We’re entering the final week of the Tasmanian election campaign, with a hotly contested by-election for the South Australian state seat of Dunstan to be held the same day. On the federal polling front though, it’s likely to be a quiet week. There is the following federally relevant electoral news to relate:
• Arch-conservative South Australian Liberal Senator Alex Antic, who was elected in 2019 from third position on the party ticket, will be the lead candidate after a preselection vote on Saturday that will reduce fellow incumbents Anne Ruston from first to second and David Fawcett from second to third. Paul Starick of The Advertiser reports Antic won the ballot for top position ahead of Ruston by 108 votes to 98. This was despite Ruston’s greater seniority within the parliamentary party as Shadow Health Minister, and Peter Dutton reportedly “using his personal authority” to protect her. A conservative challenger, Leah Blyth, lost to Ruston by 118 votes to 82 in a vote for second position and to Fawcett by 106 to 103 in the vote for third.
• New South Wales Nationals Senator Perin Davey, who made headlines last month after a tired and emotional performance at Senate estimates, narrowly survived a preselection challenge at a party ballot held on March 8. Andrew Clennell of Sky News reports Davey scored 42 votes against 37 for Juliana McArthur, the party’s federal secretary.
• Liberal sources cited by Paul Starick of The Advertiser say Nicolle Flint has been declaring interest in returning to the Adelaide seat of Boothby, which Labor won when she vacated it in 2022. Flint “appears to have effectively ruled out” a run for the state seat of MacKillop, which it was long thought she was planning in pursuit of leadership ambitions.
• It was reported last week that Labor is developing legislation to place caps on political donations, to be balanced by greater public funding. This would be most consequential with respect to Clive Palmer, whose company Mineralogy gave $117 million to his United Australia Party before the last election, and businessman Mike Cannon-Brookes, who donated $1.2 million to Climate 200. The cap is “likely to be in the tens of thousands of dollars”, with the government concerned it be able to survive the kind of High Court challenge that Palmer says he is “absolutely considering”. It is also proposed that a cap be imposed on the amount that can be spent on campaigning in any given electorate, which teals and the Greens complain would disproportionately affect those who target small numbers of the seats. Any changes would not take effect until after the next election.
From prev thread;
3G isn’t just used in phones. Some people will have to replace perfectly functioning equipment that costs a lot more than a phone.
Oh, I miss analogue. I worked offshore for 6 months way out on the WA shelf. In the evenings I could call my girlfriend on a crystal clear analogue connection (to the mainland tower and then across the trunk network to a Sydney landline) and describe the humpbacks gliding past, or the thousands of fairy terns twinkling in the glow of the setting sun etc.
our phones today are very smart. But the voice quality is crud. Sure, I can do video calls to my kids when away, but somehow the crystal clear voice calls made it feel like you were closer to loved ones. Ahhhhh, the good ole days.
from previous thread..
C@tmomma says:
Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 9:03 pm
The Military have to follow the orders of the Commander-In-Chief. Or they can mutiny
Not correct, the Military take an oath uphold the Constitution, in Trumps presidency the top brass ignored his directions … the question is would they do the same again
Team Katich (previous thread) – you are quite right that there is some 3G based control equipment that will no longer work as 3G is phased out. The question is how long does a private company support their customers’ legacy systems?
I had a 1920s candlestick phone that worked -unmodified- until my office was rewired to VoIP in 2009. Quirky yes, but it made no commercial sense. Telstra simulated 1980s ISDN well after its core network was transformed to all Internet Protocol for the few commercial customers who were too lazy / found it too hard to move with the times.
After all, as I remind my students, the purpose of a telecoms system is to make money. If you keep that fact in mind, the actions of our telcos make sense.
I’ve been advised not to wander past the Russian Embassy in Tallinn tonight. There have been protests during the day and it’s just not worth the risk.
Also, it’s -3 and there is ice and snow everywhere.
One place where the polls are accurate…for some reason, the Opposition didn’t show up (gallows humour)
Putin won 87.8 per cent of the vote, the highest ever result in Russia’s post-Soviet history, according to an exit poll by pollster the Public Opinion Foundation. The Russian Public Opinion Research Centre put Putin on 87 per cent. First official results indicated the polls were accurate.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/putin-wins-russian-election-by-record-landslide-early-results-show-amid-protests-20240318-p5fd49.html
Clearly Dutton’s views don’t amount to much in SA.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/18/anne-rustons-dumping-from-sas-top-senate-spot-reignites-debate-about-liberal-partys-women-problem
Their gender parity target is obviously exactly like their nuclear policy: a fig leaf to cover inaction and just kicking the can down the road.
The joys of upper class childhood in the UK….
The affecting power of Spencer’s account lies in its description of the way predatory violence was entirely normalised in his school years. Maidwell Hall was presented to wealthy parents as a kind of term-time paradise for young boys; once the family had departed down the gravel drive, Spencer writes, it became a hellish place. The awful wound of homesickness was preyed upon by fearful teachers who bullied and thumped and caned vulnerable boys, or insisted on “special” naked swimming lessons; that was exacerbated by a senior matron obsessed with humiliating bedwetters, and a junior matron who molested 10-year-olds and had sex with 12-year-olds after lights out. “I realised very early on that this was a horribly ugly subject,” Spencer says. “And I made a conscious effort to make the book as smooth a read as possible. As a result every now and then the reader might tread on a landmine and think: what the hell was that?”
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/17/earl-charles-spencer-a-very-private-school-interview
And Alex Antic’s ‘nothing to see here’ is laughable.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/18/anne-rustons-dumping-from-sas-top-senate-spot-reignites-debate-about-liberal-partys-women-problem
Tell that to the member for Moncrieff as she looks around the chamber wondering where all her Qld female colleagues have gone.
Confessions says:
Monday, March 18, 2024 at 6:51 am
She will still get in – if she had been dropped to a marginal or unwinnable spot you would have a point.
From the previous thread:
Sceptic @ #1363 Monday, March 18th, 2024 – 6:39 am
C@tmomma says:
Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 9:03 pm
The Military have to follow the orders of the Commander-In-Chief. Or they can mutiny
Not correct, the Military take an oath uphold the Constitution, in Trumps presidency the top brass ignored his directions … the question is would they do the same again
Trump took an oath to uphold the Constitution too. Meant bupkis to him. He incited an Insurrection.
Nevertheless, would it not be the case that, after pledging to uphold the Constitution, soldiers next duty is to obey orders? So, is upholding the Constitution what takes precedence? And, if they do that and don’t follow orders, can they be court marshalled? I have a strong suspicion that Trump would command that (god forbid he is elected), and that would have a chilling effect on the rest of them. Who wants to spend years in a military prison?
Then FUBAR said:
‘Only if the orders are legal.’
However, I would think that, invoking the Insurrection Act, as Drumpf the German-American (hint hint 😉 ), wants to do when people rise up on the streets to protest any one of his acts as a new President, from rounding up ‘illegals’ to purify the country of Non Christians, to putting his political opponents in jail on Trumped-up treason charges after being convicted in a Kangaroo Court by his favourite Handmaiden judge, Aileen Cannon…would be entirely legal.
Not to mention that there are too many radicalised to Trump, members of the military that want to do whatever he tells them too. So I’m sceptical that the Constitution will hold them back.
LFP batteries made buy CATL will drop to US$54/kWh this year, a 50% reduction, making storage more affordable and nuclear less so.
Antic told the Australian newspaper on Sunday he did not believe voters would punish the party for not selecting more female candidates.
Gaslighting 101.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
Dutton’s nuclear spin is an alibi, not a policy, declares Sean Kelly.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/dutton-s-nuclear-spin-is-an-alibi-not-a-policy-20240317-p5fd0l.html
“Outrage is a key performance indicator for Peter Dutton, the ‘bad cop’ of politics. But what does he value?”, wonders Judith Brett.
https://theconversation.com/outrage-is-a-key-performance-indicator-for-peter-dutton-the-bad-cop-of-politics-but-what-does-he-value-220327
Lech Blaine outlines his Quarterly Essay, “Bad cop. Peter Dutton’s strongman politics”.
https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2024/03/18/peter-dutton-bad-cop-liberal-politics
Just in case we needed a reminder, Queensland voters are a fickle bunch. They swing like few others. And thus was the case on Saturday as voters confirmed the entrenched view within Labor that Steven Miles is in deep trouble come the October 26 election. As for federal Labor, which holds just five of the 30 seats in Queensland and sorely needs to lift its stocks there to ward off being reduced to minority government, the brand remains poor, writes Phil Coorey.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-is-in-deep-trouble-in-queensland-20240317-p5fd13
The path to re-election for Queensland Labor looks like a narrowing goat track after its ‘Super Saturday’ losses, says Ben Smee.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/17/the-path-to-re-election-for-queensland-labor-looks-like-a-narrowing-goat-track-after-its-super-saturday-losses
Strong population growth will probably prevent Australia from falling into a recession this year, with analysts tipping the economy will rebound after June as tax cuts and lower interest rates start to give households respite from cost-of-living pressures. Shane Wright says that before the Reserve Bank’s two-day interest rate meeting, economists said the official cash rate was expected to be held at 4.35 per cent given the bank’s ongoing concerns about inflation pressures.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/the-nation-is-tipped-to-avoid-a-recession-but-policymakers-are-walking-a-fine-line-20240315-p5fcs9.html
David Crowe tells us that the government intends to mount a fresh defence in the High Court against asylum seekers who refuse to co-operate with Australian authorities. He says the argument is central to a High Court hearing next month on whether an Iranian asylum seeker known as ASF17, who is refusing to co-operate because he fears being harmed in Iran if he is returned, should be released from detention in accordance with last year’s ruling.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-plans-new-defence-in-court-clash-over-immigration-detainees-20240317-p5fd1u.html
“Last week we got a reminder that, among its many functions, the federal budget is the repository of all the successful rent-seeking by the nation’s many business and other special interest groups. Unfortunately, it added to the evidence that the Albanese government knows what it should do to manage the economy better, but lacks the courage to do more than a little”, says Ross Gittins in a worthwhile contribution.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/work-on-this-year-s-budget-has-started-welcome-to-rent-seekers-central-20240317-p5fd07.html
If we really want affordable housing, a big part of the answer can be found in the thin air above our railway lines, argues architect Philip Vivian. He says that the concept of over-rail infrastructure housing releases urban land supply over infrastructure in a build-to-rent ownership model; with an overarching criterion of public benefit. Two tiers of government – state and local – would collaborate on delivering much-needed affordable housing on this public land, delivering immediate relief for the housing crisis and long-term public benefits.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/build-homes-over-rail-lines-starting-with-newtown-and-burwood-20240315-p5fcq0.html
The Victorian government is considering development applications for more than 30,000 homes, and could potentially approve the projects within four months as part of its pledge to fast-track developments in return for affordable housing. But Kieran Rooney tells us that an independent analysis of another state housing initiative – the Future Homes program, which provides off-the-shelf building designs – estimates that the cookie-cutter homes scheme could only be applied to 3250 individual lots across the state, and another 68,000 if lots were consolidated.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/developers-have-30-000-new-homes-in-queue-for-state-s-green-light-20240307-p5faoc.html
Stamp duty is holding us back from moving homes – Nick Garvin has worked out how much.
https://theconversation.com/stamp-duty-is-holding-us-back-from-moving-homes-weve-worked-out-how-much-225773
“Peter Dutton wanted a plebiscite on marriage equality. Why not hold another on his nuclear fantasy?”, cheekily asks Paul Karp.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2024/mar/18/peter-dutton-nuclear-energy-ban-removal-support
The competition watchdog has asked major media groups to rate their dealings with Meta and reveal how much money they make from Facebook and Instagram, as it prepares to decide whether the tech giant should be forced to the negotiating table. Sam Buckingham-Jones reports that in confidential documents sent to news outlets late on Friday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission demanded extensive details about how media outlets make money, how important social media is, and what would happen if Meta blocked all news. One publisher said a news ban would cut its revenue by 25 per cent.
https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/the-accc-is-asking-news-outlets-if-they-can-live-without-facebook-20240313-p5fc2y
The brutal reality is that Australia’s media is broken and policy tinkering will not help, declares Julianne Schultz.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/17/the-brutal-reality-is-that-australias-media-is-broken-and-policy-tinkering-will-not-help
Alan Kohler argues that TikTok should be banned in Australia, not just sold. He goes into considerable detail to make his point.
https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2024/03/18/kohler-tiktok-ban-australia
Faith-based schools have urged Labor to safeguard the right to hire teachers who share their spiritual beliefs ahead of a report this week that will recommend the removal of key protections from the Sex Discrimination Act, reigniting a fraught national debate over religious freedoms, writes Joe Kelly.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/religious-schools-raise-alarm-on-hiring-rules/news-story/586dbbb77330d52bc3b97c5673621a69?amp=
The dumping of a female Liberal heavyweight from South Australia’s top Senate spot has reignited claims the party has a problem with women. The opposition’s shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, was relegated to second place on the party’s South Australian Senate ticket on Saturday after failing to stave off a factional battle with conservative senator Alex Antic. Yet another religious nutter to the fore!
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/18/anne-rustons-dumping-from-sas-top-senate-spot-reignites-debate-about-liberal-partys-women-problem
Victims of crime feel “silenced and sidelined” from the moment they speak to police through to when the courts finalise their case, with a landmark Victorian inquiry calling for sexual assault survivors in particular to have legal representation. A systemic inquiry into victims’ participation in the justice system by Victoria’s Victims of Crime Commissioner identified a gap between the entitlements of victims “on paper” and their actual experiences.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/18/victoria-victims-of-crime-legal-representation-sexual-assault-survivors
Alan Jones has broken his silence after being accused of multiple accounts of indecent assault, saying he will take an extended break from hosting his right wing online show to get better from “urgent health issues”.
https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/alan-jones-breaks-his-silence-on-absence-says-he-is-gravely-ill-20240317-p5fd33
Workers still haven’t fully returned to the Melbourne CBD – but the city doesn’t need them, say Najma Sambul and Melissa Cunningham.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/workers-still-haven-t-fully-returned-to-the-cbd-but-the-city-doesn-t-need-them-20240305-p5fa48.html
The red wine glut is expected to plague Australian vineyards for at least the next two years, even if punishing tariffs on wine exports to China are removed, predicts Rabobank, a Dutch bank specialising in lending to the agricultural sector.
https://www.afr.com/companies/agriculture/wine-glut-expected-to-plague-growers-for-at-least-next-two-years-20240314-p5fcd7
The crisis engulfing private school Cranbrook is set to escalate as the outgoing headmaster, Nicholas Sampson, threatens legal action against the governing council, writes Lucy Carroll. Sampson resigned just over a week ago from his more than $1 million-a-year post at the school amid claims he failed to disclose serious past conduct matters about a serving Cranbrook teacher.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/cranbrook-crisis-escalates-as-headmaster-threatens-legal-action-20240317-p5fd10.html
Peter Dutton’s proposal for Australia to adopt nuclear power is a dumb idea, but it’s good politics. Anthony Albanese’s AUKUS hand-cuffs neutralise his response. As Parliament gears up for another sitting week Rex Patrick reports on a nasty political wedge.
https://michaelwest.com.au/duttons-aukus-albanese-wedge/
The general theme of delusion and the particular theme of ‘dead in the water’ as they apply to the entire AUKUS arrangements are provocations worthy of taking further, opines Michael McKinley.
https://johnmenadue.com/dead-in-the-water-the-aukus-ssn-delusion/
According to Amelia Maguire, a Boeing aircraft delivery blowout is the latest setback for Virgin, which has been grappling with poor on-time performance and above-average flight cancellation rates.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/boeing-crisis-delivers-another-blow-to-virgin-20240314-p5fcjd.html
Britain doesn’t need ‘reform’. It just needs to rejoin the EU, suggests William Keegan.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/17/britain-doesnt-need-reform-it-just-needs-to-rejoin-the-eu
Donald Trump said this weekend if he does not win November’s presidential election it will mean the likely end of American democracy. One should not wish ill on anybody, but . . .
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-predicts-the-end-of-us-democracy-if-he-loses-2024-election-20240317-p5fd0s.html
Detention camps, mass deportations, capital punishment for drug smugglers, tariffs on imported goods, a purge of the justice department and potential withdrawal from Nato – the Trump policy agenda is radical by any standard including his own, pushing the boundaries set during his first presidential run eight years ago, writes David Smith.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/17/critics-warn-radical-second-trump-term
Writing about Biden’s problems with Netanyahu, these Middle East experts say, “That Israel should be rejecting the outstretched hand of peace, and the victory of reason over chaos, is a strategic and moral failing of the highest order – perhaps the worst thing Netanyahu has done in his 35 years in politics, which is a high bar indeed.”
https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/the-problem-is-netanyahu-why-biden-is-accused-of-trying-to-tear-down-the-israeli-prime-minister-20240317-p5fd0m.html
Friend and foe alike are realising one thing about the US, writes Mark Kenny in this evaluation of the Gaza conflict.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8557563/the-uss-reluctance-to-reel-in-israel-diminishes-its-power/?cs=14329
Cartoon Corner
Alan Moir
David Rowe
Jim Pavlidis
Peter Broelman
Megan Herbert
Matt Davidson
Glen Le Lievre
Mark Knight
Leak
From the US
Are we surprised?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-03-18/wa-summer-heat-broke-records-but-media-downplayed-climate-change/103572922
#weatheronPB
An aged grey blanket,
covers slick, shiny, wet rooves,
and the damp cool earth.
The real concern with Antic being pre-selected ahead of Ruston is not gender balance but the fact that he is a ratbag. Compared ro him, Bernardi looked like a statesman.
‘fess,
My son and I have noticed exactly the same thing thing on the commercial news programs. The weather presenter will say…’temperatures that were 3 degrees hotter than average…’ and we sit there and wait for them to add the important bit…due most likely to Global Warming…but it never comes. That’s gaslighting people too.
Eston, yeah, I don’t blame them. But it is a bigger change than some think.
meher baba @ #17 Monday, March 18th, 2024 – 7:32 am
But that is the Liberals’ man problem at its core. Men who have no particular talent or skill are able to supplant women. In this case, a man with less experience in parliament other than being a bovver boy has supplanted a shadow minister with over a decade in parliament. Worse is that Antic then says it’s all about merit.
Gaslighting, as C@t said.
C@t:
Ch9 news has mentioned the warming ocean temperatures. I think the other night they may have mentioned climate change, but you’re right that it is very infrequent.
Antic is not frontbench material and he tends to go rouge. Those are the qualities the Liberals in SA want I guess.
Ross Gittins.
Anthony Albanese and his government have made much of the way their introduction of 60-day medicine prescriptions – as recommended by an expert committee – has saved patients money and helped ease the cost-of-living crisis.
_____________________
It’s all fizzled out now after Butlers backdown.
A Lebanese man arrested by US border patrol near the Mexico border on March 9 admitted to being a member of the Hezbollah terror group, The New York Post reports.
According to the report, the man was caught trying to sneak over the border and said that he was heading to New York and “hoped to make a bomb.”
The post cites internal US immigration documents that showed that the man, named as 22-year-old Basel Bassel Ebbadi, said in an interview that he had “trained with Hezbollah for seven years and served as an active member guarding weapons locations for another four years.”
B. S. Fairman @ #22 Monday, March 18th, 2024 – 7:51 am
But does the rogue’s rouge clash with his lipstick?
[Pedantry] Antic is not frontbench material and he tends to go rogue…
Antics in Adelaide? Jolly japes!
‘Alan Jones … will take an extended break from hosting his right wing online show to get better from “urgent health issues”.’
This is an Ex Parrot.
His three viewers will be heartbroken.
Good morning all. Thank you, BK.
I see that the Paresh cartoon has been prepared especially for P1. Its credibility is somewhat diminished by the placement of polar bears in amongst the Emperor Penguins.
He isn’t just someone going rogue. He is overtly trying to take over and run the place. He is trying to make his rules THE rules.
And watch out anyone going rogue on his watch.
This is an active coop (pedants please, pun intended) playing out for all to see. And watch the Liberal moderates wilt in the face of it. The only thing left are the money men in the party- oddly, the last hold outs. Partly due to discomfort about what Antic stands for but mostly because they know they won’t be able exert any control over his faction once they take over.
Sorry, I’m still sleepy.
A cunning Hezbollah plot where they take a highly trained operative into Mexico to cross into the US and he gives his real name and full life story.
Yeah sure
Barnaby has long since gone rouge.
Albo has snookered Labor on nuclear issues …
https://michaelwest.com.au/duttons-aukus-albanese-wedge/
We don’t need nuclear power. We don’t need nuclear submarines. The reality, of course, is that we will end up with neither one. But we could easily end up with Labor endorsing both. Because politics.
Oliver Sutton @ #28 Monday, March 18th, 2024 – 8:20 am
Anxiety that the rozzers will be after him to serve him with a notice to appear in court?
Team Katich @ #30 Monday, March 18th, 2024 – 8:26 am
That sounds sooooo Trumpy. 🙁
To be honest, Ruston isnt exactly top draw, is she?
Ruston vs Antic tells us everything we need to know about the current state of the marketing scam that is the Liberal Party. Crumb collector vs Ratbag … and the Ratbag wins … again …
I love this comment from the Sean Kelly article:
‘Solar power is Nuclear Energy…from a safe distance’. 😀
Boerwar @ #29 Monday, March 18th, 2024 – 8:21 am
But that makes it a pretty decent match for your credibility.
Morning all. Thanks for the roundup BK. In some respects, miracle solutions to housing are a bit like AUKUS submarines. Both are issues that require years of planning, supporting infrastructure, a skilled workforce and finance to deliver. Last minute miracle cures to supply them rarely work out well. If Australia keeps bumping up immigration every time it needs to ward off a recession, we are going to keep having housing crises.
“ The Victorian government is considering development applications for more than 30,000 homes, and could potentially approve the projects within four months as part of its pledge to fast-track developments in return for affordable housing. But Kieran Rooney tells us that an independent analysis of another state housing initiative – the Future Homes program, which provides off-the-shelf building designs – estimates that the cookie-cutter homes scheme could only be applied to 3250 individual lots across the state, and another 68,000 if lots were consolidated.”
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/developers-have-30-000-new-homes-in-queue-for-state-s-green-light-20240307-p5faoc.html
”
FUBARsays:
Monday, March 18, 2024 at 7:05 am
Confessions says:
Monday, March 18, 2024 at 6:51 am
She will still get in – if she had been dropped to a marginal or unwinnable spot you would have a point.
”
The point is Antic doesn’t deserve even the iffy third spot let alone the first spot. Many in Liberal party would like to call him POS.
”
“Outrage is a key performance indicator for Peter Dutton, the ‘bad cop’ of politics. But what does he value?”, wonders Judith Brett.
https://theconversation.com/outrage-is-a-key-performance-indicator-for-peter-dutton-the-bad-cop-of-politics-but-what-does-he-value-220327
”
Punishing people for sexual deviance?
”
Lech Blaine outlines his Quarterly Essay, “Bad cop. Peter Dutton’s strongman politics”.
https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2024/03/18/peter-dutton-bad-cop-liberal-politics
”
Peter Dutton: Bad Cop.
Then who is good cop?
You got to be kidding me if Susssan Ley or anyone in parliamentary Liberal party is ‘good cop’.
”
Just in case we needed a reminder, Queensland voters are a fickle bunch. They swing like few others. And thus was the case on Saturday as voters confirmed the entrenched view within Labor that Steven Miles is in deep trouble come the October 26 election. As for federal Labor, which holds just five of the 30 seats in Queensland and sorely needs to lift its stocks there to ward off being reduced to minority government, the brand remains poor, writes Phil Coorey.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-is-in-deep-trouble-in-queensland-20240317-p5fd13
”
Yeah! Phil Coorey is enjoying Labor party woes like any good Liberal party side-kick.
”
The path to re-election for Queensland Labor looks like a narrowing goat track after its ‘Super Saturday’ losses, says Ben Smee.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/17/the-path-to-re-election-for-queensland-labor-looks-like-a-narrowing-goat-track-after-its-super-saturday-losses
”
What”goat track”? There is no track with Steven Miles at helm
Rushton was a rolled gold dud in gov no wonder labor like her.
Wine is full of sugar no loss .
Already 600,000 Aussies unemployed this Thurs we will see how many more are displaced onto the dole thanks to an insane fed labor immigration policy.
Good luck labor getting people out of this country you and the greens put into appeal tribunals leftie types.
What goes around comes around!
”
The brutal reality is that Australia’s media is broken and policy tinkering will not help, declares Julianne Schultz.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/17/the-brutal-reality-is-that-australias-media-is-broken-and-policy-tinkering-will-not-help
”
You can say that again.
We don’t need media, which consists of bootlickers, whose sole aim, as one of them said publicly, to”put food on table”(then you are in wrong profession), who speak ‘truh to power ‘ selectively, or who want to be players or who want to baracade for one side of politics (LNP).
Whilst I have made many criticisms of AUKUS and especially the AUKUS delivery pathway, there are also some false criticisms and ignorant critics. This is one.
https://michaelwest.com.au/duttons-aukus-albanese-wedge/
“And what’s the difference between a naval reactor sitting alongside a wharf at Woolloomooloo, imposed upon the locals by Albanese, and a power reactor located at Victoria Barracks at Paddington, imposed upon them by Dutton?”
This sort of false fear is aimed at people who probably never studied high school level physics, let alone engineering. It panders to ignorance.
The safety risks from nuclear submarines and civilian nuclear power reactors are NOT the same. There has never been a Fukushima type nuclear contamination disaster arising from a nuclear sub (SSN). There never will be either. The SSN reactors are much smaller, have far less uranium fuel, and have many more layers of shielding. Even if one sank next door, the water would be a surprisingly good shield against any escaping radiation.
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Friend and foe alike are realising one thing about the US, writes Mark Kenny in this evaluation of the Gaza conflict.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8557563/the-uss-reluctance-to-reel-in-israel-diminishes-its-power/?cs=14329
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That
1. Biden is a ‘Zionist’
2. US will protect Israel at any cost to its reputation.
3. All these so called special relationships Western democracies bring out referring to US is only second to US relationship with Israel irrespective of who Israeli leader is and to which party POTUS belongs.
Tourist numbers to Antarctica are only just now getting through the 100,000 per year mark. Compared to other major tourist drawcards this is not a lot… but…
These tourists nearly all fly ICE borne to their shipping departure points. The air trips are typically long haul. The ships are near universally fossil-fueled.
The graph showing the increase in tourism heads in the opposite direction to Antarctic ice mass balance graph and Antarctic sea-ice graph. Poetic suspension of belief is required to enjoy what you experiencing.
The truly important thing here is for as many uber wealthy* tourists as possible to ignore their CO2 emissions and see Antarctica before it melts.
*The average Antarctic trip price PP is around $8,000. This does not include getting to and from the departure dock.