligence” and “egregious” security failures that allegedly led to the gang-rape of a woman in detention, the murder of two retirees by escaped prisoners, and the months-long solitary confinement of a US citizen wrongfully held in immigration detention, write Ben Doherty and Christopher Knaus.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/05/the-egregious-history-of-likely-new-nauru-operator-includes-allegations-of-gang-and-in-its-us-prisons
The Age tells us that Australians lost more than $11.4b on poker machines in a single year despite COVID-19 lockdowns, with the average Victorian user losing about $2800. What a blight!
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/calls-for-gambling-harm-body-after-victorians-lose-2-2-billion-on-pokies-in-single-year-20220904-p5bf97.html
And sports gambling ads are flooding our media. Apart from anything else, they’re irritating, declares Greg Baum.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/gambling-ad-blitz-in-sport-is-a-turn-off-20220902-p5bew1.html
Caitlin Fitzsimmons reports that Sydney high schools are seeing a rise in anti-Semitism, with at least two in the eastern suburbs dealing with incidents of Nazi salutes and Jewish students being bullied.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/eastern-suburbs-schools-grapple-with-nazi-salutes-and-anti-semitic-bullying-20220830-p5bdxg.html
Rob Harris wonders if we really have seen the last of Boris Johnson.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/have-we-really-seen-the-last-of-boris-johnson-20220904-p5bf86.html
As the war raging past its sixth month, Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia is lobbying the federal government to send a fleet of 30 newly built Hawkei light armoured vehicles to the war zone.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/ukraine-s-pitch-to-australia-use-our-army-as-your-guinea-pig-20220904-p5bf7l.html
In a rally over the weekend, Donald Trump has said, “The FBI and the justice department have become vicious monsters, controlled by radical-left scoundrels, lawyers and the media, who tell them what to do.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/04/trump-rally-fbi-doj-vicious-monsters-mar-a-lago-search
Democracy is under attack in the US – and reporting that isn’t ‘violating journalistic standards’, writes Robert Reich who says “Balanced journalism” does not exist halfway between facts and lies.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/04/biden-speech-democracy-attack-media-coverage-republicans
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe
Jim Pavlidis
Megan Herbert
Matt Golding
Glen Le Lievre
Mark Knight
Bloody Leak
From the US
What could possibly go wrong!
https://www.smh.com.au/national/could-we-ever-journey-to-the-centre-of-the-earth-what-s-there-20220802-p5b6m7.html
Hawkei- overweight and very limited load carrying capacity. Per com from a user with 16 ADR less than 6 months ago.
More than 4.7 million Australians will get more money thanks to the biggest indexation rise in 30 years, the Herald-Sun ($) reports. JobSeeker will increase by $25.70 to $677.20 a fortnight (which, it must be pointed out, is still extremely difficult to live on), and the parenting payment single will rise $35.20 to $927.40 a fortnight. Pensioners will get $20 extra a week ($987.60 to $1026.50 a fortnight for singles, or $38.90) whereas couples will get extra $58.80 a fortnight ($1547.60 per couple).
Thanks BK
“ The electoral honeymoon for Anthony Albanese continues. As does the post-election nightmare for Peter Dutton and the Coalition, writes Simon Benson about the latest Newspoll results. He opines that it shows Labor’s dominance is less about its own rising fortunes and satisfaction with Albanese’s performance over the past month than it is about the sinking state of the Coalition.”
I’m going with its both.
RP @ #76 Monday, September 5th, 2022 – 7:37 am
Better give them to Ukraine then? Work on fixing their inadequacies.
“ If there’s a double interest rate rise this week, more borrowers become mortgage prisoners”.
I’ve had mortgages most of my life, including at the rate of 17% interest, yet never considered myself a mortgage prisoner. Hyperbole much.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-05/borrowers-mortgage-prisoners-interest-rate-rise-rba-housing-loan/101395908
I miss Freya Stark.
Biggest indexation increase in 35.years.
BK:
“Bloody Leak”….
One crappy one out…. another crappy one in, to maintain continuity…. At NewsCorpse they take Sustainability of Crappiness very, very seriously.
Yes Geetriot, Freya was always good for a laugh. bring her back..
Thanks, BK.
NZ allows pensioners to earn money without any restriction. It’s a perfect test case where we can see the downsides (are there any?) and simplifies by avoiding the bureaucratic expense and nightmares of the likes of RoboDebt.
Oh dear, Gary Varvel from the US accusing Biden of “dividing America” in a cartoon?….
Hence, by extension, Donald Trump is “the great unifier of America”?….
Can anyone get inside Varvel’s braincase and see whether there is anything there, or is it just connective tissue without anything to connect?
Canada: The Saskatchewan RCMP says 10 people have been killed and another 15 are injured following a stabbing spree that took place in the communities of James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Saskatchewan.
It is the deadliest homicide event in the provinces history. RCMP says the suspects are still at large and they do not know where the suspects are.
@cronus
I don’t think it’s hyperbole at all, they’re referring to a cohort of recent borrowers who thanks to recent rate rises and inflation are now over leveraged and thanks to reduced borrowing capacity are not able to refinance their loans to try and get a better deal. There will be a number of people who took out mortgages with fixed terms for the first few years who find themselves in that boat and about to get walloped when the fixed rate honeymoon period expires and they get a huge whack of rate rises all at once
Re Quasar @8:13. The NZ age pension system is beautifully simple. You meet residency requirements and you turn 65, you get a pension, even if you’re still working. There are some means-tested supplements. Pensions are taxable. Private pensions aren’t subsidised via tax concessions or otherwise.
Howard and Costello made such as dogs breakfast of our system that I’m now thinking that the NZ setup is the better system.
https://sorted.org.nz/guides/retirement/about-nz-super
Mark Knight is only marginally better than Leak.
Peter Dutton and Sussan Ley missed Jobs and Sills Summit but they were there in spirit:
Geetroit @ #81 Monday, September 5th, 2022 – 7:51 am
You mean, Nostradamus. 😐
I see Leak plagiarised his cartoon today from the Far Right Wing gary varvel in the US. Shows just how much of a non-talent Johannes Leak is.
Alpo quick google “Gary Varvel is a Christian, conservative, cartoonist and speaker in that order.”
https://garyvarvel.com/ so no real surprises there I think
Steve777 @8.33
Lol!!
Seen on any city/town street….
Terminator @ #95 Monday, September 5th, 2022 – 8:45 am
There, fixed it. 🙂
#weatheronPB
A quiet pale blue descended.
Subtly decorated with thin marbled translucent clouds.
Still drifting aimlessly, it’s early.
PageBoi @ #48 Monday, September 5th, 2022 – 8:19 am
The same situations that caused the GFC, except in smaller scale. All down to mortgage brokers and banks who suckered the gullible into signing up for unsupportable loans, while drastically driving up real estate auction prices, as buyers pushed themselves to their absolute limits in desperation. A disgrace.
There’s so many fair-minded US cartoonists, I’m sure BK only includes the rabid RW ones to piss us off. 😀