Three new federal voting intention polls have dropped in short order, including the monthly Resolve Strategic poll for Nine Newspapers, which seems to have lost most of the Labor lean that distinguished it from other pollsters before the start of the year. Both major parties are down two points on the primary vote from the February result, putting Labor at 32% and the Coalition at 35%, with the Greens up two to 13% and One Nation down one to 5%. Anthony Albanese’s combined very good and good rating is down three to 38%, with his combined poor and very poor up two to 49%, while Peter Dutton is respectively steady at 36% and down one to 44%. Albanese’s lead as preferred prime minister shifting out from 39-32 to 40-30. In the absence of a two-party preferred measure from Resolve Strategic, my own favoured method of calculating one from flows at the 2022 election (which lumps together independents and all parties other than the majors, the Greens, One Nation and the United Australia Party into a single category) gets a result of about 52.8-47.2 in Labor’s favour, compared with a bit over 52-48 last time. The poll was conducted Tuesday to Sunday from a sample of 1610.
The Guardian reports the fortnightly Essential Research has what is by some distance Labor’s worst result on voting intention this term, with the Coalition opening a lead of 50% to 44% on the pollster’s 2PP+ measure, the balance being undecided. This compares with a Labor lead of 48% to 47% last time and a reversed result the time before, the latter being the only previous occasion when the Coalition led this term. We will have to wait upon the release of the full report later today for the primary votes. Despite this, The Guardian report relates little change on a monthly leadership on which respondents rate the leaders on a scale of one to ten, with 32% (down one) giving Anthony Albanese a rating of seven to ten and 35% (steady) a rating of zero to three. Peter Dutton had 31% at the top of the range, down one, and 34% at the bottom, up one.
UPDATE: The primary votes are Labor 29% (down three), Coalition 36% (up one), Greens 11% (steady) and One Nation 7% (down one), with undecided up one to 6%.
Further questions relate to campaign finance reform and the state of Australian democracy, recording a drop from 46% to 32% in satisfaction with the latter since immediately after the 2022 election and dissatisfaction up from 18% to 31%. There was strong support for truth-in-advertising laws (73%), real-time reporting of donations (64%) and donations caps (61%), though the related proposal of greater public funding found only 29% support with 35% opposed.
The weekly Roy Morgan poll is also less than stellar for Labor, recording a tie on two-party preferred after they led 51.5-48.5 result last time. However, this is more to do with a weaker flow of respondent-allocated preferences than changes on the primary vote, on which Labor is steady at 31.5%, the Coalition up one to 38%, the Greens up one-and-a-half to 14% and One Nation down one to 4.5%. My own measure of a result based on 2022 election preferences has Labor leading 51.5-48.5, which is little different from last time.
We also have from The Australian further results from the latest Newspoll showing 51% support for fixed four-year parliamentary terms with 37% opposed.
There will be no leadership changes before the next election for either the Labor or Liberal party. I am not sure why either would change leaders at this stage.
Albo is a leading a government that looks likely to be returned. It would make zero sense to replace him unless TPP for the ALP gets down well below 50% (like 46%)- Governments tend to recover closer to the elections due to incumbency.
Dutton is the best the Liberal party can put forward. Nobody else currently who would take on the role could do it better then him.
However, the Nationals are crazy and they could give Joyce another shot because they are off their rockers. Littleproud seems to have a better hold on the job than McCormack did.
And the Greens might change if and only if Bandt decides he is stepping down. There is zero signs that he is thinking of moving on.
Pied piper @ #48 Tuesday, March 26th, 2024 – 9:30 am
I’m not surprised.
Though you left out the bit about…slowing the economy to devote more of the economy to rapid militarisation of said economy.
You’re welcome. 😐
Sorry, this is as good as I could get copying and pasting a Substack quote from a Bulwark article. 🙂
“Under 50% primary vote for the Liberal party in a very safe liberal party held seat, Dutton being Leader of the federal liberal party after October this year in doubt”
Labor not contesting indicates funny business afoot, such as a ringer and preferences lined up. Add a Liberal blow in from the other side of Sydney and say, 80% turnout and there’s potential for a boilover.
Dutton’s real problem is that he appears not to have any personal organisation in Sydney or Melbourne.
No Opposition Leader from outside those places has ever succeeded [John Curtin’s power base was Victoria, not W.A.], Rudd failed as P.M. for this reason, among others.
Trump’s Hail Mary to avoid coughing up all that cash works—for now
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/3/25/2231478/-Trump-s-Hail-Mary-to-avoid-coughing-up-all-that-cash-works-for-now?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_2&pm_medium=web
“In a brief Monday order, the Appellate Division unilaterally slashed the amount Trump needed to come up with in order to appeal the lower court’s decision to $175 million, not even half of the original $454 million judgment.
The court didn’t bother to give an explanation for why Trump is getting this special treatment, but Trump and his lawyers had been angling very very hard for this outcome by claiming it simply wasn’t possible for him to come up with that much money. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office filed a rebuttal that noted Trump was being evasive about his supposed financial hardship and that, in the end, the usual court response to “I can’t come up with your money” is a hearty “Tough beans.”
”
Me: the article also has various deranged social media posts.
I ask legal fraternity or anyone of PB, how the appellate court can pick a number without giving any explanation.
Democracy Dies in Daylight
In 2017, with some fanfare, the Washington Post adopted the slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” To this day it sits, in italics, right under the newspaper’s logo on the front page.
It’s a reasonable claim for the Post to embrace. Conspiracies tend to originate and develop in darkness. The media seeks to expose such conspiracies. Watergate, for example, was hatched behind closed doors. When fully exposed, the conspiracy crumbled, and the perpetrators were held accountable.
More recently, in Trump’s first term, many attempts at concealment were exposed, and various nefarious enterprises then became more difficult to pursue.
So our media are understandably committed to the belief that, as Justice Louis Brandeis said, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
Now, one can poke holes in this sometimes simple-minded progressive view. Even in a healthy democracy, the shadows sometimes have much to recommend them. But there’s truth in the hostility to darkness. Enlightenment has accomplished a lot over the centuries!
And there’s still much enlightening to be done.
But in 2024, it also turns out that dispelling the darkness isn’t enough. Democracy can die in darkness. But democracy can also die in daylight.
Isn’t that our current situation? Don’t we spend an awful lot of time looking around in dark corners, while failing to come to grips with what is evident before us, in broad daylight?
One of our two major political parties is fully under the control and at the service of an authoritarian demagogue. The bulk of elected Republican officials are enabling Trump, and most of the others are failing to stand up to him. And this is all happening in broad daylight.
House Republicans are betraying Ukraine in broad daylight.
The conservative movement is defending authoritarianism, embracing Viktor Orbán and for that matter Vladimir Putin, in broad daylight. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 for an authoritarian Trump second term exists in broad daylight.
Meanwhile, the less brazen but important capitulation of “normal” conservatives and respectable “mainstream” institutions is mostly happening in broad daylight. The business leaders who say they can live with a Trump second term—and those who even say they would welcome it—all do so in broad daylight. Major media organizations hire political operatives who have spent years spreading Trump’s lies in broad daylight. And a federal judge is working diligently and successfully to ensure that Trump’s crime of taking and concealing classified documents doesn’t come to trial before the election, in a courtroom, in broad daylight.
More broadly, Trump Normalization Syndrome and Trump Rationalization Syndrome are visible everywhere and every day, in broad daylight. And the desperate attempt to minimize the importance of January 6th happens in broad daylight.
So daylight doesn’t solve all our problems. We children of the enlightenment might like to believe, as Matthew Arnold memorably put it, that our troubles come the fact that
We are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
If only, we think, the darkling plain were well-lit! If only we were not swept up by confusion and afflicted by ignorance!
But wait! But what if the problem isn’t simply the darkness, or the confusion, or the ignorance? What if we’re marching wide awake behind a demagogue into an authoritarian abyss?
Dealing with this challenge is different from, perhaps more daunting than, that of dispelling the darkness. And it’s one that we—and I include myself in this—are less prepared for.
—William Kristol
C@tmomma to sprocket_:
“What makes Allegheny County so different from the rest of rural Pennsylvania?”
I once heard Pennsylvania described as ‘Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between’.
”
C@tmommasays:
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 6:36 am
Labor need more policy boldness. Even the ads they have got on TV promoting what they have achieved are wishy washy and don’t get the message they are trying to send across forcefully or clearly enough.
And the Prime Minister is wishy washy too! It’s so frustrating because the government is light years ahead of the Coalition, but without the ‘force projection’ of the leader and the snappy one-liners. All I’ll add is that they had better get their heads out of their work and get out and about doing social politics, because all work and no playing footsie with the electorate makes the Labor government as dull as dishwater. And the electorate have noticed it.
”
The Australian people are so used to shenanigans, drama, entertainment, scandals from previous governments that they are missing all that from this “heads down bumps up” government. They could be thinking that “why is the government not telling us what they have done like previous governments, not going on front foot against accusations of opposition and media and trying to do ‘feel good ‘ things like Voice referendum and explain what measures they took to address ‘cost of living crisis’ and “rental crisis”.
Labor ought to pursue the legalisation and regulation of cannabis for recreational purposes, similar to what Trudeau did in Canada. Cannabis should be legalised and properly regulated, as we do with alcohol and tobacco. There should be strict penalties in regards to supplying cannabis to children, however, adults should have access to a regulated supply from reputable licenced growers.
Much of the Labor base and numerous Labor MPs support the legalisation of cannabis. The vast majority of Australians believe that possession of cannabis should not be a criminal offence. Currently Labor are losing votes to Legalise Cannabis Party and the Greens over this issue. The Legalise Cannabis Party is rapidly growing and the Greens, particularly Senator Shoebridge, are constantly campaigning on this issue. I don’t understand why Labor don’t pursue this issue. This is a textbook example of Labor not wanting to frighten the horses, but they are being way over cautious. If it’s good enough for Canada it’s good enough for Australia.
”
Scepticsays:
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 6:57 am
Come on down plan B….
No Submarines… just a US base in Perth..
Is there a plan B? Well, nobody in Canberra seems to have one, but the US certainly does. It is set out, in considerable detail, in an official research paper prepared by the US Congress and is described as a “Military Division of Labor” whereby Australia would have no submarines. The US Navy would base some of their own in Perth, at the submarine base we are building for them, and Australia would invest the money it has saved into other capabilities. Or it could just hand over more cash to the US government – pay for our own protection perhaps, like South Korea or Japan do.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/26/australia-aukus-deal-us-uk-submarines-virginia-class
”
Biggest con job ever. Why do we even bother.
Cathy Wilcox draws that we may not get the subs for decades. She is an optimistic person. We may never get them is current vibe.
The United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution calling for an immediate lasting and sustainable cease fire, and the release of hostages, in the Gaza war. The U.S., for the first time, did not veto the vote, instead abstaining. I can’t remember the last time the U.S. has not supported Israeli interests in the UNSC. All other Council members voted in favour.
Netanyahu is not happy, saying this would hurt his war effort, which I would have thought was the point. He has reacted by cancelling a high level delegation to Washington.
Netanyahu continually ignoring and, in some cases, not even bothering to respond U.S. requests has not helped Biden in his re-election efforts.
In other news, the extradition of Assange to the U.S. will be ruled this evening our time.
William Kristol is a Neocon warmonger, C@t.
Watergate still hasn’t been satisfactorily explained, the break in was ordered by a Junior White House Counsel who Nixon had never met or spoken to, and at least 2 of the burglars had been Central Intelligence operatives in the 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco, which indicates Intelligence involvement in Watergate.
The Intelligence Agencies didn’t like Nixon, they weren’t displeased when the 1960 Election was stolen from him, still the biggest and most blatant Election steal in American History.
”
sprocket_says:
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 7:20 am
Big turnaround in Pennsylvania polling…
New
@SusquehannaPR
poll of PA is out! POTUS toplines as follows.
Biden: 50%
Trump: 45%
First time Biden has cracked 50% in a PA poll recently. Regional distributions as follows – you can see why this is the case – even slight erosions in Philly + rurals can’t match SEPA.
”
Biden must be wearing a “I am Scranton boy” hat now.
In last 3 decades the number of by-election in opposition held seats that the government of the day has contested is 7.
1. Gippsland 2008 was the Rudd team getting a little too excited.
2. Griffith 2014 was the Abbott team doing likewise (but actually got close).
3. & 4. Braddon and Longman were in the great Section 42 Super Saturday by-elections in 2018. Both were marginals and the government had a tiny a majority so made some sense to challenge for them (either of which were won and then Turnbull lost the leadership a month later).
5. Eden-Monaro in 2020 where it was already a marginal seat and the government had a tiny majority. Therefore running made sense.
6. Aston last year was a marginal and the government had a small majority.
7. Fadden was just over excitement by team Albo. They were never going to win on the Gold Coast.
Labor not running in the by-election in the non-marginal safe Liberal seat of Cook makes sense. The reasons are:
1. Not likely to win. And a loss looks bad even if it was expected.
2. Even in the unlikely event they did win, they are likely to give it back at the next election.
3. It costs money – a barebones campaign would be at least $100k – The Liberals spent well over $300k in Dunkley.
4. A contested campaign would distract the media. Instead of reporting on the budget and other day to day business, they would be focused on a wealth area of Sydney.
5. Although running would have meant the Liberals would have had to spend more money, by not running, the Greens are likely to spend more money on their campaign.
”
Oliver Suttonsays:
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 7:43 am
As I noted in the previous thread:
This time the Guardian not only reports Essential’s distinctive ‘2PP plus’ number (Coalition 50%, Labor 44%, undecided 6%), but also converts that to a conventional 2PP figure ‘excluding undecided voters’ (53 – 47).
Essential adopted ‘2PP plus’ in response to the 2019 polling failure. I’m wondering if they’re now edging back to the customary fotmat.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/26/guardian-essential-poll-only-29-of-voters-support-more-public-funding-of-election-candidates
”
Hard to believe Essential numbers after what we have seen last weekend.
Not because LNP is leading but because the gap is so much.
C@t
Catching up on your posts re Putin.
I am hoping his day of reckoning is not far away.
#weatheronPB
Drizzle hid the dawn,
deceiving a late riser,
to his mild chagrin.
Oliver Sutton:
“I once heard Pennsylvania described as ‘Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between’.”
Me too. The quote is often attributed to James Carville.
Ven says:
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 10:22 am
Hard to believe Essential numbers after what we have seen last weekend.
Not because LNP is leading but because the gap is so much.
———————————–
When the actual 3 federal by-elections results show
There has been no swing away from Labor
Aston – Swing to Labor against the Liberal party
Fadden – Labor primary vote was around the same as 2022 federal election
Dunkley – Swing to Labor , Liberal party picked up the one national and united palmer vote
Federaly Qld is the only state ,which will keep the LNP seats and may gain some off other parties
Majority of Australia
Lib/nats will struggle to gain seats off Labor , greens , teals and independents , and will lose more than they gain in QLD
That the regulator would allow Crown to continue to operate in Victoria was the only thing on my bingo card.
Wait and see if another NSW inquiry is necessary to alert the Victorian regulator to malfeasance.
“ Agreed. Andrew_Earlwood’s China Uber Alles schtick is becoming very obvious.”
_____
I am dead to you, C@t. Have you forgotten?
Ps. You’re just too stupid to understand the point I was making. Go back to ignoring me, please.
For all the out of touch lite left Labor apologists, who continue to bang on about all the good things Labor have done, you should wake up to the fact that, for ordinary people, Labor have totally failed to deal with the cost of living crisis and, in particular, the housing crisis.
The housing crisis affects everyone. Even boomers living in their paid for homes have adult children stuck with them because they now not only can’t afford to buy but can’t even afford to rent.
Just yesterday, the young newly married couple next door packed up and left to move back in with parents because the landlord wanted to lift their rent by $100 per week. When I bought my unit 6 years ago, he was asking $350 per week. Now he’s asking for $700.
Sure, most people don’t give a shit that the unemployed are living well below the poverty line. Sure, a lot of people don’t care about this government’s kiss arse and piss weak foreign policy. But everyone cares about how much they’re paying at the supermarket, how much their utility bills cost, and whether people can afford to put a roof over their head.
Labor’s problem is not that it’s failing to sell how great it is to the voters. Its problem is that it’s just not that great.
How did the Appellate Court decide on $175million as the number? That was the amount that Trump had previously offered as surety, wasn’t it? Simples.
The choice with Crown was really do they force Crown to sell the Melbourne Casino business to another operator who would then need to be vetted and the new operators might also operate questionable, or fine the heck out of Crown and let them keep the Casino in Melbourne.
It was never the case that Crown would have their licence cancelled and there would be no casino in Melbourne.
Rainman
Agree about those who are unemployed and others who are living under the poverty line and who are in needing of help more needs to be done , but the blame can not just be put on politicians , the media and voting public are as much to blame
If politicians and political partys did try to help those who need it , there will be those voters who punish that political partys for trying to help those in need
C@tmomma @ #43 Tuesday, March 26th, 2024 – 9:13 am
No, that would be the people that support AUKUS. A catastrophe of a policy that will continue to damage our defence capability for decades to come … or until we elect a government with the guts and vision to say “enough is enough” 🙁
”
Rainmansays:
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 10:07 am
The United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution calling for an immediate lasting and sustainable cease fire, and the release of hostages, in the Gaza war. The U.S., for the first time, did not veto the vote, instead abstaining. I can’t remember the last time the U.S. has not supported Israeli interests in the UNSC. All other Council members voted in favour.
Netanyahu is not happy, saying this would hurt his war effort, which I would have thought was the point. He has reacted by cancelling a high level delegation to Washington.
Netanyahu continually ignoring and, in some cases, not even bothering to respond U.S. requests has not helped Biden in his re-election efforts.
In other news, the extradition of Assange to the U.S. will be ruled this evening our time.
”
https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/03/25/politics/joe-biden-benjamin-netanyahu-rafah-meetings?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17114104534649&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2024%2F03%2F25%2Fpolitics%2Fjoe-biden-benjamin-netanyahu-rafah-meetings%2Findex.html
Ven @ #60 Tuesday, March 26th, 2024 – 10:03 am
Australia paying the US for protection rather than building our own defence capability is not Plan B. It’s Plan A.
Plan B is us paying the same amount but not getting any protection.
My thoughts, too, Player One @ 11.07 am.
I’m not sure that the poster of the words, ‘I guess you can only conclude that Irene is happy for Australia to be defenseless’, understands their irony as a defense of the AUKUS deal.
Scott says:
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 11:06 am
Rainman
Agree about those who are unemployed and others who are living under the poverty line and who are in needing of help more needs to be done , but the blame can not just be put on politicians , the media and voting public are as much to blame
If politicians and political partys did try to help those who need it , there will be those voters who punish that political partys for trying to help those in need.
——————-
A political party with a good, moral, I’ll have to say Christian (compared to those pretend Christians) leader, like Rudd, could bring the voters with them for any help for those in need.
He was supported on increasing the Commonwealth’s share of the big
Public hospital burden, was planning to do something about homelessness ( he was homeless, maybe briefly, as a child ) wanted to create policies to attempt to reduce the effects of climate change until he couldn’t.
And his support dropped rapidly only when he abandoned his promise on climate change, (not sure if something was leaked in advance to the press? ) so the Labor Party plotters (who had been consulting for over a year previously with the US consulate in Canberra about changing the PM, with Gillard in waiting ) could act.
The plotters wanted Australia back on the neo liberal agenda, the Howard model. Not what the voters wanted. So out, almost in 2010, then finally in 2013.
And the current Labor government, still on the neo liberal agenda, those who are making policy decisions, has learnt nothing from that 2010 and 2013 wipeout.
They are lucky that the Coalition seat numbers are so low that most unlikely, even with much displeasure from voters, that Labor won’t win a second term. The risk is how many Labor seats will move to Independents, Greens, Climate 200, or others.
S. Simpsonsays:
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 10:01 am
Labor ought to pursue the legalisation and regulation of cannabis for recreational purposes, similar to what Trudeau did in Canada. Cannabis should be legalised and properly regulated, as we do with alcohol and tobacco. There should be strict penalties in regards to supplying cannabis to children, however, adults should have access to a regulated supply from reputable licenced growers.
====================================================
I assume you think the same for vaping too?. We would really need to find more money for hospitals then. I propose if we do legalise cannabis we put a huge tax on it that funds mental health. That way it might be revenue neutral for the taxpayer.
Entropy, cannabis should absolutely be taxed, just like alcohol is. However it can’t be taxed to the extent that black market cannabis undercuts the legal regulated market. And definitely the tax revenue should go to health initiatives and education about the impacts of drug abuse
From the Guardian news feed this morning. March 26, 2024.
‘If Anthony Albanese dips out out for a breath of fresh air today he may be struck by skywriting reading ‘FUND OUR SCHOOLS PM’ above Parliament House.
The skywriting has been organised by the Australian Education Union, who have travelled to Canberra to renew their push for the full funding of public schools.
The education minister, Jason Clare, has struck deals with Western Australia and the NT to reach 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) by 2026 and 2029 respectively, however remaining states (excluding the ACT, the only jurisdiction to have reached the target) are holding out.
They want the Commonwealth to front a 5% increase in public school funding, double the 2.5% offered to WA. The AEU has backed them in, with all state presidents joining Correna Haythorpe, the federal head, to admire the skywriting on the parliament lawns’.
This policy of not Federally funding Australia public schools to the level of religious schools funding is Howard/Dutton LNP policy.
Labor does its best to copy most polices of Howard, Morrison, Dutton. Labor just aren’t interested in lower income Australians needs when it comes to education, funding those adults with their children on Jobseeker to a payment closer to the pension, not as it is now – well below the poverty line, low income housing rentals, public hospitals.
Entropy @ #81 Tuesday, March 26th, 2024 – 11:32 am
Where is your evidence that cannabis exacerbates mental health problems? I don’t see any evidence of that from the countries who have either legalised consumption of cannabis or tolerated its use for thousands of years. If you are referring to schizophrenia being exacerbated by cannabis consumption then you are putting the cart before the horse, or the chicken before the egg. The schizophrenia is in the sufferer’s dna, it is not caused by cannabis consumption. Just like heavy smoking by schizophrenia sufferers doesn’t bring on their schizophrenia a day sooner than it otherwise would. Though I do concede there is evidence that strong, artificially-manipulated strains of cannabis have been shown to bring on a psychic break, especially in sufferers of schizophrenia. So, do you keep it banned because of that tiny minority which is adversely affected? Well, you better advocate for the banning of alcohol as well then.
If Anthony Albanese dips out out for a breath of fresh air today he may be struck by skywriting reading ‘FUND OUR SCHOOLS PM’ above Parliament House.
The skywriting has been organised by the Australian Education Union, who have travelled to Canberra to renew their push for the full funding of public schools.
Simply, pre-Budget positioning and advocacy. Situation normal.
Though Irene would never say that the money for the skywriting would be wasted on a Coalition government.
Exactly right Cat. Cannabis does not cause schizophrenia, however there is some evidence to suggest that heavy use of cannabis may exacerbate pre-existing schizophrenia in certain individuals. The vast majority of the population who don’t have schizophrenia and don’t abuse cannabis should not be “banned” from it because a small minority might have a bad reaction if they abuse it.
How can anyone make an informed decision about voting for the LNP when they have
have no alternative policies, they stand for nothing and oppose everything!
So, Albo and Shorten trying desperately to cost shift the NDIS onto the states so they have enough to spend on AUKUS…?
In an unlikely alliance, the Greens have indicated they’re willing to work with the Coalition to try and ensure customers aren’t ripped off at the supermarket.
The Liberals have now agreed that divestiture powers are needed, falling into line with the Greens and Nationals. They would give the consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the ability to take the supermarkets to court if they’re found to be misusing their market power to inflate prices.
The courts would then determine if large supermarkets should be forced to sell parts of their businesses. There are similar rules in the US and UK already. While they all want the change, the Greens have put forward legislation and the Liberals and Nationals are devising their own legislation too. For any chance of divestiture powers passing the Senate, the parties would need to work together because the government at this stage has not supported the move.
The UN resolution also calls for the immediate release of all
hostages. Hamas will not do so.
IMO the resolution is a dead duck. It takes two to tango.
I’m in Canberra atm and I’m watching the AEU sky writing . Trouble is , the FUND bit looked like FUCK by the time the pilot got to the PM bit.
C @t says:
“The schizophrenia is in the sufferer’s dna, it is not caused by cannabis consumption. Just like heavy smoking by schizophrenia sufferers doesn’t bring on their schizophrenia a day sooner than it otherwise would.”
I say: You’re confusing ‘congenitally inherited’ with DNA inherited.
S.Simpson says:
“The vast majority of the population who don’t have schizophrenia and don’t abuse cannabis should not be “banned” from it because a small minority might have a bad reaction if they abuse it.”
I say: What about “No person worse off” by the Law change? It was a good enough test for WorkChoices.
Cannabis was legal in Australia until c. 1926, there were hundreds of “Tea Houses” in Sydney and Melbourne in the 1920s.
The biggest problem was that the Tea House operators sold the mull [spent tea leaves]
to droogs hanging out in the back lanes, who then smoked it.
Legalising Cannabis won’t make it any cheaper, but it will introduce many more people to the drug, some of whom get psychologically addicted
Rex Douglas says:
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 12:04 pm
So, Albo and Shorten trying desperately to cost shift the NDIS onto the states so they have enough to spend on AUKUS…?
—————-
Just as they shift the cost of housing, education, hospitals, infrastructure on to the states as a result of their big immigration numbers. Albo says not our Federal government problem.
And of course it is lower income adults and children who are affected. The ones Labor likes to hit.
Yes I was shocked to hear this morning they want to unload some of the NDIS on to the states.
Must be getting close to 1million immigrants since Labor was elected in May 2022. In January 2024, over 120,000 entered as immigrants.
Was it another lie that Immigration would drop in the financial year 2023/2024?
Business needs are the Albanese Labor government priority. Whose owners and CEO’s probably vote Liberal.
Scott @ #69 Tuesday, March 26th, 2024 – 10:41 am
Which is one reason why polling is out of sync with reality these days.
Labor’s credibility re serious action on climate change is shot to bits.
‘It is a bad law’: Leading cannabis reform advocate steps up campaign for legalisation
One of Australia’s most experienced and respected senior police officers has stepped up his campaign to regulate cannabis and believes the drug will be freely and legally available within five years.
Mick Palmer, former head of both the Australian Federal Police and the Northern Territory Police, has joined the board of the Pennington Institute, one of Australia’s leading supporters of legalisation.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/neil-mitchell-podcast-leading-cannabis-reform-advocate-steps-up-campaign-for-legalisation/d1322bb3-627e-41a6-8411-a66d1125b1f6
Time to get on with it!
gympie @ #93 Tuesday, March 26th, 2024 – 12:16 pm
I say: You’re confusing ‘congenitally inherited’ with DNA inherited.
This from the guy who didn’t know what a paediatric neurologist was.
Um, congenitally inherited IS DNA inherited!
I say: What about “No person worse off” by the Law change? It was a good enough test for WorkChoices.
Better ban alcohol then. Two people have drowned in Sydney Harbour in recent days simply by stumbling out of bars dead drunk, in the middle of the night, and falling into Darling Harbour. I’d say that they’re very much worse off now. 😐
The European Union has taken a major step toward using the near-$350 billion of Russian central bank assets frozen within Europe to help Ukraine fund its defence.
Last week, the EU, after intense debates over the past six months over whether to access the Russian funds – the larger part of the $430 billion of Russia’s central bank assets frozen by the West at the onset of the war two years ago – announced that it would proceed with a plan to pass most of the interest being generated on the assets held by the Belgium-based clearing house, Euroclear, to Ukraine. The Kremlin has labelled the plan as “banditry and theft”.
It said the first payment of about €3 billion euros (almost $5 billion) to Ukraine could occur as soon as July 1, with, depending on the prevailing interest rates, two payments a year totalling €2.5 billion to €3 billion in future. Last year, Euroclear generated €3.25 billion of after-tax profits on the Russian funds.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/banditry-and-theft-the-delicate-plan-to-unlock-a-350-billion-russian-safe-20240326-p5ff8f.html
Trump legal team tactics being scrutinised by the NY Judge Merchan in the Stormy Daniel’s case:
https://youtu.be/Rj55jH34lSI?si=mlwdG_ssac5xgsJn