Essential Research and Morning Consult leadership ratings and more (open thread)

No signs of Anthony Albanese’s stock of goodwill depleting, plus further poll results on Morrison’s ministries and a federal integrity commission.

Essential Research continues its fortnightly polling series minus voting intention or numbers for Peter Dutton when it conducts its monthly leadership ratings, as it has done in the current poll. These record Anthony Albanese returning to his post-election peak on approval at 59%, up four, with disapproval down three to 25%. A monthly question on whether Australia is headed in the right direction is likewise back to where it was in the post-election result with a five point gain to 48%, with a two-point drop in wrong direction to 29%.

Further questions cover the Scott Morrison ministries saga, which find 51% believe the former Prime Minister should resign from parliament compared with 25% who disagree; 59% agree that the reputation of his government has been diminished, with 19% disagreeing; and 59% believe he should appear at the inquiry into the matter, with 18% disagreeing. Support for a federal integrity commission is at 76%, down two from October last year, with opposition up four to 15%. Further questions cover the powers such an institution should have, trust in health authorities, police, the justice system and federal parliament and the salience of state politics issues, and can be found in the full report. The poll was conducted Wednesday to Sunday from a sample of 1070.

Further:

• The tracking poll of international leaders’ personal ratings conducted by US firm Morning Consult continues to record no significant change for Anthony Albanese, who ended August on 58% approval and 28% disapproval, both up one on the end of July. The numbers from this series combine results of polling conducted over seven days from a sample of around 1000.

• In a report on kickboxer-turned-misogynist internet celebrity Andrew Tate, Benjamin Clark of Crikey highlights data from the Australian Cooperative Election Study showing that while younger women are more likely than older women to agree that more needs to be done to achieve gender equality (76.5% among those aged 18 to 34 compared with 58.4% among those 65 and over), the opposite is true of men (30.1% among the youngest cohort rising to 40.4% among the oldest). The 18-to-34 cohort was also the only one in which a significant gender distinction was observed on what I take to be the two-party preferred vote, with 67.5% of young women favouring Labor compared with 60.3% for men. Also featured is Gallup data from the United States showing young women have become markedly more likely to identify as liberal over the past decade (from 30% to nearly 45%) whereas the rate for men has remained steady at around 25%.

• An international survey by US concern Pew Research on “global threats and international co-operation” found Australia with the second biggest gap out of 14 countries between those on the political left and right with respect to the threat posed by climate change, respectively identified as a major threat by 91% and 47%. Far ahead of the rest in this respect was the United States, where only 22% of those on the right rated climate change a major threat compared with 85% on the left.

• The final score from the August 20 by-election in the Northern Territory seat of Fannie Bay was 1844 (52.6%) for Labor candidate Brent Potter and 1662 (47.4%) for Country Liberals candidate Ben Hosking, a swing against Labor of 7.0%. Next cabs off the by-election rank are the Tasmanian Legislative Council seat of Pembroke on Saturday, which is being contested by both Labor and Liberal, and the Western Australian seat of North West Central next week, to be contested by the Nationals and the Liberals with Labor sitting it out.

• I’ll be conducting an online seminar as part of the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy’s Curtin Corner series from 6pm on Friday eastern standard time, specifically exploring the issue of where all the major party voters are going/have gone. You can register for live participation here, and a video will be posted after the event.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

1,881 comments on “Essential Research and Morning Consult leadership ratings and more (open thread)”

Comments Page 1 of 38
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  1. Thanks too William Bowe.

    I’ll be continuing to look forward to your poll updates as well.

    Essential and Morning Consult continuing the good news for the government, what more could we ask for but not surprising after a strong start despite challenging conditions.

    Thanks too in advance BK, the Dawn Patrol will keep me going at the airport. A good comeback in the cricket last night too thanks to Green, he’s showing real promise.

  5. Following Liz Truss’s acceptance speech the only conclusion to be drawn is this earlier assessment of her was too optimistic ..

    Liz Truss..

    “She’s not a nasty person,” said former Tory MP, adviser to Thatcher and political commentator Matthew Parris. “Everybody I know who knows her, or has worked with her, likes her. She is a very likeable person. She’s just a bit crackers!”
    Parris has described Truss as “intellectually shallow”, with “wafer-thin” convictions, and “a planet-sized mass of overconfidence and ambition teetering upon a pinhead of a political brain”.
    “Any decision to follow Johnson with Truss to the doner kebab which, after a night on the tiles, momentarily seems like a good idea — until you open the bread pouch,” he wrote this week in The Times.

  6. Trivia: the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, was named in the honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, a club made up of Continental Army officers of the Revolutionary War who named their group in honour of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, a dictator in the early Roman Republic who saved Rome from a crisis then retired to farming because he did not want to remain in power.

  12. Thanks William. Most of those poll findings are pretty much as you’d expect them to be at the moment. I get it’s only one study, but these findings on the other hand are counter intuitive, and so interesting- especially if they point to what’s coming with our future generations of voters and citizens:

    “Benjamin Clark of Crikey highlights data from the Australian Cooperative Election Study showing that while younger women are more likely than older women to agree that more needs to be done to achieve gender equality (76.5% among those aged 18 to 34 compared with 58.4% among those 65 and over), the opposite is true of men (30.1% among the youngest cohort rising to 40.4% among the oldest).

    The 18-to-34 cohort was also the only one in which a significant gender distinction was observed on what I take to be the two-party preferred vote, with 67.5% of young women favouring Labor compared with 60.3% for men”

  16. Good morning Dawn Patrollers. Here you go Cronus – enjoy this as you wait to board.

    Shane Wright and Rachel Clun say that Anthony Albanese is facing growing calls to deliver substantial cost-of-living relief in his first budget next month as inflation pressures intensify and the Reserve Bank drives up interest rates to their highest level in seven years.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cost-of-living-pressure-mounts-on-albanese-ahead-of-first-budget-20220906-p5bfwz.html
    Paul Kelly writes, “Anthony Albanese has embarked on a grand experiment – attempting to find a new method of Labor governance based on common ground, inclusion and fiscal responsibility in a quest where his ALP predecessors Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard were conspicuous failures.”
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/pms-quest-to-reverse-past-labor-failures/news-story/cbf75a46516039fa5e8b5568e5652731
    RBA governor Philip Lowe may appear non-venomous, but the bespectacled anaconda is not going to let go until he’s sure inflation is constricted and back near the central bank’s 2 to 3 per cent range, writes The Australian’s Tom Dusevic.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/reserve-bank-governor-philip-lowe-has-us-ina-deep-squeeze/news-story/7ea35d6af0c36294d04b3dd611bdbf47
    The RBA’s latest rate rise is just a down payment on the pain coming for households and businesses and will be made worse by the fallout from Europe’s energy crisis, says Jennifer Hewett.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/rates-hit-households-hard-with-worse-to-come-20220906-p5bft1
    Australia has recorded its 13th consecutive current account surplus after booming coal prices drove a record $43 billion trade surplus. Strong growth in export volumes means Australia’s improved trade balance will contribute 1 percentage point to June quarter GDP growth, to be released today, explains Michael Read.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/record-43-1b-trade-surplus-as-coal-exports-boom-20220906-p5bfrp
    Ross Gittins wonders if businesses are delaying improving pay and conditions while they increase pressure on the government to solve their problem the easier and cheaper way, by hastening the post-pandemic inflow of skilled workers on temporary visas, plus backpackers and overseas students.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/why-labour-shortages-can-be-good-for-you-and-the-economy-20220906-p5bfod.html
    Shane Wright says that ever since central banks slashed interest rates to deal with the global financial crisis, what is considered a normal interest rate has been trashed. The COVID-19 pandemic made it worse as some central banks used negative interest rates while most, including the RBA, engaged in quantitative easing. Wright reckons the days of ultra-low interest rates are gone.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-concept-of-normal-has-been-lost-in-the-post-pandemic-world-20220906-p5bfpc.html
    Josh Butler reports that pensioners will be given more support and financial incentive to downsize their homes in a bid to boost housing stock for families, as the Labor government moves to legislate an election commitment first proposed by the Coalition.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/07/labor-to-give-pensioners-greater-financial-incentives-to-downsize-homes
    Dana Daniel tells us that Australians will save $12.50 on some common medicines from January as the federal government moves to address cost-of-living concerns amid rising inflation and interest rates. Today Mark Butler will introduce legislation to reduce the maximum general co-payment for medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme from $42.50 to $30.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cheaper-medicines-on-the-way-as-albanese-seeks-to-address-cost-of-living-20220906-p5bfwh.html
    Repealing the Stage 3 tax cuts won’t be an easy task, presenting Anthony Albanese with a unique set of challenges, writes Professor John Quiggin.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/scrapping-stage-3-tax-cuts-is-essential-but-wont-be-an-easy-ride,16739
    The only explanation that the Prime Minister seems to be able to come up with to justify going ahead with the Stage Three Tax Cuts is that Labor had committed itself, writes John Lord who looks at their justification or otherwise.
    https://theaimn.com/stage-three-tax-cuts-are-they-justified/
    Those on variable-rate mortgages with substantial equity in their homes are in a strong position to negotiate a lower rate with their lender, explains John Collett about the cost of mortgage loyalty.
    https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/cost-of-mortgage-loyalty-hits-record-high-20220905-p5bfkl.html
    Australians on unemployment benefits are set for two record paydays – but it’s a sign of a broken system, long overdue for a fix, argues Peter Martin.
    https://theconversation.com/australians-on-unemployment-benefits-are-set-for-two-record-paydays-but-its-a-sign-of-a-broken-system-long-overdue-for-a-fix-189954
    Labor has signalled it may axe an $18m grant to a leadership foundation for which the governor general, David Hurley, personally lobbied the Morrison government. Paul Karp tells us that the government’s leader in the Senate, Penny Wong, revealed yesterday that the grant to establish the Australian Future Leaders Program “is under review” as part of the October budget, along with other unspecified Coalition initiatives.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/06/labor-may-axe-18m-grant-to-foundation-for-which-governor-general-lobbied-scott-morrison
    It’s time to review Commonwealth Rent Assistance and the rate at which it is indexed to ensure pensioners are not being forced to choose between meeting their cost of living and having somewhere to live, writes Rachel Lane.
    https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/mind-the-gap-pensioners-struggle-with-higher-rents-20220906-p5bfv0.html
    Changing the childcare subsidy system involves working with three government departments, 23 software providers and 13,685 childcare services. And that’s after the legislation passes parliament, explains Katina Curtis.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/why-the-childcare-changes-can-t-be-fast-tracked-20220906-p5bfqv.html
    Doug Dingwall reports that, in his first public address since taking the most senior role in the Australian Public Service, Glyn Davis urged department and agency leaders to avoid restricting staff within “organisational straitjackets”, and to instead draw on their diversity of opinions and experiences.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7891084/new-pmc-boss-has-blunt-message-for-senior-public-servants/?cs=14329
    At least 1,000 childcare centres across the country will close their doors on Wednesday to protest low wages and conditions in what unions say is the biggest industrial action early educators have taken.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/06/more-than-1000-australian-early-childhood-education-centres-to-strike-for-better-pay-and-conditions
    Paul Sakkal reveals that the former chairman of Victoria’s triple-zero service was pressured to resign after asking the state government for a solution to a funding method that he said was fundamentally flawed.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/andrews-government-pushed-out-triple-zero-chief-after-funding-plea-20220906-p5bfp8.html
    Now Knox Grammar has uncovered the involvement of boys and girls from other schools in an online private chat room set up by its students that posted violent and racist messages.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/boys-and-girls-at-other-schools-involved-in-knox-grammar-scandal-20220906-p5bfxo.html
    With just 100 electric buses, the NSW state government has a long way to go before it reaches the target of converting the 8000-strong fleet.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-s-bold-target-to-electrify-bus-fleet-running-five-years-late-20220906-p5bfts.html
    David Crowe tells us that the Coalition opposition is threatening a government plan to give buyers an exemption from fringe benefits tax if the electric vehicle costs less than $72,000.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/just-not-good-policy-senate-stand-off-looms-over-electric-vehicle-tax-cut-20220906-p5bftj.html
    Paul Bongiorno declares that union bashing is a return to a political Jurassic Park.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2022/09/06/paul-bongiorno-union-bashing-wages/
    According to Lisa Visentin, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has told colleagues to prepare for a “slow build” campaign on an Indigenous Voice to parliament, as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused the government of being unable to answer basic questions on the process.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-prepares-for-slow-build-on-voice-referendum-as-coalition-demands-more-detail-20220906-p5bfsb.html
    Here’s part 2 of John Dwyer’s argument on why our primary health care system needs a philosophical and structural revolution.
    https://johnmenadue.com/our-primary-care-system-is-no-longer-fit-for-purpose-but-to-make-it-so-will-require-a-philosophical-and-structural-revolution-part-two/
    Clive Hamilton writes that he has had a long battle with climate despair, but now he’s leaving the ‘denial machine’ to their demons. He says, “As those most responsible for the crisis recede into history, our energy is better spent responding to the world we have created”.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/07/ive-had-a-long-battle-with-climate-despair-now-im-leaving-the-denial-machine-to-their-demons
    Laura Chung and Miki Perkins write that a report by conservation group WWF released on Wednesday gives Australia an “F” in biodiversity, finding that the Western Australian electorates of O’Connor and Durack contain more than 270 threatened species – the highest in the country.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/tragic-legacy-of-extinction-australia-gets-an-f-in-biodiversity-20220906-p5bfob.html
    In a very interesting evaluation, Mick Ryan writes that Ukraine’s southern offensive signals a new stage of brutal combat.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/ukraine-s-southern-offensive-signals-new-stage-of-brutal-combat-20220906-p5bfrj.html
    Meanwhile, the UN’s nuclear watchdog has called for the creation of a security zone around the Zaporizhzhia plant on the frontline of Russia’s war in Ukraine, in a long-awaited report that detailed extensive damage there.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/06/iaea-gravely-concerned-about-damaged-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant
    Australians must not ignore the Religious Right’s global warnings, urges Lucy Hamilton in an interesting contribution.
    https://theaimn.com/australians-must-not-ignore-the-religious-rights-global-warnings/
    The military exercise “Pitch Black” is currently underway in Northern Australia and Vince Scappatura tells us how it has evolved over the years. He explains what it is setting out to achieve in the light of current events in our region.
    https://johnmenadue.com/pitch-black-not-a-benign-military-training-exercise/
    Matthew Knott reports that Manasseh Sogavare has savaged the Albanese government’s offer to help fund Solomon Islands’ election as “direct interference by a foreign government”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/assault-on-democracy-solomons-pm-blasts-australia-over-election-offer-20220906-p5bfwq.html
    Jetstar has been operating with half its long-haul fleet out of service because of maintenance and engineering issues, contributing to widespread cancellations that have affected thousands of customers’ international travel plans. I have no desire to fly internationally ever again.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/jetstar-has-half-of-long-haul-fleet-grounded-as-thousands-stuck-abroad-20220906-p5bfpf.html
    Northern Territory Supreme Court Justice Judith Kelly’s widely publicised speech on August 26th delivered to a Women’s Lawyers function in Darwin and which covered racism and family violence in Indigenous communities, delivered to a Women Lawyers, needs a response, writes Greg Barns who then gives one.
    https://johnmenadue.com/rebuttal-of-justice-kelly-speech-image/
    Put simply, David Jones and Myer have too much space and too many stores, and both have been working hard to deal with this problem, writes Elizabeth Knight who reckons we are in for a big retailer overhaul.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/on-sale-now-david-jones-looks-for-new-parent-raising-prospect-of-industry-overhaul-20220906-p5bfu4.html
    The Convict departs in a haze of self-delusion, playing the victim card to the last, writes John Crace after Truss finally replaces Boris Johnson. Another sparkling contribution from Crace!
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/06/the-convict-departs-in-a-haze-of-self-delusion-playing-the-victim-card-to-the-last
    Stephen Bartholomeusz outlines the potential trouble Trump’s media company which runs his “Truth Social” network is facing. There is a financial D-day looming.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/it-s-another-d-day-for-trump-and-his-social-media-ambitions-20220906-p5bfov.html
    More here on the story that Donald Trump’s beleaguered social media company is facing further financial turmoil after a long-awaited $1.3bn cash injection looks set to be derailed due to lacklustre investor backing.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/06/trump-truth-social-shareholders-investors

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe

    David Pope

    Cathy Wilcox

    Peter Broelman

    Matt Golding



    Andrew Dyson

    John Shakespeare

    Fiona Katauskas

    Some gifs from Glen Le Lievre
    https://twitter.com/i/status/1566973852407988225
    https://twitter.com/i/status/1566962051062562816
    https://twitter.com/i/status/1566788113917423616
    Mark Knight

    Spooner

    From the US

















  17. Thanks BK. Ross Gittens having another good crack at the sorry state of business leadership in this country.

    Corporate social responsibility – only if the perks outweigh the cost. I remember one group of execs went on a team building exercise to build bikes for a charity. WTF? Their salaries and travel for their time doing this would have paid for a social workers wage for a year. When I questioned this they said, with a straight face, it was about connecting the execs with society. I then suggested they could do that by spending time with the families of the people they had just made redundant (due to some offshoring and moving to more subcontracting) despite good profits.

  22. Q: Is there a good reason women’s tennis isn’t best of 5 sets?

    I think the question is why are men’s matches still five sets in this faster paced world? Cricket brought in 50 over games, and then shortened it to 2020….

    Third sets have been abandoned for mixed doubles (and often doubles) for a super 10 point tie break.
    In smaller tournaments ‘deuce’ is disappearing for advantage point.

    (former official speaking here)

  23. Melburnians in particular, may be interested in this Doco.

    —–

    In his self-funded documentary, The Lost City of Melbourne, Mr Berger documents the demise of some of the city’s grandest picture palaces after the advent of television brought its golden era of cinema expansion to a crashing end.

    https://amp.abc.net.au/article/101399054

  24. ”
    Steve777says:
    Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 7:02 am
    Trivia: the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, was named in the honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, a club made up of Continental Army officers of the Revolutionary War who named their group in honour of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, a dictator in the early Roman Republic who saved Rome from a crisis then retired to farming because he did not want to remain in power.
    ”

    Steve777
    I posted following last night
    Vensays:
    Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 11:16 pm
    AE, Dandy Murray, nath
    Apparently There was w US Senator named Cincinnatus

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Quintus_Cincinnatus_Lamar

  30. This excellent article on the game the Shellbells attended last night begs the question why we are wasting once in a generation talent on a coach who is not up to standard 10 months out from hosting the World Cup.

    https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/sep/06/australia-slump-to-second-defeat-to-canada-after-early-promise-fades

    More daring writing would be to look at team selection as well. Emily Van Egmond, who is taller than most of our forwards, going sideways across the midfield with the ball at a funereal pace, is not going to strike fear in anyone.

  31. “Today I lodged a Notice of Motion calling for a judicial inquiry into Media Diversity in Australia.”

    The competition minister should be doing this through the ACCC because it sounds like a competition issue – it would be good to know if the minor publications think they at an unfair disadvantage.

  32. ven,

    There’s quite a difference between the choice of name by your ostentatious parents and claiming the mantle of Cincinnatus when you have just been ingloriously dumped from high office.

  33. Khalil will be the Chair of the Intelligence Committee and he is off to America shortly to doff the cap and cosplay as a Wolverine. Absolutely ridiculous.

  34. Thanks BK for another great roundup. Two caught my attention.

    Australia has recorded its 13th consecutive current account surplus after booming coal prices drove a record $43 billion trade surplus. Strong growth in export volumes means Australia’s improved trade balance will contribute 1 percentage point to June quarter GDP growth, to be released today, explains Michael Read.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/record-43-1b-trade-surplus-as-coal-exports-boom-20220906-p5bfrp

    Yet the 1.00AUD has dropped further, now at 0.67USD

    Matthew Knott reports that Manasseh Sogavare has savaged the Albanese government’s offer to help fund Solomon Islands’ election as “direct interference by a foreign government”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/assault-on-democracy-solomons-pm-blasts-australia-over-election-offer-20220906-p5bfwq.html

    I can think of two alternative perspectives.
    1) Australia would be offended and alarmed if, say, France had offered to subsidise the next Australian election. If Australia is seeking to humiliate Solomon Islands, this is one way to do it.
    2) PM Sogavare says Solomon Islands can’t afford to hold the next round of scheduled elections. LOTO Wale says this is a “power grab”. Australia offers to help support the election. PM Sogavare explodes at “interfering” Australia.

    Either way it seems like a clumsy move by Australia. And what if China had offered to help? In other words, what are our other neighbours thinking about us?

  35. Cat,

    “Yes, I saw that in Coles yesterday. Iceberg Lettuce on special for $1.47! Obviously the growers thought they could make a killing when it went up, now there’s an oversupply. ”

    Goodness me that’s a ridiculous comment.

    There was very little lettuce left in production in the Lockyer Valley after the floods earlier this year, and what was there was very difficult to harvest due to the continuous rain. That is why prices were high. Now they are returning to their usual levels.

    There is no lettuce cartel or conspiracy.

  36. Vensays:
    Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 8:27 am

    More trivia, Cincinnati is home to the best brewery in the US, Christian Moerlein. Still brewed to the original German standard.

  38. Hello all and thanks for the best wishes.
    Brissie International Airport report: Very busy, staff have mentioned staff shortages on a few occasions already. Long lines but all moving at least and generally good temperament displayed by all.

    Recommend though to turn up early.

  39. Good to see Zoe Daniel and Dr Monique Ryan moving and seconding a motion to investigate the Media. This will show it is not a witch hunt by the ALP. I hope that the House of Reps pass this and goes ahead with the inquiry.

  41. The Age 07/09
    Four of the nine ESTA directors handed in resignation letters in January 2016, the same month Leeming did. Two other directors had left the board a few months earlier.

    Subsequent appointees included two former Labor staffers, former senior policeman Stephen Leane (the brother of state Labor minister Shaun Leane), and chair Flavia Gobbo, a prominent director who is married to influential Labor-aligned public administrator James Mackenzie.
    _____________________
    If that’s the calibre of board members then no wonder people died.
    The shit set in way before covid, regardless of what Andrews says.

  42. Late Riser an interesting observation about the Solomons. Labor (advised by the woeful DFAT and Defence Hawks) has tied itself into a position in the Pacific that is going to be difficult to get out of. There was an opportunity for a reset post the Coalition disaster but I’m not sure Wong or her Assistant in the Pacific Conroy have grasped it

    Smiles and nice plane trips and cool shirts are great photo ops. But Australia has been tied into ‘China out’ and ‘Pacific Family’ narrative and we will sadly continue to see things like this happening.

  45. So the Govt thinks Super funds should help solve the housing problem.
    The 250,000 plus skilled migrants per year have to live somewhere.
    Interesting that at the recent summit, employers screamed about not having enough skilled Aussies. Maybe not enough to let their wage exploitation continue.
    We have 842,000 under employed of whom half (approx 420,000) want full time work and the remainder want their hours increased by up to 10 hours per week.
    Can’t believe Labor fell for this rubbish that L/NP Governments have always pushed.
    Every industry with more than 20,000 under employed should not be allowed to bring in migrant workers. You build the infrastructure before you add to the existing problems.

  46. From William’s thread intro … interesting …

    An international survey by US concern Pew Research on “global threats and international co-operation” found Australia with the second biggest gap out of 14 countries between those on the political left and right with respect to the threat posed by climate change, respectively identified as a major threat by 91% and 47%. Far ahead of the rest in this respect was the United States, where only 22% of those on the right rated climate change a major threat compared with 85% on the left.

    The USA tops the list where people of “the right” don’t believe climate change is a serious threat. And Australia tops the list where people on “the left” do believe climate change as a major threat – 91% of them. That is a truly astonishing percentage.

    You’d think this would translate into a notionally “left” Australian government committing to serious action on climate change.

    But it doesn’t … we have a Labor government with inadequate climate policies, which they are already undermining by opening up new areas for fossil fuel extraction.

    Labor is apparently not listening to its own supporters. I think it is pretty clear who they are listening to.

  48. YouGov @YouGov
    Latest Westminster voting intention (31 Aug – 1 Sep)

    Con: 28% (-3 from 23-24 Aug)
    Lab: 43% (+4)
    Lib Dem: 11% (=)
    Green: 6% (-1)
    Reform UK: 3% (-2)
    SNP: 5% (=)

  49. LR – no doubt it appeared clumsy. I’m not sure how to make such an offer without it going down badly, in which case I guess the question is maybe better not to make the offer at all.

    With respect to this, though:

    1) Australia would be offended and alarmed if, say, France had offered to subsidise the next Australian election. If Australia is seeking to humiliate Solomon Islands, this is one way to do it.

    Ok, I don’t really agree with this. If France offered financial support for holding elections in Australia I think most in Australia would just be bemused. I certainly wouldn’t feel humiliated and I doubt anyone else, apart from the outrage brigade, would either. But certainly if you are looking to be outraged then this kind of gesture could be taken as humiliating. Fundamentally if this is the take (“Australia is seeking to humiliate Solomon Islands”), it is clearly a misunderstanding or mischaracterisation of Australia’s deep and nigh-impenetrable apathy with respect to what goes on elsewhere in the world.

    2) PM Sogavare says Solomon Islands can’t afford to hold the next round of scheduled elections. LOTO Wale says this is a “power grab”. Australia offers to help support the election. PM Sogavare explodes at “interfering” Australia.

    This appears to be what is actually going on. I mean, in a way given that “we can’t afford to hold the election” is being used to justify the actions to delay the election then Australia’s offer could be seen as interfering in SI politics if the whole rationale is a political play. So, if the government of SI were genuinely looking at solutions to a funding issue then Australia’s offer would not be interference; that it is being called interference would seem to reinforce the need to do whatever is possible to head off this particular action.

    But at the end of the day we can’t force the SI government, and if the election assistance offer could only ever antagonize the SI government better to not have made the offer at all, really.

  50. Liz Truss has appointed Mark Fullbrook, who ran Boris Johnson’s 2019 election campaign, as her Chief of Staff. He is one of the many associates and protegés of Lynton Crosby who have helped the UK Tories and our Coalition to repeated election success.

    “Central to that success is a playbook of tried and tested campaign tactics. The main elements of it are:

    – Micro-targeted pork-barrelling for marginal seats
    – Culture war campaigns
    – Coordination with News Corp
    – Demonisation of opponents and their policies.

    There’s also the famous ‘dead cat’ tactic strongly associated with Johnson”

    ($$) https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/09/06/truss-will-keep-johnsons-campaign-tactics/

    That all seems very familiar. I think that we can expect more of the same here from Dutton and Ley a.k.a. the “Dour Duo”.

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