The Guardian reports the fortnightly Essential Research poll includes the monthly question on Anthony Albanese’s leadership, recording 58% approval (down one) and 26% disapproval (up one). Respondents were also asked what appear to have been all-or-nothing questions on stage three tax cuts, finding 53-47 in favour of sticking with them rather than breaking an election promise regardless of the economic situation, and 52-48 against a more general proposition as to whether break election promises should ever be broken. However, the split in favour of keeping the tax cuts was 70-30 in favour among those who felt they were most likely to benefit compared with 60-40 for least likely. The poll was conducted Thursday to Sunday from a sample of 1122 – there should be a good deal more from it when the full report is published later today.
UPDATE: Full report here.
Hubby heads off down to Melbourne today.
He has pre op consultations tomorrow morning and surgery Thursday.
C@tmomma says:
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 6:49 am
Good morning, Cronus!
Did you read the story about the Russian fighter jet crashing into the apartment building? More asymmetric warfare?
———————————————————————————————
The SU-34 has had a slightly chequered mechanical history and stuttered entry into service over the years so it’s possible that it was an accident given the proximity of the airfield to the city but equally, it’s possible it could be the result of other plausible actions. As you say, “interesting”, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Zoomster
Fingers crossed for a successful outcome.
zoomster,
Hope all goes well for hubby. 🙂
Continuing strong performance by Albo in challenging conditions and unsurprisingly, ongoing support for the S3 tax cuts. The head must rule over the heart on this issue and Albo is in touch with the zeitgeist.
Thank goodness for the election of Albo and Chalmers in this economic environment, steady hands.
Yes, Australia seems to have bucked the trend towards Authoritarian Populist leaders. Probably because we led the trend towards them with Abbott and Morrison.
I read a fascinating think piece about why the world is turning towards them last night:
https://wapo.st/3yMQJCJ
(This is the free link if you don’t have a subscription, it’s well worth the read).
Yep, people want governments who say what they’re going to do and then do it. Otherwise that ‘collapse in trust’ thing rears its ugly head again.
Good morning.
Zoomster, torchbearer! No words. You are both heroes. Sorry.
Write a book, please. (If you can.)
Cat, I saw the sunrise. Bloody dogs wanted to be fed.
And as for that trophy Scummo gave himself…. We have not heard the last of that yet. The awful British Tory government speaks of mimicking the Australian gumment on refugees. Says it all really.
And… the complete lack of published polling is mysterious. Even sinister. Our overlords do t want us to know that effective government is possible.
Have a great day, everybody.
Mabwm,
Yes, dogs. Or in my case, dog who wants to go walkies as soon as the sun rises. 😀
I think the Australian people are rewarding the ‘Problem Solvers’ government of Anthony Albanese.
… on the end of history in the Atlantic, https://apple.news/Ar7gOc_M1QVmPJR1cdTeZnw
It shows why newspoll has gone quiet , it seems no matter what the corrupt media is trying to do to boost Dutton and his cronies
The public so far is not interested in the propaganda
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
Voters are divided about whether or not Labor should stick with an election promise to keep the Morrison government’s stage-three tax cuts, although prime beneficiaries of the change are more likely to argue Anthony Albanese should stick to his word, writes Katherine Murphy about the latest Essential poll.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/18/guardian-essential-poll-voters-split-on-whether-labor-should-ditch-the-stage-three-tax-cuts
The Medicare story continues, saying that systemic rorting of the system is artificially inflating official statistics that claim almost nine out of 10 patients are bulk billed by their doctor and don’t pay any out-of-pocket costs.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/medicare-rorts-expose-inflated-bulk-billing-rates-20221017-p5bqas.html
Senior federal government ministers have described revelations that billions of dollars are rorted or wasted through the Medicare payments system each year as atrocious and alarming. They are right. The key question is what happens next, says the SMH editorial.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/political-courage-needed-to-tackle-vested-interests-and-save-medicare-20221017-p5bqc0.html
Rachel Clun writes that Mark Butler has commissioned a report on the Health Department’s existing compliance and audit programs following revelations billions of dollars were being rorted or wasted from Medicare each year and the system was failing to detect fraud or errors. Jim Chalmers has also signalled Medicare rorting could form part of the government’s audit of wasteful spending amidst attempts to rein in budget costs as the peak doctors’ group said the claims had been grossly inflated.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/absolutely-atrocious-chalmers-attacks-medicare-rorts-20221017-p5bqaw.html
Planners warn out-of-date flood maps and a lack of statewide co-ordination mean Victoria is not adequately prepared for flooding, with new homes being built in potentially dangerous locations such as flood plains. Cara Waters writes that Victoria’s peak body for town planners said there was no framework for updating flood mapping and the available information on riverine and coastal inundation was patchy and outdated.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/out-of-date-flood-maps-mean-homes-built-on-flood-plains-20221017-p5bqbl.html
Grocery prices will climb in the wake of the Victorian floods, intensifying cost-of-living pressures as Treasurer Jim Chalmers warns that the impact of this latest natural disaster on the federal budget will be substantial. The total cost to the economy will not be known until after the waters have receded, but a leading economist predicts inflation could surpass a 32-year high of 8 per cent by the end of the year.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/australians-under-the-pump-as-floods-inflame-cost-of-living-20221017-p5bqe9.html
Angus Thompson reports that Linda Reynolds has been accused of attempting to “coach” the cross-examination of Brittany Higgins by texting the barrister acting for her former staffer’s alleged rapist. Not a good look, Linda!
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/reynolds-denies-trying-to-coach-defence-s-questioning-of-higgins-20221017-p5bqeh.html
And the charming Michaelia Cash has denied that she knew of the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins more than a year before it became public in February 2021, agreeing it would be “political suicide” to have covered it up.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/17/michaelia-cash-denies-knowing-of-alleged-of-brittany-higgins-18-months-before-it-became-public
The comments last week by Nationals frontbencher Barnaby Joyce likening the Voice proposal to a law enacted in Nazi Germany show what a difficult task it will be to get the Voice referendum passed, writes Crispin Hull.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7944521/with-joyce-rewriting-history-theres-a-tough-fight-ahead-for-the-voice/?cs=14258
The ABC has called on the federal government to pass a new law guaranteeing it can host at least one debate during federal elections. James Massola tells us that the appeal for a legally mandated debate is contained in the corporation’s submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the conduct of the 2022 election.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abc-wants-new-law-guaranteeing-it-can-host-election-debates-20221017-p5bqf2.html
John McDuling looks for the hidden message in Rupert Murdoch’s latest manoeuvre to remerge Fox and NewsCorp.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/the-hidden-message-in-rupert-murdoch-s-latest-manoeuvre-20221017-p5bqis.html
The Coalition has vowed to “roll out the red carpet” for businesses and cut the payroll tax for small companies as part of its push to reinvigorate the state’s economy in the aftermath of COVID-19 disruption. Matthew Guy said on Monday that, if the Liberal Party won next month’s election, he would lift the payroll tax threshold – which is based on a company’s annual wages bill – from $700,000 to $1.6 million, writes Sumeyya Ilanbey.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/coalition-will-roll-out-red-carpet-for-business-with-payroll-tax-cut-20221017-p5bqew.html
Australia’s aged-care system is at serious risk of financial collapse, with two in three nursing homes operating at a loss in 2021-22, and needs the federal government to step in with an emergency funding package, a study warns. The analysis of the financial performance of aged-care providers in 2021-22 reveals significant worsening of an already dire situation, with residential aged-care homes losing $14.67 a bed a day compared with losses of $8.43 in the previous financial year.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/emergency-funding-needed-as-agedcare-sector-at-risk-of-collapse/news-story/8b2f4a1ef7dc780352c861fc30a64b60
Jack Waterford wonders if Albanese is up to the job of public service reform.
https://johnmenadue.com/is-albanese-up-to-the-job-of-public-service-reform/
Tory Shepperd writes that Scott Morrison has been described as a “virtuous globalization mastermind” and credited with “controlling natural disasters” by the agency that says it now “exclusively” represents him. Simply sickening!
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/17/virtuous-globalization-mastermind-former-australia-prime-minister-scott-morrison-lauded-by-worldwide-speakers-group
Alan Kohler thinks that Labor’s immigration and housing policies are an explosive combination.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2022/10/17/alan-kohler-labor-policies/
House prices are falling and unlikely to rebound. “Bring it on”, says Jess Irvine.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/house-prices-are-falling-and-unlikely-to-rebound-bring-it-on-20221017-p5bqh5.html
Following Julia Gillard’s historic Misogyny Speech, coverage in the press demonstrated a detachment from the true meaning behind her words, writes Victoria Fielding.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/mass-media-fails-to-recognise-the-power-of-gillards-misogyny-speech,16873
University fees are poised to change – a new system needs to consider how much courses cost and what graduates can earn, argues Andrew Norton.
https://theconversation.com/university-fees-are-poised-to-change-a-new-system-needs-to-consider-how-much-courses-cost-and-what-graduates-can-earn-192023
Star Entertainment Group has been hit with a record fine and had its casino licence suspended but will still be able to stay open and trade.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/star-hit-with-100m-fine-sydney-casino-licence-suspended-20221017-p5bqah.html
Elizabeth Knight tells us why Star casino will survive the storm.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/revenue-trumps-retribution-why-star-casino-will-survive-the-storm-20221017-p5bqez.html
The AFR is concerned that once again, the punishment handed down to a casino operator for egregious failures to stem criminal activity and money laundering has failed to fit the crime. It says the lenient treatment for the wrongdoing that has stained Australia’s reputation as a clean place to do business is not good enough.
https://www.afr.com/companies/games-and-wagering/the-star-s-ill-fitting-punishment-20221017-p5bqgy
In a country with well-publicised shortages in the health workforce, it’s perplexing and perverse that policymakers don’t use paramedics better. It’s an anomalous situation that the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce can help to overcome, explains Ray Bange.
https://johnmenadue.com/paramedics-missing-in-health-care-debate/
Paul Daley says that the Australian War Memorial’s recent vague commitment to a “much broader, a much deeper depiction” of colonial violence against Indigenous people risks being compromised by an absence of detail and sound historical context.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/17/the-australian-war-memorials-intransigence-on-depicting-the-frontier-wars-speaks-louder-than-words
Laptops from the likes of Apple, HP, Dell and Microsoft are not built to last forever. Within a matter of years your needs will change, or something will break, or it will simply get too old, and you’ll need to recycle it or bin it or stick it in your drawer and buy a new, though similar device. But, as the growing “right to repair” movement will tell you, this isn’t how it necessarily has to be, explains Tim Biggs.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/entrepreneurship/diy-laptop-offers-apple-like-looks-with-pc-repairability-20221011-p5bous.html
Rob Harris writes that leading British figures have called on Prime Minister Liz Truss to stand down after less than six weeks in the job, as the Conservative government braces itself for a further week of infighting following the chaos caused by now dumped mini-budget measures.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/corporate-britain-turns-on-truss-as-mps-call-for-her-to-resign-20221017-p5bqe2.html
Jeremy Corbyn gives a warning to Truss and Hunt, saying people see the chaos and unfairness – and they won’t accept it.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/17/truss-hunt-activists-unions-tory-austerity
Enter the acerbic John Crace who describes Librium Liz’s troubles. He describes her latest appearances as “like asking a death row inmate to administer their own lethal injection.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/17/liz-truss-jeremy-hunt-penny-mordaunt
In another entertaining contribution, John Lord writes about the implosion of Liz Truss.
https://theaimn.com/the-implosion-of-liz-truss/
American National Security Strategies (NSS) are a bizarre hegemonic specie. The latest version is saturated with more than usual hyperbole. The Biden Administration’s obsession that the defining characteristic of international reality is an ontological dichotomy between democracy and autocracy distorts the Strategy’s perspective, opines Mike Scrafton.
https://johnmenadue.com/us-national-security-strategy-dogma-for-a-misconceived-crusade/
Dozens of the hundreds of executives and engineers with US citizenship or green cards who work in or with China’s semiconductor sector, many of them born in China, have been told by their employers – whether those are foreign or Chinese companies – to stop work while their employers seek clarification of a new US rule that bars US citizens and residents from supporting China’s advanced chip-making industry without a licence. Stephen Bartholomeusz explains the US’s new weapon to destroy China’s tech dream.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-us-deploys-its-new-weapon-to-destroy-china-s-tech-dream-20221017-p5bqa7.html
“The Chinese leader is not invading a neighbour, raining down missiles on innocent civilians or routinely threatening to use nuclear weapons. Xi is not only more powerful than Putin but also more capable. The two are strikingly different in presentation. Yet there is a great deal of overlap in their respective world views”, writes Greg Sheridan.
https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/xi-and-putin-two-sides-ofthe-samecoin/news-story/3c45660401c3647d833a1dcfd01708e6
Daniel Hurst reports that Australia has quietly dropped its recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, unwinding language adopted by Scott Morrison’s government after the US moved its own embassy from Tel Aviv.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/17/australia-quietly-drops-recognition-of-west-jerusalem-as-capital-of-israel
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe
Peter Broelman
Andrew Dyson
John Shakespeare
Matt Golding
Fiona Katauskas
Glen Le Lievre
Mark Knight
Pathetic effort from Spooner!
From the US
According to The Guardian:
Bird strike or mechanical failure is entirely possible; we lost a new EA-18G Growler to an engine fire at (aborted) take off a few years ago. (There were some very pointed discussions about the warranty…)
Thanks C@T, I thought that was a very interesting article. Hyper-globalisation does appear to have benefited the few over the many, often disenfranchising the majority. Fear is a base emotion and ironically, right wing authoritarians appeal to this fear. Often people don’t know what they’ve got until they’ve lost it and this is the main worry with the freedoms offered by democracy.
That the American poll shows people are significantly, even now are more concerned about the economy than democracy reinforces the short term, shallowness of society and ignorance of how freedoms were hard won and just as hard to maintain. They also fail to understand that successful economies depend on robust, thriving democracies. Authoritarianism Moore broadly has successfully exploited fear through confusion and putting that genie back in the bottle will be very difficult though I think Australia is in a good position still to hold back authoritarianism. IMHO.
Thanks BK!
I find it instructive that Morrison’s many supposed “achievements” listed in his Worldwide Speakers Group profile do not include “stopping the boats”.
https://wwsg.com/speakers/scott-morrison/?utm_content=223872537&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-486723147
Maybe all that was just for the punters but was a likely embarrassment on the world stage.
I suppose his “boat” trophy has price of place in his living room at home.
Thanks BK, you’re on fire with the dawn patrol.
Linda Reynolds’ words and actions in the current court case are rightfully coming under scrutiny and doing nothing for her credibility. Cash’s evidence too I think has been sub-standard to say the least (seriously, an ex-AG doesn’t understand plausible deniability?).
Looking for something to watch today? The NACC consultation continues…
This hearing will be on http://www.aph.gov.au
zoomster @ #1 Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 – 6:55 am
Hope all goes well. My OH is going in Thursday for surgery on Friday
A war Russia set to win – MK Bhadrakumar / Tribune India
[ https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/a-war-russia-set-to-win-441926 ]
Why the US must press for a ceasefire in Ukraine – Jack F. Matlock Jr. / Responsible Statecraft
[ https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/10/17/on-ukraine-the-us-is-on-the-hook-to-find-a-way-out/ ]
The Neocons and the Woke Left Are Joining Hands and Leading Us to Woke War III | Opinion – David Sacks / Newsweek
[ https://www.newsweek.com/neocons-woke-left-are-joining-hands-leading-us-woke-war-iii-opinion-1748947 ]
Jaeger says:
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 7:29 am
…..
Bird strike or mechanical failure is entirely possible; we lost a new EA-18G Growler to an engine fire at (aborted) take off a few years ago. (There were some very pointed discussions about the warranty…)
———————————————-
Many years ago we were on the milk run from Katherine to Victoria River Downs via Kununurra. A Grumman Tracker was ahead of us for take off. One of the engines caught fire when they cranked it up. The ‘first responders’ got out of that plane very quickly indeed!
Latest UK polling…
#UK, Prime Minister Truss (Conservatives) approval rating poll:
⏬Approve: 9 % (-5)
⏫Disapprove: 70 % (+8)
Among 2019 Conservative Voters:
⏬Approve: 12 % (-9)
⏫Disapprove: 67 % (+9)
Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 16/10/22
If you want Scott Morrison to speak at your next big function, there’s a form to fill out at the bottom of the link in my last comment.
Under “you might also like” are listed Mike Pence, Steven Harper (former Conservative Canadian PM), Mark Esper (one of Trump’s Defence Secretaries) and Niall Ferguson (right wing historian and social commentator). Morrison would be pleased with that.
Good morning, all. Thank you, BK.
To those who shared their horror bullying stories, thank you for the courage and grit and determination you all showed.
11
10/10ths cloud
cloud low, light grey
wind free
“ Cheap, unsophisticated and with an unerring knack of striking civilian targets — apparently “unintentionally” — the Shahed-136 embodies the essence of the Russian military itself these days. Never mind their lack of precision, they’re expendable, less fallible than a jittery young army conscript, and more than carry their weight in the sheer psychological intimidation they apply to vulnerable Ukrainian civilians at work, rest or play.”
We’ve seen these tactics before, Germany fired V2 rockets into the UK in WWII, Hezbollah used Katyusha rockets against Israel, and in numerous other conflicts. The fear is real and palpable as these largely indiscriminate weapons target civilians but still, in the end, these weapons are operationally of limited impact. They don’t yet change the outcome of wars though this is of little comfort to vulnerable populations.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-18/russia-unleashes-new-killing-machine-on-kyiv-residents/101545158
The Poms have recycled Hunt and are hiding Truss, meanwhile having read SfM’s attempt at spruiking himself on that speaking circuit website it is hard to ignore the Tory propensity for stupidity and lack of self-awareness.
I suppose you have to work with what you’ve got.
Turns out it was a typo. It has been corrected and now reads
‘Cronus says:
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 7:58 am
“ Cheap, unsophisticated and with an unerring knack of striking civilian targets — apparently “unintentionally” — the Shahed-136 embodies the essence of the Russian military itself these days. Never mind their lack of precision, they’re expendable, less fallible than a jittery young army conscript, and more than carry their weight in the sheer psychological intimidation they apply to vulnerable Ukrainian civilians at work, rest or play.”
We’ve seen these tactics before, Germany fired V2 rockets into the UK in WWII, Hezbollah used Katyusha rockets against Israel, and in numerous other conflicts. The fear is real and palpable as these largely indiscriminate weapons target civilians but still, in the end, these weapons are operationally of limited impact. They don’t yet change the outcome of wars though this is of little comfort to vulnerable populations.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-18/russia-unleashes-new-killing-machine-on-kyiv-residents/101545158‘
——————————
There were some signs in the earlier phase of the Kerch Bridge Retribution Barrage that the Russians were using accurate missiles. These were the ones that were taking out power stations. My guesses:
1. Accurate missiles are in extremely low supply.
2. If the Russians had a hundred of them they could cripple most of Ukraine’s power supply.
3. The dumb missiles hitting civilian targets almost certainly cost more in revenge motivation than they gain in generating fear and disruption.
Maybe that was the Morrison that everyone voted for but who disappeared the nanosecond he became prime minister?
Sprocket
90 minutes to be shared among 5KCs/SCs. Barely enough for a few introductory remarks.
Not convinced Fiona Mcleod SC should be at the table. Contrary to the 7.30 report on Medicare which awkwardly highlighted Dr Faux’s conflict – she is writing about Medicare waste/fraud while her software is being used by alleged fraudsters – its report last week about IBAC reports being hard to publish and the Victorian government maybe benefitting form that, featured Ms Mcleod, who was not asked a question about IBAC presumably because she was once a former ALP candidate. Whether she or the ABC skirted the issue like that was not revealed.
While Fairfax are all over the Medicare ‘rorts’ the Rupertariat seem to have boycotted it. Did a word search on their flagship The Australian and their Sydney sewer The Daily Telegraph’s front page and ‘Medicare’ appears exactly zero times.
Le Maire, who spoke on Monday while addressing the National Assembly, said, “The conflict in Ukraine must not end in American economic domination and a weakening of the EU.”
.
The French finance minister Bruno Le Maire has warned that the United States should not be allowed to dominate the global energy market while the European Union suffers from the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine.
.
He described as unacceptable that Washington “sells its liquefied natural gas at four times the price than it sets for its own industrialists,” adding that “the economic weakening of Europe is not in anyone’s interest.”
https://t.me/azmilitary11/25583
Zoomster
Sorry to hear about your bullying experiences growing up. It was very acceptable behaviour during those times.
And unfortunately many of us were on the receiving end of it.
Hence why i get so annoyed by the idea that being woke these days is so bad for some reason. And safe spaces are frowned upon. Sheesh.
Being accountable for what one says and does is a no brainer.
All the best to hubby for his operation.
Steve777 @ Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 7:56 am
Perfect! We just need to hire Morrison and a dunk tank and we could conduct a consumer willingness to pay experiment. I suspect that the rate would be quite high.
Families are facing average energy bills of up to £5,000 from April after Liz Truss was forced to rip up her government’s entire economic strategy and issue a public apology to the nation.
Jeremy Hunt, the new chancellor, said yesterday that the energy price guarantee which limits average energy bills to £2,500, will come to an end in April. Support will then be targeted at the most vulnerable in a move that could see bills for most families double.
Hunt also reversed £32 billion worth of tax cuts from Truss’s disastrous mini-budget in an attempt to reassure the markets, including the 1p cut in the basic rate of income tax, which has been shelved “indefinitely”. The tax burden is now on course to rise to its highest level since 1950.
alfred venison,
Lol.
The Tribune India?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/17/india-hindu-nationalist-extremism/
The media serves the purposes of Modi. Independent media is gone.
Newsweek has become a mouthpiece for non-interventionist, let the cards fall where they will (which is increasingly into the laps of Authoritarian Nationalists), commentators.
Then there is the third of your triumvirate:
The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft is a U.S. think tank founded in 2019 and located in Washington, D.C., named after former U.S. president John Quincy Adams. It has been described as “realist” and advocating for “restraint” in U.S. foreign policy.
Depends on your reality, I guess, but we know the sort of ‘restraint’ they support.
alfred venison, you sound like someone who would be happy to live under an Authoritarian’s yoke. Just because they are happy to punish a country that you have expressed an historical enmity towards. Shame on you. Thank goodness Australia voted for the other type of leader to that in May.
https://www.pollbludger.net/2022/10/18/essential-research-albanese-approval-and-tax-cuts-open-thread/comment-page-1/#comment-3994886
Lying cow ^1 | 2 | 3?
A Russian fighter plane Suhkoi S34 has crashed into a residential building in the southern Russian city of Yeysk, engulfing apartments in a huge fireball, and officials were quoted as saying at least two people were killed.
Video published by the military news channel Zvezda on Monday (Russia time) appeared to show explosions aboard the plane as it plunged towards the apartments i.e. the engine caught fire
#weatheronPB
Dark greys and bright blues,
in a heavy mixed-up sky,
play with a warm sun.
BK @ #13 Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 – 7:24 am
Labor is being foolish by not acting now while it has goodwill on its side, and a majority of voters understand that the economic position of Australia has changed substantially since Labor agreed to support these regressive tax cuts entirely for political gain, and not because they were good policy. They are not. Even Labor hardheads admit that. They were classic pork-barrelling, pure and simple. If you thought Labor was better than that, you were wrong.
Labor has a temporary ‘get out of jail free’ card on this issue. They should use it while they can. The closer the tax cuts get, and the more obvious it is that the economy is in ruins and services will need to be cut, the louder the wealthy and self-interested will scream when Labor eventually does decide the tax cuts cannot go ahead in their current form. And the stupider Labor will look.
Labour leads by 36%. Largest lead for ANY party with ANY polling company since October 1997. Westminster VI (16 Oct.): Labour 56% (+3) Conservative 20% (-4) Lib Dems 11% (-2) Green 5% (+2) SNP 4% (–) Reform UK 2% (–) Other 1% (-2) Changes +/- 13 Oct.
#Weather on PB: type B (cloudy, not raining)
Hooray, Flemington racecourse is saved!!! Meanwhile everyone else in the area is submerged under water – oopsies — First Dog on the Moon
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/17/hooray-flemington-racecourse-is-saved-meanwhile-everyone-else-in-the-area-is-submerged-under-water-oopsies
Extracted from the Dawn Patrol:
[‘Matthew Guy said on Monday that, if the Liberal Party won next month’s election, he would lift the payroll tax threshold – which is based on a company’s annual wages bill – from $700,000 to $1.6 million, writes Sumeyya Ilanbey.’]
While this proposal will be a winner among employers, the vast majority of whom would already be in Guy’s camp, I’m not so sure whether it will excite employees, unless the savings will be passed onto them under the rubric of trickle-down economics.
Jeepers. Just when you thought it might be safe to go outside, an A+ rated Sienna Poll has the Republicans up in the Generic Ballot by 3pts and Trump up by 1pt over Biden (for 2024).
Griff at 8:17 am
It would be a lol to go along to one of SfM’s talks and compare reality with the story he tells the overseas audience about his leadership.
Talk about management not having a clue.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/18/netball-australia-says-its-addressing-players-concerns-about-hancock-prospecting-sponsorship
Bandt had better watch his back. Guess which Greens look-at-moi…
It is a bit rich. The Greens are showing a serial lack of integrity when it comes to secrecy, destroying the Voice and urging Labor to break election promises are now lecturing Labor on secrecy!
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/18/greens-warn-attorney-general-could-weaponise-and-release-secret-reports-of-anti-corruption-body
I simply don’t understand how Donald Trump could be remotely acceptable as President to so many Americans. I get social conservatism, a perfectly reasonable and sound tradition, parts of which I agree with. I get market fundamentalism. It even works to an extent, although I mostly regard it as institutionalised greed and I don’t like the sort of economic and social conditions that it fosters. Others disagree. Fair enough.
But Trump is so obviously a chancer, a con artist, several types of criminal, probably corrupt and there’s credible evidence that he’s a traitor to the USA or at least a useful idiot.
We can only hope that someone like him wouldn’t get a look-in here.