Essential Research 2PP+: Labor 51, Coalition 43 (open thread)

Essential Research finds no sign of buyers’ remorse from the election of the Albanese government, and a strong appetite for government regulation of rents.

The voting intention numbers from the latest fortnightly Essential Research poll, which include a 6% undecided component, have Labor and the Coalition tied on 33% of the primary vote, with Labor steady and the Coalition up three. The Greens are up two to 14%, reversing a dip last time, while One Nation are down three to 5%. Labor’s lead on the 2PP+ measure is at 51-43, in from 52-42 last time.

Also included in the poll was a forced response question as to whether respondents were glad Labor had won the last election or if they felt it would have been better if the Coalition had been re-elected, with respective results of 57% and 43%. One of the pollster’s two leadership ratings, this one inviting respondents to rate Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton on a scale from one to ten. This found 37% giving Albanese a rating of seven or higher, up a point on a month ago, with a new peak of 29% rating him a three or lower, up two. Peter Dutton was respectively steady at 27% and up one to 35%.

Respondents came down heavily in favour of regulation of rents, with 34% favouring a freeze until economic conditions improve out of four options on offer, another 44% favouring a once-yearly increase capped at the inflation rate, 11% favouring an uncapped once-yearly increase, and only 10% favouring no limits. The poll was conducted Wednesday to Sunday from a sample of 1151, and can be viewed in full here.

Elsewhere on the polling front, this week’s Roy Morgan result has Labor’s two-party lead in from 54.5-45.5 to 53-47, from primary votes of Labor 34% (down one-and-a-half), Coalition 36.5% (up two) and Greens 12.5% (up half), and the RedBridge Group result referred to in the previous post can be viewed in full here.

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.

973 comments on “Essential Research 2PP+: Labor 51, Coalition 43 (open thread)”

Comments Page 1 of 20
1 2 … 20

  2. “Russia is resorting to sinking ferries in the Kerch Strait to protect the Crimean Bridge from attacks, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) said on Aug. 22.

    The HUR said that Russian forces believe the submerged boats will provide a protective lane in the water in front of the bridge. One ferry has already been sunk and Russia plans to sink at least six in total, the HUR said.”

    https://kyivindependent.com/military-intelligence-russia-sinking-ferries-in-attempt-to-protect-crimean-bridge/

    Russia might be giving away that they have given up on wanting to sail vessels themselves through the Kerch Strait linking the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. This could indicate they are pessimistic about keeping the Sea of Azov as a ‘Russian lake’.

  3. Germany’s and Estonia’s Foreign Ministers back the legality of Ukrainian strikes upon Moscow:

    “German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock defended Ukraine’s right to strike targets on Russian soil, saying that Kyiv acts within international law, Anadolu news agency reported on Aug. 22.

    “Russia has attacked Ukraine, and therefore Ukraine has a right enshrined in the UN Charter to defend its country, to defend its people,” Baerbock told a joint press conference with her Estonian counterpart Margus Tsahkna, as cited by Anadolu.

    “Russia is bombing civilian targets in Ukraine relentlessly, targeting grain silos, hospitals, and churches. Ukraine is defending itself within the framework of international law,” Baerbock said, responding to a question on recent drone attacks on Moscow.

    According to the media outlet, Estonia’s Tsahkna backed Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive against Russian forces and emphasized that Kyiv’s military operations are within the framework of international law.

    “Russia is responsible for starting the aggression. Russia is responsible for starting genocide. Russia is responsible for everything that it’s doing in Ukraine,” the Estonian foreign minister said.

    “We must push Russia back to Russia. We must use every kind of opportunity for that.””

    https://kyivindependent.com/german-foreign-minister-says-ukrainian-strikes-on-moscow-are-legitimate/

  4. I’m assuming they hit a better than usual sample for The Greens this time, but even so it does suggest that Chandler-Mather’s shenanigans still haven’t hurt the party as seemed possible.

  5. A second Russian Tu-22 bomber has been blown up:

    “As a result of the attacks on the Soltsy and Shaikovka airfields, two Tu-22M3 strategic bombers were completely destroyed, and two other aircraft were damaged.

    Source: Ukrainska Pravda’s source in defence intelligence

    Quote: “Two Tu-22M3 bombers were completely destroyed, two other aircraft were slightly damaged.”

    Details: The source said that the airfields had been attacked by quadcopters from the territory of the Russian Federation.”

    https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/08/22/7416564/

    Soltsy is over 650km from Ukrainian territory; Shaikovka is about 210km from it, and 267km southwest of central Moscow.

  6. Enough Already

    “ Details: The source said that the airfields had been attacked by quadcopters from the territory of the Russian Federation.”

    The enemy from within are much harder to defend against. I understand one of these airfields at least has subsequently been emptied and all aircraft moved to airfields further west in Russia.

  7. Opinion poll results within Ukraine reported today in Ukrainska Pravda:
    [Source: survey by Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Charitable Foundation, jointly with the sociological service of the Razumkov Center]

    “The overwhelming majority, or 90.4% of Ukrainians, do not agree to recognise the territories occupied by the Russians as part of the Russian Federation, and another 73.8% support Ukraine’s NATO entry, survey results say.

    The survey shows that less than 5% of Ukrainians are ready to make any territorial concessions in order to end the war. A slightly higher number of Ukrainians, 18%, expressed their willingness to give up Ukraine’s future membership in NATO.

    No more than 13% of Ukrainians are ready to agree to the reduction of the size of the Armed Forces in peacetime, which was allegedly discussed in Istanbul in 2022.

    No more than 17-18% of respondents are ready to give the Russian language official status, or to abandon the policy of decommunisation, in favour of the Kremlin.

    Respondents in Ukraine’s south and, to a slightly greater extent, in its east demonstrate a somewhat greater willingness to make concessions (except for territorial ones). However, even in these regions, the majority of respondents still consider any of the mentioned concessions unacceptable.”

    https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/08/22/7416658/

    So, anyone who urges Western governments to withdraw military aid to Ukraine to try to force Kyiv to cede territory to broker a peace deal with Moscow needs to understand they are setting their stance in opposition to the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians. They need to understand they are turning their backs upon the victims of this cruel Russian invasion and instead embracing the position the perpetrators want them to take. They ought to reflect seriously upon the implications this holds for an evaluation of their own morality, in my view.

  8. The polling trend seems like a genteel decline to normal levels for Labor is happening – or that’s what Bludgertrack shows.

    The 30-35% of the electorate that doesnt vote for Labor or the Libs leans preferentially to Labor.

  9. For all the China appeasers and AUKUS Sceptics, like Player One and Dr Doolittle, it might just do their perspective some good to read the following long form investigative article from The Washington Post, then get back to me with their apologia for poor widdle China:

    SUVA, Fiji — When four Chinese detectives breezed into police headquarters here in the middle of 2017, it quickly became apparent they weren’t in Fiji’s capital merely to help with an inquiry. Instead, the officers planned to carry out the investigation — into Chinese nationals suspected of running internet scams from the South Pacific island — pretty much as if they were back in China.

    “Everything was done by them,” said a former Fijian police officer who was in the Suva headquarters at the time, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. “Fiji police was only there to assist in the arrest, nothing else. All the statements, recordings and the uplifting of all exhibits was done by the Chinese.”

    The case was a harbinger of China’s ambitions in the wider Pacific as well as its willingness to conduct investigations and project its police powers overseas, sometimes with little regard for local authorities. But the case also became a catalyst for Fiji to stand up to Beijing and assert its sovereignty.

    Weeks after the initial four landed in Fiji, scores more Chinese police officers arrived on the island, and 77 suspects, many of them young women, were marched in handcuffs and hoods across the tarmac at a local airport before being flown to China. None was given an extradition hearing. There was no proper documentation, no Interpol involvement, the former Fijian officer said.

    “They just came in and did what they wanted,” added another, more senior former officer.

    China’s domineering role in the investigation, followed by arrests that human rights activists and Fijian opposition leaders likened to a mass kidnapping, was the culmination of Beijing’s most extensive security partnership in the Pacific, one based on a secretive memorandum of understanding on police cooperation between Beijing and the government of then-Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama.

    It was also a moment that began to sour some Fijians on the growing activities of Chinese officials in Fiji, an example of how Beijing can overreach as it attempts to build its global influence.

    “We didn’t even know there was an agreement,” Aman Ravindra-Singh, a lawyer who was one of the few public figures in Fiji to speak out against the arrests at the time, said of the memorandum. “The next thing we knew, there were knocks on people’s doors in [the city of] Nadi and there were Chinese people in full uniform arresting people. It was unheard of. It’s almost like we were invaded.”

    The police cooperation between China and Fiji that began in 2011 with the six-page MOU would continue for more than a decade. More than 100 Fijian police officers would train or study in cities across China. Almost two dozen Chinese officers would make the opposite journey, embedding in the Fijian police force for months at a time.

    The police agreement provided a blueprint for China to grow its security presence 5,600 miles away in Fiji — from the soft power of people-to-people exchanges to the hard power of arrests, extrajudicial deportations and the transfer of high-tech equipment such as closed-circuit cameras, surveillance gear and drones.

    https://wapo.st/45fq8fV

  10. Cronus @ Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 6:46 am:

    “Enough Already

    “ Details: The source said that the airfields had been attacked by quadcopters from the territory of the Russian Federation.”

    The enemy from within are much harder to defend against. I understand one of these airfields at least has subsequently been emptied and all aircraft moved to airfields further west in Russia.”
    ================

    Cronus, yes, they reported that on the ‘Ukraine: The Latest’ podcast yesterday.

  12. emptywheel @emptywheel

    Fani Willis to Mark Meadows’ lawyers: “Your client is no different than any other criminal defendant in this jurisdiction.”

  14. Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney

    Here is what MEADOWS’ attorneys wrote to Willis this morning after she rejected his effort to delay his arrest.

  16. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    David Crowe tells us that Jim Chalmers will confront big companies with tougher laws to stop monopolies and protect consumers.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/treasurer-takes-on-big-business-over-mergers-market-power-20230822-p5dyju.html
    Phil Coorey and Michael Read write that ambitious tax reform is off the agenda due to the political difficulties and, instead, the Albanese government will continue to make change using bite-size chunks, such as its increased tax on superannuation accounts of more than $3 million, and the $2.4 billion tweak to the petroleum tax.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-has-no-appetite-for-bold-tax-reform-20230822-p5dyja
    Shane Wright reports that government figures believe If migration numbers remain strong and China avoids a deflationary collapse, Australia will avoid a recession.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/canberra-predicts-economy-will-slow-as-rates-hit-but-recession-unlikely-20230822-p5dyhf.html
    One Nation in NSW is in disarray after two-thirds of the party’s MPs quit, alleging Pauline Hanson’s right-hand man attempted to misappropriate more than $270,000. Correspondence former NSW party leader Mark Latham sent to Special Minister of State John Graham last Wednesday, obtained by the SMH and tabled in parliament yesterday, urged the government to refer his allegations to the NSW Electoral Commission.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/latham-quits-one-nation-alleges-it-misspent-taxpayers-funds-20230822-p5dyhg.html
    Industry Minister Ed Husic says critics of the government’s plans for local battery manufacturing are stuck in a decade when ABBA was on the charts and the prevailing fashion was big hair and large shoulder pads. Ronald Mizen writes that, hitting back at critiques from economists and the Productivity Commission, Mr Husic will tell the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry today that Australia can do more than “dig it, grow it and then ship it”.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/critics-stuck-in-decade-of-big-shoulder-pads-industry-minister-20230821-p5dy3q
    Mile Foley and Paul Sakkal report that Victoria has rejected a revamped plan to recover water for Australia’s largest river system, shunning federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek’s calls to sign up to a new deal alongside NSW and other states in the Murray-Darling Basin.
    https://www.smh.com.au/topic/murray-darling-basin-1nnr
    Australia is projected to spend proportionately less on the age pension thanks to superannuation despite a projected doubling of people aged 65 and older, the intergenerational report will show. The report, set to be released in full tomorrow Thursday, is also expected to show a substantial change in Australia’s tax base over four decades, including a dramatic reduction in fuel excise as motorists increasingly opt for electric vehicles.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/23/australia-to-spend-less-on-age-pension-despite-doubling-of-retirees-intergenerational-report-shows
    Michael McGowan writes that the Minns government’s electricity network review has raised concerns about whether the agency tasked with delivering NSW’s multibillion-dollar renewable energy zones is up to the job, finding there is “significant risk” with the program in its current form.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/energy-review-finds-significant-risk-in-delivery-of-nsw-renewable-energy-zones-20230822-p5dyhn.html
    Why Albanese’s housing solution will help, but only a bit, opines Ross Gittins.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/why-albanese-s-housing-solution-will-help-but-only-a-bit-20230822-p5dyf9.html
    A controversial speaker from New Zealand whose views are being co-opted by far-right groups in Australia is spreading “dangerous falsehoods”, a Māori human rights advocate has claimed. Ariel Bogel reports that now his views are being co-opted into the debate about the Indigenous voice to parliament by an Australian podcast and separate social media channels that share extremist content.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/23/who-is-julian-batchellor-stop-co-governance-new-zealand-far-right-speaker-indigenous-voice-to-parliament-referendum-no-campaign
    Richard Marles said the quiet bit out loud ahead of the ALP conference AUKUS debate while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seems to have been, er, “economical with the truth”, writes Michael Pascoe about it all being in the optics.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2023/08/23/aukus-labor-defence-marles-pascoe/
    “Why are government officials manufacturing false espionage threats?”, asks Brian Toohey who says government ministers and senior officials are conditioning Australians to become frightened, very frightened.
    https://johnmenadue.com/fear-why-are-government-officials-manufacturing-false-espionage-threats/
    The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has written to Catherine King suggesting she revise her rejection of Qatar Airways’ bid to add more flights.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/government-warned-of-grave-consequences-over-qatar-decision-20230822-p5dyjc.html
    There are solid grounds for suspecting that the appointment of Ms Kathryn Campbell, of Robodebt notoriety, to the Department of Defence’s AUKUS division did not meet the normal standards required for other appointments in the public service. Those responsible for the appointment of Ms Campbell and the suspension of her salary have got little to write home about, writes Paddy Gourley.
    https://johnmenadue.com/campbells-aukus-appointment-did-not-meet-standards-of-public-service/
    Coles Express will begin to disappear from local petrol stations next month if fuel producer and retailer Viva Energy gains approval from the competition watchdog for its merger with the South Australian-based On The Run, an upstart quick-service restaurant and convenience brand, writes Simon Jonanson.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/petrol-station-shakeup-goodbye-coles-express-hello-otr-20230822-p5dyjj.html
    As CSG mining expands, reports show discrepancies in waste tracking data, raising questions as to where the contaminated waste is being disposed of. Johanna Evans reports.
    https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/something-stinks-about-coal-seam-gas-waste-disposal,17830
    Natassia Chrysanthos bemoans the cost of women’s contraceptives, comparing Australia to other developed countries.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/1-a-day-for-half-your-life-the-cost-of-contraception-is-a-bitter-pill-to-swallow-20230821-p5dyav.html
    All shark nets provide is a false sense of security for swimmers and a death trap for marine wildlife, argues marine biologist Lawrence Chlebeck.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/shark-nets-will-catch-plenty-of-marine-animals-just-not-sharks-20230822-p5dyeg.html
    AI is not a one-time bomb, but a slow burn of devastation that is consuming jobs and culture, says Peter Lewis.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2023/aug/22/ai-is-not-a-one-time-bomb-but-a-slow-burn-of-devastation-that-is-consuming-jobs-and-culture
    The US Fed is getting a lot of credit for the rapid decline in inflation. Should it? It may have done the right thing for the wrong reasons, says Paul Krugman.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/why-the-fed-chief-may-be-a-master-of-mind-control-20230821-p5dy1k.html
    Adam Cranston and Jay Onley will each serve a maximum of 15 years behind bars after a judge found they controlled the “engines” of a $105 million tax fraud.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/adam-cranston-jailed-for-15-years-for-105-million-tax-fraud-20230821-p5dy70.html
    Trump yearns to govern a mafia state. Fitting that he faces racketeering charges, opines Jan-Werner Müller.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/22/trump-yearns-to-govern-a-mafia-state-fitting-that-he-faces-racketeering-charges

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe

    David Pope

    Glen Le Lievre

    Cathy Wilcox

    Matt Golding




    Simon Letch


    Richard Giliberto

    John Shakespeare

    Andrew Dyson

    Leak

    From the US













  18. Even in the face of growing personal legal peril, Donald Trump summoned his top economic advisers to his private golf club in New Jersey for a two-hour dinner last Wednesday night to map out a trade-focused economic plan for his presidential bid.
    Trump and top aides, including former senior White House officials Larry Kudlow and Brooke Rollins, as well as outside advisers Stephen Moore and former House speaker Newt Gingrich, spent the dinner discussing how Trump could attack President Biden in the 2024 election on the economy, amid a recent spate of positive economic news that has buoyed Biden’s fortunes, according to three people familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private event.
    Among the ideas they discussed was Trump’s plan to enact a “universal baseline tariff” on virtually all imports to the United States, the people said. This idea, which Trump has taken to describing as the creation of a “ring around the U.S. economy,” could represent a massive escalation of global economic chaos, surpassing the international trade discord that marked much of his first administration. Trump advisers have for months discussed various potential levels to set the tariff rate, and they said the plan remains a work in progress with major questions left unresolved, the people said.
    On Fox Business on Thursday, the former president called for setting this tariff at 10 percent “automatically” for all countries, a move that experts warn could lead to higher prices for consumers throughout the economy and could likely lead to a global trade war.

  19. Manchester United

    The Liberal Party in Australia and their media backers

    Both have an individual in similar circumstances in that allegations have been made and proceedings at Court aborted

    Spot the difference

  21. so china are using police officers to take over pacifick island nations they took over soamond islands to keep sogavari in power

  22. UK Voting Intention: Via @DeltapollUK, 17-21 Aug. Changes w/ 9-11 Aug.

    LAB: 50% (+4)
    CON: 25% (-4)
    LDM: 9% (-3)
    GRN: 7% (+2)
    RFM: 4% (=)
    SNP: 3% (+1)

  23. Chandrayaan-3: India’s lunar lander Vikram searches for safe Moon landing spot

    https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66567437.amp?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16927275327936&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-asia-india-66567437

    “On Monday morning, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said the lander from Chandrayaan-3, which is due to touch down on Wednesday at 18:04 India time (12:34 GMT), has been mapping the landing area and taking images with its “hazard detection and avoidance” camera.

    Isro added that the black-and-white images sent by this camera will assist them “in locating a safe landing area – without boulders or deep trenches”.

    The lunar far side is the side that faces away from the Earth and is sometimes also called “the dark side of the Moon” because so little is known about it. Scientists say landing there can be a tricky affair.

    But there’s a lot of interest in this part of the Moon which scientists think could hold frozen water and precious elements.”

  26. First cab on BKs list;
    David Crowe tells us that Jim Chalmers will confront big companies with tougher laws to stop monopolies and protect consumers.
    ————————————
    Will Chalmers first consult with said Big Companies to ensure they are ready with loopholes and an obligatory but mild enough public rebuke of the “changes”?

    We are already too far down the road with this problem. I worry that adjustments to monopoly laws and consumer protections won’t bring it back.

  27. And Donald Trump wants to release the Fossil Fuel Kraken (or as he terms it, bring back ‘Energy Independence’ to America), if he wins the ’24 election:

    Nearly 150 million people are under heat alerts Tuesday and through the midweek, as the Midwest’s most significant heat wave in years heads toward its peak and the South continues to roast as it has much of the summer.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/08/22/heat-wave-extreme-temperatures-midwest-plains-south/

    🙄

  28. And yes, damn right, if we are gonna rattle sabres with China we need to rethink the decline in domestic manufacturing.

    Battery manufacture is a great start. And the more we manufacture here the more control we have over the cradle element of emissions.

  29. C@tmomma @ #9 Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023 – 6:48 am

    For all the China appeasers and AUKUS Sceptics, like Player One and Dr Doolittle …

    If there is one thing the reaction to my “Yellow Peril” comment last night, and C@t’s comment this morning made very clear, it is that anti-China rhetoric still has power here in Australia.

    Which, of course, is something that Labor knows very well.

    Which is why they use it.

  30. D&M from previous thread. 🙂
    And right on cue one of Labor supporters was impressed by Dutton after Annabel Crabb KC episode.

    ”
    Douglas and Milkosays:
    Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 12:08 am
    Annabel Crabb presents Kitchen Cabinet in the 1938 – describing Hitler as “good company” and “more relaxed and funnier than I was expecting.” #KitchenCabinet #AnnabelCrabb #auspol #Fascism #LightEntertainment #kitchens pic.twitter.com/69sH2AAFRa— dee_le_brun (@dee_le_brun) August 20, 2023

  31. From previous thread
    Vensays:
    Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 11:02 pm
    Other than Historyintime, Jeremy and few others, all others including Lars, nath, P1 and Rex posted that they will vote ‘Yes’. Assuming for the time being that everyone is saying what they mean here is a suggestion for Voice ‘Yes’ campaign.
    You convince 5 people to vote for ‘Yes’. Then ask those 5 people to convince 5 people each to vote for ‘Yes’. So on and so forth. Then see what happens to Voice referendum.

  32. A key witness in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case has retracted their “false testimony” after switching lawyers, special counsel Jack Smith’s team contends in court filings obtained by Politico’s Kyle Cheney. The witness is identified as “Employee 4” in Smith’s legal team’s notification to Judge Aileen Cannon.
    “Chief Judge Boasberg made available independent counsel (the First Assistant in the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the District of Columbia) to provide advice to Trump Employee 4 regarding potential conflicts. On July 5, 2023, Trump Employee informed Chief Judge Boasberg that he no longer wished to be represented by Mr. Woodward and that, going forward, he wished to be represented by the First Assistant Federal Defender.”
    The witness since retaining new counsel has provided evidence to prosecutors implicating Donald Trump along with his aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago staffer Carlos De Olivera, the filing contends.
    “Immediately after receiving new counsel, Trump Employee 4 retracted his prior false testimony and provided information that implicated Nauta, De Oliveira and Trump in efforts to delete security camera footage, as set forth in the superseding indictment,” the court filings said.

  34. Another day, another terrible take from Vivek Ramaswamy. This time, the Republican presidential candidate insists that 9/11 was an inside job. Ramaswamy is under fire over a profile published Monday in The Atlantic. When reporter John Hendrickson asked him what the “truth” about the January 6 riot is, Ramaswamy quickly spiraled into conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attack, including wondering how many federal agents “were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers.” When Hendrickson pressed further, he said he was really talking about January 6.
    But Ramaswamy doubled down on his comments Monday night. “Our government, for 20 years, lied to the American people about it. That is hard fact, actually,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
    Collins pointed out that the official 9/11 commission published a report on the attack in 2004—which distinctly found zero evidence of a U.S. government plot.
    Ramaswamy is, of course, not speaking the truth, but instead is spreading dangerous and harmful conspiracy theories. In the Atlantic profile, when asked about the truth of January 6, Ramaswamy said, “I don’t know, but we can handle it.… How many government agents were in the field?” (No federal agents were involved in inciting the riot.)
    As for 9/11, he said, “I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers. Maybe the answer is zero.… But if we’re doing a comprehensive assessment of what happened on 9/11, we have a 9/11 commission, absolutely that should be an answer the public knows the answer to.” (Again, no federal agents were involved in orchestrating the tragedy.)
    Ramaswamy is no stranger to spreading conspiracies. Last week, he blamed the tragic wildfire in Hawaii on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

  35. Holdenhillbilly

    Jack Smith was born for this task. He is going to bring the orange menace Trump, and his acolytes down down down.

    We live in interesting times…..

  36. Team Katich says:
    Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 8:05 am

    And yes, damn right, if we are gonna rattle sabres with China we need to rethink the decline in domestic manufacturing.

    Battery manufacture is a great start
    ___________
    Good point. Each battery might contain a secret compartment with a Chinese soldier inside waiting patiently.

  38. Chris Kenny is taking ‘No’ prisoners (see what I did there? 😀 ). He has called the ‘No’ campaign, ‘increasingly shrill and misleading’.

  39. I love how in this blog, whenever a poll shows falling support for the Labor Party, everyone in the thread wants to talk about anything other than Australian politics. Peter Dutton 2025 is now looking pretty good!

  40. EA
    You wanted to do some research on British Raj. Here is one of the many examples.

    India was a tree planting laboratory for 200 years – here are the results

    Another British Raj calamity on India

    https://theconversation.com/india-was-a-tree-planting-laboratory-for-200-years-here-are-the-results-211226

    ”
    Plantations in colonial-era India
    Britain extended its influence over India and controlled much of its affairs via the East India Company from the mid-18th century onwards. Between 1857 and 1947, the Crown ruled the country directly and turned its attention to the country’s forests.

    Britain needed great quantities of timber to lay railway sleepers and build ships in order to transport the cotton, rubber and tea it took from India. Through the Indian Forest Act of 1865, forests with high-yielding timber trees such as teak, sal and deodar became state property.

    To maximise how much timber these forests yielded, British colonial authorities restricted the rights of local people to harvest much beyond grass and bamboo. Even cattle grazing was restricted. Indian communities retaliated by burning down some of the forests.

    Meanwhile plantations of teak (Tectona grandis), a species well adapted to India’s hot and humid climate and a source of durable and attractive timber, spread aggressively. Pristine grasslands and open scrub forest gave way to teak monocultures.

    Eucalyptus and other exotic trees which hadn’t evolved in India were introduced from around 1790. British foresters planted pines from Europe and North America in extensive plantations in the Himalayan region as a source of resin and introduced acacia trees from Australia for timber, fodder and fuel. One of these species, wattle (Acacia mearnsii), first introduced in 1861 with a few hundred thousand saplings, was planted in the Nilgiris district of the Western Ghats.

    This area is what scientists call a biodiversity hotspot – a globally rare ecosystem replete with species. Wattle has since become invasive and taken over much of the region’s mountainous grasslands.

    Similarly, pine has spread over much of the Himalayas and displaced native oak trees while teak has replaced sal, a native hardwood, in central India. Both oak and sal are valued for fuel, fodder, fertiliser, medicine and oil. Their loss, and the loss of grazing land, impoverished many.
    “

  41. The fantasy of Australian manufacturing taking off never really goes away does it?

    If Australia made batteries they would be 3X, 5X, 10X more expensive than those made in China. That cost would have to be borne by the consumer, so Australia will have even more expensive electricity prices.

  42. Thanks BK

    “ Australia is projected to spend proportionately less on the age pension thanks to superannuation despite a projected doubling of people aged 65 and older, the intergenerational report will show. ”

    I think in the future, as with Medicare and the NDIS, Australians will thank Labor who had the foresight to initiate our superannuation program more than thirty years ago. Its utility will stand the test of time and diminish the pressure on the government pension and will be the envy of much of the world.

  43. Holdenhillbilly @ #34 Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023 – 7:55 am

    Another day, another terrible take from Vivek Ramaswamy. This time, the Republican presidential candidate insists that 9/11 was an inside job.

    I’m old enough to remember when that cringey shit was a blight on the left side of politics. Not the mainstream, of course, but there was a time when you couldn’t frequent left-of-centre/Democrat-supporting forums with seeing that conspiracy have some following. Occasionally you’d even get same fringe elected official (the Cynthia McKinney types) push it. If you dared even try to suggest it on a right-of-centre/Republican-supporting forum you’d be rightfully shamed, if not booted out.

  44. That story about China’s usurping Fiji’s sovereignty by way of sending over huge hit squads of cops to kidnap 70 individuals for ‘justice’ back in China should be a signal warning.

    No doubt Chinese expatriates will read it as such as was, doubtless, intended.

    We know who you are and where you live. We know who your family members are. We know where they live.

    It is how police states such as China have always operated. The wrinkle here? China has just extended this to being operational in Fiji.

    And of course, if we dare draw attention to this we do not get a debate about the substance – gross interference in the national concerns of Fiji – we get some addle-pated fiddle faddle about ‘yellow peril’ and ‘reds under the bests’ and all that kind of so-last-century crapola.

    I look forward to all the Assange fans taking up the cudgels for the Fijian 70…

    Not really!

  46. Re Player One @8:14.

    Labor doesn’t use the term “Y* Peril”. Critique Labor’s stance on AUKUS by all means and better still, propose alternatives. No need to make stuff up.

  49. Ven @ #31 Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023 – 7:46 am

    From previous thread
    Vensays:
    Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 11:02 pm
    Other than Historyintime, Jeremy and few others, all others including Lars, nath, P1 and Rex posted that they will vote ‘Yes’. Assuming for the time being that everyone is saying what they mean here is a suggestion for Voice ‘Yes’ campaign.
    You convince 5 people to vote for ‘Yes’. Then ask those 5 people to convince 5 people each to vote for ‘Yes’. So on and so forth. Then see what happens to Voice referendum.

    Not a good sign for the Yes side when its advocates suggest to start running the campaign like a pyramid scheme.

  50. nath @ #40 Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023 – 8:23 am

    The fantasy of Australian manufacturing taking off never really goes away does it?

    If Australia made batteries they would be 3X, 5X, 10X more expensive than those made in China. That cost would have to be borne by the consumer, so Australia will have even more expensive electricity prices.

    I dont accept this. There are many reasons Australian manufacturing declined. Some of those reasons are from an environment that may change. Yes, we have higher wage costs but that disparity will decrease and in some areas be less important through automation. When a proper import carbon tax is introduced it will increase Chinese prices. I expect shipping costs will increase.

    I note Sonnen batteries are competitive and made in Adelaide.

    I note Canada make competitive solar panels that we import (they are on my roof).

    No doubt subsidies will be on the table. But they exist just about everywhere else too.

Comments Page 1 of 20
1 2 … 20

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *