Capping off the week with another New South Wales Liberal preselection tangle and three fresh poll results:
UPDATE (Resolve Strategic poll): Make that four, because it seems I missed the latest Resolve Strategic federal voting intention results from the Age/Herald, which are a stinker for the Coalition: Labor is up three to 42%, the Coalition down two to 28%, the Greens down one to 12% and One Nation up one to 6%. This puts Labor solidly north of 60% on two-party by my reckoning, and has caused an observable uptick for them on the BludgerTrack poll aggregate, as seen on the sidebar. Peter Dutton’s personal ratings take a particularly striking turn for the worse, with a six point drop in his combined very good and good rating to 26% and a ten point spike on poor and very poor to 54%, the latter encompassing an eleven point increase in very poor to 34%. Anthony Albanese’s lead as preferred prime minister is out from 51-22 to 55-21, and he’s up one on approval to 56% and down two on disapproval to 29%. The poll was conducted Wednesday to Sunday from a sample of 1609.
• The Liberals have opened nominations for a preselection to fill the party’s vacant New South Wales Senate seat following the death of Jim Molan in January, which will be held in late May. Max Maddison of The Australian reports moderates are dividing between state party president Maria Kovacic and former Bega MP and unsuccessful Gilmore candidate Andrew Constance. In the former’s favour is a view that the position should go to a woman, with Salesforce executive director Gisele Kapterian rated another moderate option if conservative opposition to Kovacic looks decisive. Factional lines are blurred to the extent that Kovacic has support from the centre right, while Constance is supported by Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney, a conservative who was widely identified as the favourite for the position before he announced he would not run. Constance will reportedly establish an electorate office on the South Coast if successful as a springboard for another bid for Gilmore in 2025. A late potential contender is Katherine Deves, whose conservative positions on transgender issues made national headlines during her unsuccessful run for Warringah last year. However, Deves says she would stand aside if Warren Mundine, who along with Senator Jacinta Price has been the leading Aboriginal campaigner against the Indigenous Voice, responds to conservative entreaties to throw his hat into the ring.
• The Lowy Institute has published results from its third annual Being Chinese in Australia survey, conducted online from a sample of 1200 “Australian citizens, permanent residents or long-term visa holders who self-identified as having Chinese ancestry”, between September 27 to December 10. Among its findings were that 60% expressed confidence in Anthony Albanese to do the right thing in world affairs, compared with 29% for not much or none, while Peter Dutton respectively rated 25% and 56%. The sample was more favourable on this score towards Xi Jinping (42% confident, 47% not confident) and Vladimir Putin (29% and 58%) than the Australian public at large, and less favourable towards Joe Biden (34% and 55%) and Voldymyr Zelenskyy (32% and 51%). Asked the same question in relation to countries, the sample broke favourably by 75-25 for Australia, 61-40 for China, 54-46 for Taiwan, 53-47 for the United States and 51-49 for Japan.
Presumably reflecting the change of government, those rating Australia-China relations as a “critical threat to the vital interests of Australia in the next ten years” fell from 51% to 37%, while concern over military conflict between the United States and China was little changed at 36%. Only 15% professed themselves very concerned about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, compared with 69% for a similar question in another survey targeting the population at large. Twenty-seven per cent said AUKUS would make Australia more safe compared with 26% for less safe, and 52% and 7% respectively for the Australian population at large. Notable changes from last year’s results were an increase in agreement that “democracy is preferable to any other kind of government”, from 34% to 48%, and more favourable results on questions regarding whether Australia was a good place to live, or if respondents had personally been vilified because of their heritage. There was a drop in those saying Australian media reporting about China was too negative from 57% to 42%, with as many deeming if fair and balanced and 13% thinking it too positive.
• Roy Morgan has published results from an SMS survey conducted from 1181 respondents to Friday to Tuesday which found 46% saying they would vote yes to an Indigenous Voice with no at 39%, compared with 53% and 30% when it last conducted the exercise in December. The pollster’s weekly federal voting intention numbers have Labor’s two-party lead steady at 56-44, from primary votes of Labor 37%, Coalition 33% and Greens 12%.
Horrendous interview for Katy Gallagher and Labor, just horrendous…
https://twitter.com/abcnews/status/1649922485675229185
Shogun
My favourite story of an international student who did a postgrad Master’s by Research with a lab we closely collaborated with. Initially I couldn’t tell whether he wasn’t very bright or didn’t care, but after a few months we noticed he went from bringing food in to ordering more and more expensive food delivered by Uber Eats, and doing absolutely no work while being in and out of the lab/office all day.
When he got to the time limit, he was absolutely dedicated to getting every extension he could, which surprised us because he just did not care about his studies.
Then, another international student figured out what was going on. When she was looking for accommodation he popped up on WeChat and claimed to be a private agent assisting other students. Needless to say his fee was outrageous, but explained why he was so keen to stay, he was making way more than us!
He eventually went home because of COVID, no more students looking for accommodation. Should never have done science….
Will Bandt arrange Greens supporter couch surfing facilities for the 60,000 people, including thousands of women fleeing domestic violence, who might have been in affordable houses had Blocker not been intent on doing a repeat of 2009.
It’s very clear Katy Gallagher doesn’t want S3.
Who are the cowards in cabinet too gutless to scrap them ? Declare yourselves !!
Bandt promised to get rid of S3 tax cuts.
88% of Australian voters told him to bugger off.
Bandt promised to tax billionaires out of existence.
88% of Australian voters told him to bugger off.
I am sure he has a progressive solution.
Will Bandt apologize personally to the 60,000 that he is cutting out of an affordable home for THEIR OWN GOOD?
Macca RB says:
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 7:35 am
C@tmomma @ 12.27pm
You are absolutely correct regarding the operation of the Chicommie secret police, worldwide.
They operate here in Australia.
It has been reported that a considerable number of Chinese students, studying in Australia, are agents of the CCP whose sole purpose is to monitor the thoughts, deeds and actions of their fellow Chinese students.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
98.6 Says :
I agree that student agents of the CCP operate here in Australia along with secret police, not only from China but from other countries around the world.
Recent arrests in Russia have shown that Putin believes spies are there as well.
Ironically, a small country like Timor Leste also found that they were being spied on by a neighbouring foreign country back in 2004.
NathanA
Thank you for sharing that. I am not at all surprised. Unfortunately my ‘better half’ is familiar with very similar stories.
There are international students who are quite clearly gaming the system. But the international student market is such a lucrative source of revenue that universities are often wary about rocking the boat.
I would add that there are international students who genuinely want an education, and come to Australia with the best of intentions. But the bad apples give them all a bad name.
Tractors and space came up in an earlier Bludger conversation.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/23/australias-farmers-call-for-backup-plan-after-gps-tractor-steering-system-fails
“Bring Julian Assange Home” is a waste of time. Assange is a Putin flunkey. Hang him out to dry.
Instead of “Bring Julian Assange Home” the Greens could focus on “Bring Lidia Thorpe Home” the next time she is out at 3 a.m.
I said to my partner I hated the Les Patterson character, such an ugly stereotype, out of keeping with modern Australia.
He reminded me that Barnaby Joyce was our Deputy PM (and occasionally acting PM) only last year…..
He has a point.
Shogun
That’s what I tell my extended family members. Their response. Assange has done enough time and suffered enough. Lol
That we have a government for the centre is becoming more and more obvious and a lot of energy is going to be expended by the ‘told you so’ crowd and the ‘but they said…’ conflagration.
Labor has measured the heat of the population and are doing what will keep them at the centre of politics…an easy job when the opposition is running around snapping at the edges.
The EV policy will suffice to get the midsized market onside but a short jaunt down the Hume Highway will tell you there are a lot of #smalldickenergy folk in their #emotionalsupporttrucks that will need to be gradually squeezed by the emissions control policy. Lots of horses out there that don’t need to be scared too soon.
The centre is who we are…Labor knows this and as infuriating as it may be to those who want change now, that’s the reality. We aren’t going to reach the 1.5-2% threshold because we were a country(world) that still voted for policies that worked against that goal.
Could be worse though, SfM isn’t running the show.
C@tmomma says:
Saturday, April 22, 2023 at 3:05 pm
Nicko @ #529 Saturday, April 22nd, 2023 – 2:54 pm
Pundits are equating it to Musk’s rocket blowing up on the launch pad this week. Except De Santis hasn’t even made it to the launch pad.
Doesn’t really work if youre gonna use inaccurate statements, as the rocket didn’t blow up on the pad.
Soz. It lasted, what, 4 minutes in the air?
____________
Prior to Gagarin’s first human spaceflight, Soviet rockets had a failure rate of about 50%.
Of course, they never did live coverage…
Don’t make me laugh.. be honest with yourself !!
It’s blatantly clear it’s a right wing Govt ultra-protective of the fossil fuel and defence industries as well as high income earners.
malcolm @ #749 Sunday, April 23rd, 2023 – 10:53 am
Barry Humphries held up a mirror to Australia.
If Australia didn’t like what it saw, was that his fault?
dave says:
Saturday, April 22, 2023 at 3:53 pm
Couple of new EV’s coming soon or available now from pre-order –
BYD Dolphin –
Pricing and pre-orders on this expected by mid July.
Estimates are AUD $40k – 45k
Reviewed –
https://youtu.be/63wCfqSQp8c
A smaller city car from BYD named the Seagull is expected in Australia late 2023/ early 2024. Guestimate in AUD $30k’s –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0-Wf5CV8fo
MG4 can be pre-ordered with delivery later this year –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W-XSsW5a8
Review from UK –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwpMJnz6NsM
____________
There’s a bit of a stink about some warranty conditions and servicing cost schedules imposed by BYD’s Australian distributor.
Google ‘byd warranty service’ at look at stories dating to Aug/Sept 2022.
Ven says:
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 10:27 am
”
Vensays:
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 10:13 am
Lying Ted Cruz busted on tape confessing to Fox News Maria Bartiromo that that Big lie is BS
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/22/2165332/-TX-Sen-Lyin-Ted-R-Busted-On-Tape-Confessing-To-Fox-News-Maria-Bartiromo-That-The-Big-Lie-Is-BS
”
These are some of the tape recording evidence Abby Grossbery plans to use for her case against Fox. Watch the video at the top of the page.
————————————————————————————
I wonder if she too will accept a payout or fight the case?
Katy Gallagher was a fish out of water trying to defend the garbage this right wing Govt is dishing up.
It’s ok to stick by your team but Labor partisans are going to have to own the fact it’s a right wing Govt.
“There are international students who are quite clearly gaming the system. But the international student market is such a lucrative source of revenue that universities are often wary about rocking the boat.
I would add that there are international students who genuinely want an education, and come to Australia with the best of intentions. But the bad apples give them all a bad name.”
The only thing at fault here is the Unis themselves, it is a pay to play scam and all they care about is the money. It is 110% the uni’s fault and it is surprising more people aren’t taking advantage of them.
To blame this on the students is ridiculous.
It is a perfect example of the failures of our very very ordinary tertiary sector intersecting with our greed (bring us your money) and then our racism (hey they are scammers)
BW, farmers can come up with their own DGPS backup plan. It isn’t hard and doesn’t need another subsidy for the rare times that particular comms sat goes down.
It’s very clear Katy Gallagher doesn’t want S3.
Who are the cowards in cabinet too gutless to scrap them ? Declare yourselves !!
@Rex Douglas
Rex your against Labor’s tax for 0.5 per cent of individuals with superannuation accounts over $3 million. For all you mighty chest beating that you are against tax cuts for the rich in end you really are just a Liberal attack dog.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry : We will evacuate our 350,000 workers in Taiwan due to the danger of war between China and Taiwan, because the war between China and Taiwan will take place soon.
Dont know the veracity of this….
PN
Don’t worry about me, just focus on your own instincts with regard to this right wing Govt.
Snappy Tom,
Have you read about BYD EV sedans catching fire?
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/while-byd-expands-abroad-another-han-ev-catches-fire-what-s-wrong-with-it-196299.html
Dave/Snappy Tom
What do you think is the future for EV servicing in Australia? EV servicing is simple and not lucrative enough to keep dealerships afloat. So the dealers want to make a profit on the EV sale.
What happens to current dealers and servicing? Many of the current biggest dealerships (Toyota, Mazda, GM, BMW, Mercedes) are for brands that face an existential threat from EVs, without adequate investment in their own EV range.
A garage chain that can service tyres, brakes and suspension only needs to learn how to check EV batteries and they could largely service EVs. It seems obvious that foreign manufacturers will want to cut out legacy local dealers and make a deal with a Bob Jane equivalent to service their cars instead to save a lot of money.
Any thoughts?
Ven
“ Tesla’s first-quarter result disappointed investors, causing its shares to plummet by 9.75 per cent on Thursday to $A212.45.”
———————————————————————
Seems strange given that Tesla sold more EVs last quarter than ever before (about 420k and likely to sell over 1.5m in 2023). Doesn’t sound like a company in trouble given its profit margins are several times higher than most auto companies leaving plenty of room to sell cars cheaper and significantly pressure the opposition. I’m not always sure the media click bait matches the facts and context.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/02/tesla-tsla-q1-2023-vehicle-delivery-and-production-numbers.html
It’s very clear that Rex Douglas would just move on to some other Anti Labor FUD if the S3 Tax Cuts were repealed. 😐
Rex
So I was right about Albo and you were wrong?
Snappy Tom
“ do we have (possibly impending) fuel efficiency standards or not?”
No. Still waiting until at least July for any details then legislation won’t occur before the end of this year.
zoomster
I was dead wrong about Albo.
I didn’t particularly find Humphries funny but you couldn’t call his talent ‘cheap’. He was certainly sharp and while dressing up as dame Edna was a simple gag he took it to much higher levels. His fast wit is best on display when interviewed by good interviewers.
It kinda reminds me of Tim Minchin who realised early he needed a schtick – so did his hair funny and had eye makeup. A lure is all it was and then the talent took over.
Boerwar @ #491 Sunday, April 23rd, 2023 – 11:09 am
Many of whom, as was pointed out on Insiders this morning, are Middle Aged Single Women, with little to no savings and little to no Super.
I hope that, for purity’s sake, Adam Bandt and The Green Ants are happy with turfing them out on the street or to live in their cars.
[‘The publishers of a German magazine that ran an “interview” with Michael Schumacher generated by artificial intelligence have sacked the editor and apologised to the Formula One great’s family.
Seven-times world champion Schumacher, now 54, has not been seen in public since he suffered a serious brain injury in a skiing accident on a family holiday in the French Alps in December 2013.
Michael Schumacher won the last of his seven world titles for Ferrari in 2004.
His family said this week that they were planning legal action against weekly magazine Die Aktuelle, owned by the Essen-based Funke media group.
Funke apologised in a statement on their website http://www.funkemedien.de.
“This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we – and our readers – expect from a publisher like Funke,” said Funke magazines managing director Bianca Pohlmann.
“As a result of the publication of this article, immediate personnel consequences will be drawn.
“Die Aktuelle editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann, who has held journalistic responsibility for the paper since 2009, will be relieved of her duties as of today.”
The latest edition of Die Aktuelle ran a front cover with a picture of a smiling Schumacher and the headline promising ‘Michael Schumacher, the first interview’.
The strapline added: “it sounded deceptively real”.’]
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/magazine-editor-sacked-over-schumacher-ai-interview-20230423-p5d2kr.html
Rex Douglas says:
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 12:03 pm
PN
Don’t worry about me, just focus on your own instincts with regard to this right wing Govt.
—————————
At the election, Labor 77, Greens 4.
Since then, Labor gains another seat and Greens lose a Senator.
Don’t worry about Labor, just focus on your own instincts with regards to supporting a very minor party losing MPs.
Snappy Tom @ #767 Sunday, April 23rd, 2023 – 11:49 am
Yep. They do spell out service costs on their website but they are still high IMO.
https://bydautomotive.com.au/service-and-warranty
From what I’ve read apart from topping up battery & engine coolants there is not a great deal of “Servicing” to do with most EV’s. Its more a case of the mechanic have a “look” at things.
I see the MG4 as the better car, although the BYD Dolphin has heaps of kit as standard and cannot see it being priced too much under the MG4.
[‘Footage of northern hairy-nosed wombat in south-west Queensland refuge a good sign for species.’]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-22/northern-hairy-nosed-wombats-rare-video-footage/102240032
Indonesia plans to evacuate ROC?
“Plans” is a contextual word. It may indicate a degree of urgency but in this case means that the Indonesian F M are making contingency plans. All sources are from Taipei
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4866137
Laughtonmg says :
Many of that 3.5% are older Australians with physical issues or made redundant that have basically been thrown onto jobseeker to await a pension at age 67. Figures put up the other day suggest 100,000 to 200,000 of them.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..98.6 says :
I knew a lady who lost her part time job at 64 or 65 and it was impossible for her to find another job at her age, so she went on the dole for two years until she reached pension age.
Unfortunately, she was harassed at one of the employment agencies to take up shit courses in how to compile a resume and how to conduct one’s self at an interview etc.
Other women there of her age who could not tolerate the bullying and misogyny and discrimination simply went off the dole.
This lady had been working since she was 15 and had a business of her own at one stage but a woman over 50 has little chance of securing a job let alone a woman who any future employer would realise will retire as soon as she reaches pension age in a year or two.
Thankfully, a kind younger employee of the same employment agency gave her some confidential advice as to how she could avoid all that crap and from that point on she was not harassed any more.
As a Labor man all my life, I was shocked to see the Labor party under Kevvie Rudd increase the pension age from 65 to 67. Such an unLabor thing to do. Yet nobody said boo.
Look at the different reaction in France where Macron has increased the pension age from 62 to 64.
Protests and strikes have been ongoing on for months.
B.S. Fairman @ #473 Sunday, April 23rd, 2023 – 10:00 am
He wanted his case to be a cause célèbre and for he, himself to be Celebrity #1.
A guide to servicing 6 EV brands in Australia including costs.
Three of the brands also require servicing to install software updates as they don’t offer over-the-air updates.
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2023/01/ev-servicing-costs-australia/
Dave
“ I see the MG4 as the better car, although the BYD Dolphin has heaps of kit as standard and cannot see it being priced too much under the MG4.”
—————————————————————————
There are some good EVs at reasonable prices coming down the line over the next 2-3 years. MG and BYD are certainly two of them imo.
Socrates @ #776 Sunday, April 23rd, 2023 – 12:04 pm
I think the costs will be challenged by the market. As you say EV’s don’t need much servicing.
Trying to force owners into expensive dealer servicing to maintain warranty has already been unsuccessful with ICE vehicles as much as they try to do so – consumer law etc.
In reading UK EV sites, even dealerships acknowledge cheaper servicing is available elsewhere in some cases manufacturers offer special deals etc.
If less expensive & competent options are available its hard to see how they will be blocked?
I watched Katy Gallagher this morning, honest interview, and on top of her brief.
The other Australian political parties would kill for someone with so much empathy and talent.
With my Tesla, aside from filling up the wiper bottle and changing wiper blades (which you do yourself), the only servicing is changing the tyres as needed, the occasional wheel alignment, and they recommend inspecting the brake fluid every 2 years.
With regenerative braking you hardly ever use the normal brakes, so brake pads will likely last the life of the car
Oh and they do also have a normal @2v battery to power the electronics on top of the main power pack, and that will need changing every couple of years I spose
Much of the maintenance you can do yourself, not much there for the auto service industry
Cronus @ #791 Sunday, April 23rd, 2023 – 12:22 pm
Ta Cronus – Thats handy.
‘Team Katich says:
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 11:54 am
BW, farmers can come up with their own DGPS backup plan. It isn’t hard and doesn’t need another subsidy for the rare times that particular comms sat goes down.’
——————————
Sure. User pays. Suits me. The reason I posted it was to educate some Greens luddite who hadn’t quite realized where rural technology was at.
PN
Don’t worry about me, just focus on your own instincts with regard to this right wing Govt.
@Rex Douglas
I’m not worried about you. Why would I worry about a blogger who is against lifting tax rate for 0.5% individuals with superannuation. And champions senators such as David Pocock who supports maintaining the Liberals union bashing ABCC accusing this government of being right winged.
Cronus @ #792 Sunday, April 23rd, 2023 – 12:25 pm
………………
Mmmm – 🙂
https://youtu.be/j98qq7GpaMI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onyex5XDwPg
As for Samantha Maiden on Insiders, she followed up PVO’s ignorant claim that Jim Chalmers has a degree ‘in political science’ – after slagging the ERC saying only Albo had an economics degree.
Maiden said ‘Chalmers has a PhD in Paul Keating’ with her trademark smirk.
In fact the treasurer has a 1st Class Honours degree in economics, a Masters in Public Admin and Policy from London School of Economics and a PhD in Political Science.