Friday miscellany: Liberal preselections, SEC Newgate poll and more (open thread)

Liberal disunity interrupts the Tasmanian branch’s federal preselection process, as a new poll records a growing sense that the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Once again, the latest haul of federal preselection news is dominated by both action and inaction on the Liberal Party front:

Matthew Denholm of The Australian reports the Tasmanian Liberal executive has delayed until March preselection votes that were scheduled for Braddon on November 12 and Bass for November 18 amid a conservative push to oust Bridget Archer from Bass. Candidates will also be required to sign an agreement not to speak out against the party line, which was likely prompted by Archer’s outspokenness on issues such as the party’s push in parliament for a royal commission into child sex abuse.

• A report on the above matter from Benjamin Seeder of the Burnie Advocate draws my attention to the fact that Liberals preselected Susie Bower, who was also the candidate in 2022, in the central Tasmanian seat of Lyons back in April. Bower is chief executive of the Bell Bay Advanced Manufacturing Zone and a former Meander Valley councillor. Brian Mitchell has held the seat precariously for Labor since 2016, Bower reducing his margin in 2022 to 0.9% with a 4.3% swing that was partly a correction after a troubled Liberal campaign in 2019.

• A Liberal preselection will be held tomorrow for Russell Broadbent’s seat of Monash in regional Victoria, where the 72-year-old incumbent faces challenges from Nathan Hersey, mayor of the Shire of South Gippsland, and Mary Aldred, head of government relations for Asia Pacific at Fujitsu. Aldred is the daughter of the late Ken Aldred, who held various federal seats for the Liberals from 1975 to 1996. While her father was a figure of some controversy, The Age reports Mary Aldred is “viewed as a moderate”, in common with Broadbent.

• The Australian’s Feeding the Chooks column reports displeasure among Liberal National Party members at the time being taken to begin preselection proceedings for the Gold Coast seat of McPherson, which will be vacated at the next election on the retirement of Karen Andrews. Mentioned as possible contenders are Ben Naday, former migration agent and federal ministerial adviser; Leon Rebello, solicitor at King & Wood Mallesons; and David Stevens, managing director of a private strategy and investment consulting firm and Howard government cabinet policy unit adviser.

Canberra CityNews reports the Liberals have preselected Joanne van der Plaat, Cooma lawyer and former president of the Law Society of New South Wales, as candidate for Eden-Monaro. Van der Plaat was chosen ahead of Vanessa Cheng, a management consultant.

There is also the following to relate on the polling front:

• This week’s Roy Morgan poll has Labor leading 52-48 on two-party preferred, in from 53-47 last week, from primary votes of Labor 31.5% (down one), Coalition 35% (steady) and Greens 13.5% (down one-and-a-half). The poll was conducted last Monday to Sunday from a sample of 1371.

• SEC Newgate’s regular bi-monthly Mood of the Nation survey finds 32% rating the federal government’s performance as good, down four points from August, with poor steady at 36%. Expectations about the state of the economy three years from now have taken a hit, with the positive rating down eight from the last survey to 50% and negative up six to 34%. The question of whether Australia is headed in the right direction, on which opinion was evenly divided through 2022, is now running 63-37 against. Of the mainland states, small sample state breakdowns have consistently found optimism highest in Western Australia and lowest in Queensland. Queensland was targeted with an elevated sample of 603, of whom 27% rated the state government’s performance as good compared with 43% for poor. The poll was conducted October 18 to 23 from an overall sample of 1610.

The Australian reports Newspoll found the most favoured options for helping with the cost of living were, in order, subsidising energy bills (84%), subsidising fuel prices (81%), cutting government spending to reduce inflation (77%), personal tax cuts (73%) and cash payments to low-income families (56%).

Kos Samaras from RedBridge Group offers further results from its poll last week showing 34% consider the Albanese government has the right priorities compared with 50% who disagree, while 30% believe “the Coalition led by Peter Dutton” is ready for government and 50% think otherwise.

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.

784 comments on “Friday miscellany: Liberal preselections, SEC Newgate poll and more (open thread)”

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  1. ‘Matthew Denholm of The Australian reports the Tasmanian Liberal executive has delayed until March preselection votes that were scheduled for Braddon on November 12 and Bass for November 18 amid a conservative push to oust Bridget Archer from Bass. Candidates will also be required to sign an agreement not to speak out against the party line, which was likely prompted by Archer’s outspokenness on issues such as the party’s push in parliament for a royal commission into child sex abuse.’

    Just as well the Liberals don’t badge themselves as the party of Free Speech, like the Republicans in the US, eh? 😐

    Interesting how the Liberals have figured out the way to force Bridget Archer out, or at least muzzle her. Typical for a party that stands over its women members. Toe the party line, or get out. Oh well, there goes that criticism of Labor, now both parties are enforcing party solidarity.

  2. ‘fess,
    Vote1Julia suggested yesterday going back to Abduls on Dec 2 or 3. What do you think?

    Also, are you going to the Planning Day on Sunday?

  3. Four of those proposed cost of living responses in that Oz poll look like band-aids to me. The fiscal policy one at least tries to address the cause, but I think it misdiagnoses it and so would be useless. If only ‘government to tackle labour and parts/consumables supply bottlenecks to boost supply where it is insufficient for demand’ were an option, I’d have raised my hand for that if asked.

  4. C@t:

    Although the food is good, Abduls is so dark and dingy and lacks atmosphere. It’s also BYO.

    I don’t know about a planning day this weekend?

  5. Suella Braverman’s future as home secretary appears to be in doubt after Downing Street said it had not cleared an incendiary article in which she accused the Met police of bias.
    A spokesperson for the prime minister said the matter was being investigated but that the piece in the Times had not been agreed, in what would appear to be a breach of the ministerial code.
    “The content was not agreed by No 10,” the spokesperson said. “We are looking into what happened in this instance around the op-ed. We will update if appropriate.”
    The ministerial code states that the policy content and timing of all major press releases, interviews and appearances should be cleared by No 10 “to ensure the effective coordination of cabinet business”.
    It is understood the article was sent to Downing Street but that major changes that had been sought were not made. The Downing Street spokesperson said the prime minister retained confidence in the home secretary.

  6. And yet, he’s still in the running.

    Trump is ‘toast’ in New York fraud trial, says former Watergate prosecutor

    Nick Akerman says ex-president erred by testifying in person after invoking fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/09/donald-trump-fraud-trial-watergate-prosecutor-toast

    In New York, a judge can draw an adverse inference from a decision to invoke the fifth amendment in a civil case.

    “You’ve got contradictory testimony. You can use his assertion of the fifth amendment against him. To basically find that he’s lying,” Akerman said. “I just don’t see how this judge, at the end of the day, is not gonna find with respect to Donald Trump ‘liar, liar, pants on fire’.”

  7. Smart home automation shouldn’t be stupid — Jeff Geerling
    https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2023/smart-home-automation-shouldnt-be-stupid

    For example, WTF does an “automatic” cat feeder need an internet connection?!

    Optus went down and the smart lights came on. And then Marayke was stranded in bed

    The Optus outage was devastating for people with disability like Marayke Jonkers who rely on internet-assisted technology for life’s essentials

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/10/optus-went-down-and-the-smart-lights-came-on-and-then-marayke-was-stranded-in-bed

  8. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    Reviewing Albanese’s trip to China, Gavid Crowe says that blind trust is off the menu.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-s-chinese-take-away-blind-trust-is-still-off-the-menu-20231109-p5eith.html
    Support from Chinese-Australian voters could well be a byproduct of stabilising the relationship with Beijing, writes Phil Coorey who says Albanese’s China visit was of a whole different calibre.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/albanese-walked-and-chewed-gum-on-the-china-visit-20231109-p5eio5
    Optus is offering aggrieved customers a free data top-up after Wednesday’s unprecedented outage, but the industry watchdog says she is prepared to force the telecommunications company into large compensation payments if it refuses to settle customers’ claims. The company’s on a hiding to nothing!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/optus-offers-free-data-but-customers-could-seek-thousands-in-compensation-20231109-p5eitu.html
    Elizabeth Knight chronicles what she says is Optus’s biggest communication failure yet.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/message-to-optus-it-s-better-to-say-too-much-than-too-little-20231109-p5eir3.html
    And crisis PR expert Sally Branson explains how Optus’ response to a crisis became more damaging than the crisis itself.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/how-optus-response-to-a-crisis-became-more-damaging-than-the-crisis-itself-20231109-p5eitg.html
    The SMH editorial says that the Optus debacle a reminder of the double-edged sword of connectivity.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/optus-debacle-a-reminder-of-the-double-edged-sword-of-connectivity-20231109-p5eioy.html
    Optus has become another instant case study of what not to do in a crisis. CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin cannot convince the public or the politicians its response is adequate, writes Jennifer Hewett who likens Optus’s approach to that of Qantas.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/telecommunications/optus-channels-qantas-approach-to-crisis-management-20231109-p5einy
    The telco has offered some mobile phone customers 200 gigabytes of extra data – estimated to be worth between zero and $70 depending on usage. That will make ALL the difference!
    https://www.afr.com/companies/telecommunications/optus-crisis-could-shake-up-telco-market-20231109-p5eisc
    Sarah Basord-Canales reveals that high-profile conservative politicians, including Barnaby Joyce, were among those gifted fully funded trips to attend the recent conference of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, led by controversial Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson. Yes, the Gathering of Galoots.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/10/barnaby-joyce-among-politicians-gifted-trips-to-jordan-peterson-led-conservative-conference
    Australians will no longer have to remember their username and password to access government services online as part of an overhaul to stop billions of dollars being lost to scammers. Henry Belot reports that earlier this week, the federal government revealed thousands of myGov accounts were being suspended each month out of concern they’d been breached by “scam-in-a-box” kits being sold by criminals on the dark web.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/09/mygov-to-use-face-or-fingerprint-recognition-instead-of-passwords-in-bid-to-fight-scams
    The only company to have a small modular nuclear power plant approved in the US – cited by the Australian opposition as evidence of a “burgeoning” global nuclear industry – has cancelled its first project due to rising costs. NuScale Power announced on Wednesday that it had dropped plans to build a long-promised “carbon free power project” in Idaho. It blamed the decision on a lack of subscribers for the plant’s electricity. Slow hand clap!
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/09/small-modular-nuclear-reactor-that-was-hailed-by-coalition-as-future-cancelled-due-to-rising-costs
    It’s helpful for the Albanese government to have all mainland states in Labor hands – but only up to a point, writes Michelle Grattan about Labor states not dancing to the Albanese government tune.
    https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-when-labor-states-dont-dance-to-the-albanese-governments-tune-217280
    Last week another important suite of changes to Medicare came into effect. Since the election of the Albanese government, we have seen a willingness by government to introduce a range of policies designed to update and strengthen Medicare to position it better for the future, writes Stephen Duckett who says the wrecking-ball days of nine years of conservative governments bent on undermining and weakening Medicare have come to an end, but their legacy will remain for a while.
    https://johnmenadue.com/medicare-is-changing-for-the-better/
    Professor Andre Macintosh explains how carbon credits could blow up Australia’s main climate policy.
    https://theconversation.com/the-unsafe-safeguard-mechanism-how-carbon-credits-could-blow-up-australias-main-climate-policy-213874
    Rachel Clun lists the Australian companies that paid the most – and least – tax.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/the-australian-companies-that-paid-the-most-and-least-tax-20231109-p5einr.html
    Angus Thompson and Olivia Ireland tell us that David Pocock has outflanked the federal government on its workplace agenda after teaming up with the Coalition and fellow crossbencher Jacqui Lambie to force Labor into an embarrassing backdown over splitting its industrial relations mega-bill.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pocock-and-lambie-outflank-labor-as-they-split-ir-reforms-20231109-p5eiu8.html
    Megan Gorey reports that long-time Canada Bay mayor Angelo Tsirekas has been dumped from office after the state’s corruption watchdog found he engaged in serious corrupt conduct when he helped developers in exchange for thousands of dollars worth of perks, including overseas flights and luxury hotel stays. Bad luck, fella! When will people learn that councillors and developers are dangerous match?
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/canada-bay-mayor-angelo-tsirekas-acted-corruptly-icac-finds-20231109-p5eiql.html
    The New Daily tells us that two Chinese-owned car manufacturers collect their Australian customer’s personal information and transfer it to China, according to analysis of their privacy policies. Analysis from Top10VPN found many Chinese car manufactures, including MG and Great Wall Motors (GWM), allow widespread data collection of users, their vehicles and their devices when connected into smart-car ecosystems.
    https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/finance/consumer/2023/11/09/mg-gwm-car-data
    The NSW Labor government’s trial of cashless gaming will involve 10 times as many poker machines than initially promised after the independent panel overseeing gaming reform was swamped with venues and technology providers wanting to take part.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/ten-times-more-pokies-in-cashless-trial-than-flagged-by-nsw-labor-20231109-p5eiq1.html
    “Most company values suck, so is it time we ditched them altogether?”, Wonders HR specialist Shelley Johnson.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/most-company-values-suck-so-is-it-time-we-ditched-them-altogether-20231109-p5eiqc.html
    I was wondering what was taking prominent Christian Zionists so long to visit Israel. And then I saw him…Scott Morrison landing with the arrogance of someone totally convinced he’s betting on the winning horse, writes Reb Halabi.
    https://johnmenadue.com/scott-morrisons-heartless-yearning-for-armageddonpic/
    Xi Jinping may have reached a sobering conclusion – he picked a fight with the West that he wasn’t ready for, opines Andrew Evans-Pritchard.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/a-weakened-china-badly-needs-a-truce-with-the-west-20231108-p5eicd.html
    The party-induced demise of Roe v Wade may keep the Republicans from returning to power for another four years, writes Lloyd Green.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/09/republicans-abortion-roe-v-wade-2024

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe

    David Pope

    Jim Pavlidis

    Matt Golding




    Cathy Wilcox

    Mark David

    Fiona Katauskas

    Glen Le Lievre


    John Shakespeare

    Andrew Dyson

    Mark Knight

    Leak

    From the US










  9. West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin announced Thursday he will not run for reelection to the Senate in 2024, giving Republicans an opportunity to pick up a seat in the deep-red state.
    “After months of deliberation and long conversations with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I have accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia,” Manchin, 76, said in a video announcement. “I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for reelection to the United States Senate, but what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”

  10. Two Chinese-owned car manufacturers collect their Australian customer’s personal information and transfer it to China, according to analysis of their privacy policies.
    Analysis from Top10VPN found many Chinese car manufactures, including MG and Great Wall Motors (GWM), allow widespread data collection of users, their vehicles and their devices when connected into smart-car ecosystems.
    Experts have previously told The New Daily about the risks involved in widespread data collection, including how it becomes easier to commit identify theft with larger data-sets available, the threat of data breaches and how it is impossible to police how personal information is used if it leaves Australia.
    MG and Great Wall Motors’ (GWM) privacy policies allows for customers private information to be available to third parties and government in China, where it is outside Australian jurisdiction and law.
    https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/finance/consumer/2023/11/09/mg-gwm-car-data

  11. do you think going to an Arabic restaurant when you lot will be discussing loudly
    the merits pro and against the Gaza child murderers is a good idea???

  12. davo says:
    Friday, November 10, 2023 at 8:10 am

    do you think going to an Arabic restaurant when you lot will be discussing loudly
    the merits pro and against the Gaza child murderers is a good idea???
    _____
    they will act like members of the Friends of Palestine for 2 hours.

  13. Even if Trump was criminally convicted at a state level where a self-pardon is impossible, he’d just get his hand-picked Supreme Court to dismiss the conviction.

    There remains the faintest of hopes that when Trump is convicted the publicity will force more “sane middle” voters to actually turn up and choose the (much) lesser evil. I would not be betting even my dog on it.

  14. Thanks BK!

    Re: End of Year catchup in Sydney, I shall need to decline as I shall be off to India on the 2nd. Not for tourism, eco or otherwise 😉

    I hope everyone has a blast!

  15. MelbourneMammoth @ #NaN Friday, November 10th, 2023 – 8:32 am

    Even if Trump was criminally convicted at a state level where a self-pardon is impossible, he’d just get his hand-picked Supreme Court to dismiss the conviction.

    There remains the faintest of hopes that when Trump is convicted the publicity will force more “sane middle” voters to actually turn up and choose the (much) lesser evil. I would not be betting even my dog on it.

    You really are high on the Trump Kool Aid. Sad.

  16. C@tmomma: Perhaps your rose-colored multifocals allow you to focus away the less savoury aspects of reality before it bites in a year’s time. I prefer to brace for impact, so I am most prepared for it.

  17. In a statement, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles confirmed other “impacted individuals” would be released, and any visas granted would be subject to “appropriate conditions”.
    “We are considering the implications of the judgement carefully and will continue to work with authorities to ensure community safety is upheld,” Mr Giles said.
    Ninety-two other asylum seekers are currently being held under similar circumstances, with many detained on character grounds or on the grounds of national security.
    The high court heard on Wednesday that most also could not be returned home for fear of persecution, and in nine cases were stateless.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-10/asylum-seekers-indefinite-detention-to-be-released/103088762

  18. Grattan 09/11
    When the government finishes its negotiations with the states and the outcomes are announced, King will be the main minister defending the decisions.
    As we saw in the row over the rejection of Qatar Airways’ bid for extra flights, she struggles when under pressure. She could find the task challenging.
    _____________________
    She could find the task challenging.
    Thats the understatement of the year. She is definitely going to struggle.
    It’s probably why the Infrastructure review is 100 days overdue.
    Would not be surprised if they drop it on Christmas Eve to try and protect her from scrutiny.

  19. As this past October came to a close, it marked the hottest 12-month period ever recorded, a new analysis finds. This stark milestone is the latest in a string of superlatives to emerge this year that show how much carbon pollution has warmed the planet—and how that trend is accelerating. It also comes just weeks before international negotiators are set to meet and hash out issues around achieving the Paris climate accord’s fundamental goal: limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial temperatures.
    Nonprofit organization Climate Central crunched international data and calculated that from November 2022 to October 2023, Earth’s temperature was 1.3 degrees C (2.3 degrees F) above preindustrial levels, a sign of how close the world is to missing that goal and experiencing ever worsening impacts of climate change.
    “This is the hottest temperature that our planet has experienced in something like 125,000 years,” said Andrew Pershing, Climate Central’s vice president for science, during a press briefing on Wednesday. He later added that “this is not normal. These are temperatures that we should not be experiencing. We’re only experiencing them because we put in too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”
    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-just-had-the-hottest-12-month-span-in-recorded-history/

  20. Taylormade @ #NaN Friday, November 10th, 2023 – 8:46 am

    Grattan 09/11
    When the government finishes its negotiations with the states and the outcomes are announced, King will be the main minister defending the decisions.
    As we saw in the row over the rejection of Qatar Airways’ bid for extra flights, she struggles when under pressure. She could find the task challenging.
    _____________________
    She could find the task challenging.
    Thats the understatement of the year. She is definitely going to struggle.
    It’s probably why the Infrastructure review is 100 days overdue. Would not be surprised if they drop it on Christmas Eve.

    Because overbearing Liberals love putting women under pressure. 😐

  21. Wouldn’t be surprised if we are 4-5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures within my lifetime (2060). We are on the way to a runaway greenhouse effect, such that within only a few generations life as we know it on this planet will become non-viable except at the poles – well before the sun’s luminosity makes an iota of impact, so I am fortunate that I will be dead before it happens.

  22. MelbourneMammoth @ #NaN Friday, November 10th, 2023 – 8:39 am

    C@tmomma: Perhaps your rose-colored multifocals allow you to focus away the less savoury aspects of reality before it bites in a year’s time. I prefer to brace for impact, so I am most prepared for it.

    It’s not me who is wearing Trump-Red-coloured glasses, Melbourne Mammoth. I think yours need a clean, you have obviously not seen the results of the Off Year Elections in the US from Tuesday. Here, let me help you out about so much Trump winning:

    https://youtu.be/ussX0pEwiLs?si=Hpl6X6Gk_GGsqFTS

  23. ”limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial temperatures.”

    I think that ship has sailed.

  24. Catmomma – the Democrats did about as well as the polls predicted, and the Republicans did better than Trump did in 2020 in downballot contests. This means that there is probably a swing to the Republicans overall, with the Dems barely winning the Virginia state legislatures in a state which Biden won by about 10 points (a 55-45 2pp).

    However one thing you did correctly mention. Overbearing, conservative, white, male Liberals (for a bona fide example, Eric Abetz) love to pile on the pressure and intimidate their women opponents, especially if the latter are women of colour or belong to a minority of sexuality or gender, while at the same time preaching mercy, kindness and the Lamb of God. Hypocritical really, an understatement.

  25. I’ll strategically vote for a centrist or left-leaning independent or minor party candidate if I judge that to be the most realistic chance of keeping the “Liberal” out of my formerly blue-ribbon Liberal seat. Second preference Labor, Liberal last and Labor for the Senate / Legislative Council.

  26. WaPo devoted 17(!) writers to last night’s non-event. Still no story on Mike Johnson’s odd finances.

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/9/2204673/-WaPo-devoted-17-writers-to-last-night-s-non-event-Still-no-story-on-Mike-Johnson-s-odd-finances?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

    “Last night, Washington Post editors decided that they needed 12 reporters live-blogging the Republican non-event. Twelve! In addition, five of their right-leaning columnists ran a separate live-blog, bringing the total number of writers devoted to the irrelevant gathering to 17. And today brings (so far) eight articles about last night’s meaningless get-together with more probably in the works.

    Why? The five candidates on the stage last night are going nowhere. They are all down 40 to 50 points to Trump, and even this deep into the campaign, none of them — including Chris Christie — would go hard at Trump in the debate. Glancing blows, perhaps, but no candidate went after Trump directly and repeatedly.

    In short, these “debates” are a joke.

    How many reporters does the Post have digging into Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, who, according to his financial disclosure report, has no savings? He has no bank account, no checking account, no cash, no stocks or bonds and he owes a ton of money on his home including a mortgage, a home equity a loan and a sizable personal loan. Mike Johnson’s financial straits make him a serious security risk. Plus, he has publicly stated that he believes the Bible supersedes the Constitution when it comes to governing the country. He is anti-democracy and pro-fascist theocracy — and he’s second in line for the presidency!”

  27. Melbourne Mammoth,
    The Republicans who did better down ballot, which doesn’t include ‘Moms for Liberty’ candidates btw, were those who looked most like Democrats and didn’t rely on Donald Trump for support. You can’t deny the result in the Governor’s race in Kentucky. A MAGAfied Republican supported in the most full-throated way possible by Donald Trump, in a state that voted for Trump twice in Presidential election, he lost badly. This is the ongoing effect of Donald Trump. He’s a loser.

  28. One for anyone who still think Labor has a genuine commitment to climate policy …

    https://theconversation.com/the-unsafe-safeguard-mechanism-how-carbon-credits-could-blow-up-australias-main-climate-policy-213874

    A time bomb is ticking inside the Albanese government’s climate policy. When it explodes, Australia will fall short of its climate targets and leave a gaggle of investors shirtless.

    The problem arises from a poorly understood aspect of the net zero transition: carbon credits or offsets.

    They don’t. Labor’s climate policy was in fact instigated by Tony Abbott, who has since admitted to being a climate denier.

    You just can’t make this shit up.

    Like Robodebt, the scheme is badly designed, unethical, and destined to fail, albeit for different reasons. We can only hope that when it unravels, it doesn’t do Australia’s decarbonisation efforts permanent harm.

    If you want a real climate policy, at the next election vote Independent.

  29. Trump defense asks for ‘directed verdict’ to end New York fraud trial

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/9/2204706/-Trump-defense-asks-for-directed-verdict-to-end-New-York-fraud-trial?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web

    “The fraud case against Donald Trump, his two oldest sons, and the Trump Organization continued on Thursday. This time there were no witnesses, but that doesn’t mean the courtroom wasn’t filled with disputes, acrimony, and outrageous statements as Trump’s legal team made another attempt to have the whole case thrown out.

    The state attorney general’s office wrapped up testimony from their witnesses on Wednesday following the appearance of Ivanka Trump. The defense is slated to begin calling witnesses on Monday. A former accountant for the Trump Organization was scheduled to take the stand, but at the last minute on Thursday, the defense surprised everyone by announcing they would be calling Donald Trump Jr. back to the stand.

    Thursday was set aside as a day to hear motions from both sides. The defense started with a doozy, asking Judge Arthur Engoron for a directed verdict in Trump’s favor. Trump’s legal teams had already made such motions twice in this trial, and the last time they did, Engoron shot down the motion quickly. But on Thursday, the judge seemed shockingly open to the defense’s statements.”

  30. Labor intends to reduce emissions. The Coalition doesn’t.

    Labor’s policy has gaps. That’s what you get when the voters reject effective measures as they did from 2013 to 2019.

    The best way to ensure failure in meeting our targets is to return the Coalition to power.

  31. Morning all. This 538 podcast on the US election results is interesting and positive for the Democrats. Despite Biden’s low popularity the Democrats did well in key states on Tuesday, suggesting they are still in good shape for 2024.
    https://abcnews.go.com/538/live-updates/election-day-2023-live-results-analysis/?id=104679542

    But 2024 could still go either way depending on who the candidates are. What a lottery of a political system!
    https://abcnews.go.com/538/2024-election-stand-year/story?id=104619961


  32. C@tmommasays:
    Friday, November 10, 2023 at 9:22 am
    Ven @ #NaN Friday, November 10th, 2023 – 9:19 am

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/9/2204673/-WaPo-devoted-17-writers-to-last-night-s-non-event-Still-no-story-on-Mike-Johnson-s-odd-finances?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

    The story about Mike Johnson’s finances is a very interesting one. Where’s all his money?

    According to his financial disclosure to HOR

    He has no bank account, no checking account, no cash, no stocks or bonds and he owes a ton of money on his home including a mortgage, a home equity a loan and a sizable personal loan. Mike Johnson’s financial straits make him a serious security risk. Plus, he has publicly stated that he believes the Bible supersedes the Constitution when it comes to governing the country. He is anti-democracy and pro-fascist theocracy — and he’s second in line for the presidency!

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