Time for a new thread, but with not much to report – so the weekly Roy Morgan poll gets a rare guernsey. This week the pollster has Labor ahead 51.5-48.5 on both its respondent-allocated and previous election preference measures, respectively comparing with 50.5-49.5 and 51-49 last time. The primary votes are Labor 30.5% (steady), Coalition 37% (down one), Greens 12% (down one) and One Nation 5.5% (down one). The poll was conducted last Monday to Sunday from a sample of 1655.
Two items of preselection news:
• The Nationals have preselected Gunnedah mayor Jamie Chaffey to succeed Mark Coulton when he retires from his rural New South Wales seat of Parkes at the next election. Chaffey won a local party ballot on Saturday from a field of three.
• The Australian’s Feeding the Chooks column reports five nominees for Liberal National Party preselection for the far north Queensland seat of Leichhardt, to be vacated at the election with the retirement of veteran member Warren Entsch: Alana McKenna, a “local aviation identity” who has Entsch’s endorsement; Sam Brayshaw, a geologist said to be supported by “far north Queensland conservative establishment figures Deirdre and Colin Ford”; local branch secretary Darcy Sanders; Jeremy Neal, a former Cairns councillor; and Margaret Milutinovic, who promotes herself as a “financial goddess”.
Ven says:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:17 pm
Griff
Was there any discussion on PB of minorities being butchered in Bangladesh?
________
Not that I am aware of, Ven.
mj says:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:17 pm
Griff, I’m agreeing to the sentiment of the headline without knowing the details of the article. It’s not an alignment of opinion without knowing what was said. People can both agree that a government is useless without agreeing on the reasons why.
_________
Wonderful. You agree with a Newscorp copy editor’s sentiment. And what might that be? Keep digging and I shall see you on the other side 🙂
Edit: I should have led with “Curiouser and curiouser!”. But I didn’t so shall not pretend that I did.
Griff
Is it because World liberal media report it only in passing?
Why are the minorities of Bangladesh i.e. Hindus, Christians and others are not the concern of World liberal media like NYT, WAPO, BBC The Guardian?
What is UN especially western countries doing about it?
Griff why don’t you discuss or challenge the substantive issues I raised in my original comment? You’re going off on irrelevant tangents now adorned with passive aggressive smiley faces.
Vensays:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:28 pm
Griff
Is it because World liberal media report it only in passing?
Why are the minorities of Bangladesh i.e. Hindus, Christians and others are not the concern of World liberal media like NYT, WAPO, BBC The Guardian?
What is UN especially western countries doing about it?
======================================================
About the same as the West plus the Asian nuclear powers did for the Rohingya when they got slaughtered. Did you complain about their treatment too?
Ven says:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:28 pm
Griff
Is it because World liberal media report it only in passing?
Why are the minorities of Bangladesh i.e. Hindus, Christians and others are not the concern of World liberal media like NYT, WAPO, BBC The Guardian?
What is UN especially western countries doing about it?
__________
I am not an expert here so I am not best placed to say. I do wonder on what makes something newsworthy. For instance, about the same number of people died of gun violence in the USA than in the Israeli Gaza conflict over the same period. Both are half of the numbers in Ukraine. We don’t hear much about what is happening in Tigray.
Quentin Rountreesays:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 8:26 pm
If newspoll happens tomorrow night I’m gonna take I guess it’s gonna be Labor 51 to LNP 49 nothing bad has happened this week’s to Labor honestly so I think it’s gonna be status quo for a while unless Labor does something stupid or liberals do something stupid
———————–
Labor’s failed royal commission response might see labor drop some support.
mj says:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:38 pm
Griff why don’t you want to discuss or challenge the substantive issues I raised in my original comment? You’re going off on irrelevant tangents now adorned with passive aggressive smiley faces.
________
What is the point? Would you change your opinion based on an anonymous poster on the interwebby?
But seriously, I think Labor is between a rock and a hard place due to expending more political capital than anticipated on the referendum. Labor should be gearing up now for a more progressive policy agenda in the second term. It is disappointing that they have not. The Greens have successfully neutralised Labor and we are looking at a slow meander into a minority government with Teal support based on current polling. The Australian population loses out but ideologues will say this approach is for the greater good. Does that help?
”
Entropysays:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:40 pm
Vensays:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:28 pm
Griff
Is it because World liberal media report it only in passing?
Why are the minorities of Bangladesh i.e. Hindus, Christians and others are not the concern of World liberal media like NYT, WAPO, BBC The Guardian?
What is UN especially western countries doing about it?
======================================================
About the same as the West plus the Asian nuclear powers did for the Rohingya when they got slaughtered. Did you complain about their treatment too?
”
A lot of Rohingyas have crossed border into India as refugees and living in India.
Griff, I mostly agree with you. Think Labor made a mistake pushing the Voice before even touching issues around cost of living though. Referendums on what are frankly side issues like this are not going to pass unless things are going well for the majority of people. I don’t think the Greens have neutralised Labor but Labor have lost enough support that they probably can’t govern at the next election without the support of the Greens and/or teals. If established parties can’t deliver basic needs then people will turn to more extreme alternatives, it shouldn’t be difficult to understand.
Vensays:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:57 pm
”
Entropysays:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:40 pm
Vensays:
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:28 pm
Griff
Is it because World liberal media report it only in passing?
Why are the minorities of Bangladesh i.e. Hindus, Christians and others are not the concern of World liberal media like NYT, WAPO, BBC The Guardian?
What is UN especially western countries doing about it?
======================================================
About the same as the West plus the Asian nuclear powers did for the Rohingya when they got slaughtered. Did you complain about their treatment too?
”
A lot of Rohingyas have crossed border into India as refugees and living in India.
=====================================================
Bangladesh has taken far more though. It is a much poorer resourced country than India. Bangladesh has taken around 1.1 million Rohingya, India around 40,000 and Australia 3,000. While Malaysia has about 110,000.
I saw a big group of Bangladeshis having a gathering, flying their flag and playing volleyball at Tomato Lake in Perth today. Didn’t ask but assumed they were celebrating Sheikh Hasina’s ousting.
#weatheronPB
Pink and grey blurs hang,
listlessly in pale blue dawn.
Going nowhere fast.
Griff,
I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say the greens have neutralised Labor, Albo managed that all by himself with his lack of ambition and cowardice. The parliament is balanced to support a much more ambitious and progressive policy agenda, and yet the ALP continues to serve up reheated coalition policy or measures that are tokenistic is inadequate
Let’s face it, the coalition will oppose government policy anyway because it’s all they’ve got (seeing as they’re a policy free zone), so I just don’t see why the ALP continues to hope for ‘bipartisanship’ from a coalition that just doesn’t care about the national interest and exists solely to win elections.
Work with the croasbench and greens and start really trying to improve the country for the better, or slide into minority government deserving the label of being a weak do nothing government
World News & Politics:
Jordan to allow Israel to use its airspace against Iran: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/artc-report-jordan-to-allows-israel-to-use-its-airspace-against-iran
Putin Scrambles as Ukrainian Forces Near Russian Nuclear Plant: https://www.thedailybeast.com/putin-scrambles-as-ukraine-launches-stunning-incursion-into-russia
Thousands attend anti-racism marches across UK after far-right threat: https://inews.co.uk/news/anti-racism-marches-uk-far-right-3221000?ITO=newsnow
Kamala Harris Campaign Trolls Trump With Video of Empty Seats at His Rally: https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-donald-trump-rally-size-1937390
MAGA influencers say Trump is on track to lose the election: https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/trump-election-laura-loomer-nick-fuentes-maga-rcna166003
Report: Trump calls Harris a “bitch”: https://www.axios.com/2024/08/10/trump-calls-harris-bitch-report
Trump’s 270-Page Dossier of JD Vance’s ‘Vulnerabilities’ Hacked by Iran: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-270-page-dossier-of-jd-vances-vulnerabilities-hacked-by-iran
Vance responds to Walz calling GOP ticket ‘weird’: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/08/10/politics/vance-walz-gop-weird-cnntv
Trump Mixes-Up Black Men on Chopper Ride, Threatens to Sue: https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-mixed-up-willie-brown-for-former-sen-nate-holden-in-helicopter-story-says-holden
Trump stokes fears with ‘unconstitutional’ Harris talk: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4821089-donald-trump-kamala-harris-unconstitutional/
From the NYT
They don’t do into how badly they misjudge the situation only a few days ago
Ven: “Was there any discussion on PB of minorities being butchered in Bangladesh?”
——————————————————————————
The situation of the Hindus in Bangladesh is alarming. As we have seen with minorities around the world, there are criminal elements in many societies who will seize the opportunity afforded by a breakdown of law and order to victimise and rob minority groups, knowing that they are unlikely ever to be punished. As another poster pointed out, we have seen this with the Rohingyas. We have also seen it in parts of India: on a couple of occasions I was unfortunate enough to be in Gujarat when Muslims were being victimised (albeit on one occasion they had stupidly started the rioting themselves when, egged on by Islamist preachers, they for some reason set fire to a Jain temple). I was also in India during the 1984 attacks on the Sikhs following Indira Gandhi’s assassination, but I was fortunately away from the main action. But it was perfectly obvious that criminal elements played a leading role in promoting the riots, and were taking advantage of them to loot businesses and private homes, rape unprotected women and settle scores with their enemies.
I think the fundamental problem in Bangladesh is economic. The business sector seems to be dominated by multinational sweat shops, often managed by expats. So young, educated people are increasingly seeking government employment, but access to this has been controlled by the ruling elite through a ridiculous quota arrangement biased in favour of anyone who is related to a “freedom fighter” from the 1960s-1970s campaign for independence from Pakistan. Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League and its cronies have clung on to this blatantly unfair arrangement, making it almost inevitable that there would be some sort of uprising. Unfortunately for the Bangladeshi Hindus, the Awami League was a strong protector of secularism and the rights of minorities.
I fear that, in the current unrest, the Islamists are likely to pounce and attempt to seize control of the nation. I would suggest that the Government of West Bengal needs to start building some very large camps to handle the likely influx of refugees.
This sort of stuff illustrates the total inanity of concepts such as “defund the police.” What happens when law and order breaks down in a society is nothing like that everyone holding hands and singing Kumbaya. What happens is that the ruthless alpha males take charge and terrorise everyone else.
I have commented on the situation in Bangla Desh several times.
Part of the issue arises from the strong support in the Hindu community for the Awami League which was headed strongly towards autocratic behaviours and which was using extreme violence to maintain a deeply unpopular regime. There were plenty of signs of corruption and of government favourtism.
None of which, in turn, excuses the murderous behaviour of Islamist extremists who leading riots and who are murdering Hindus and targeting Hindu businesses and temples.
There is a lesson for Dutton and Bandt in all this.
They should pull their heads in instead of stoking communalist hatreds in Australia for party political purposes.
FFS BW, you just can’t help yourself can you……
Ven and meher have a discussion about the situation in Bangladesh, and you just have to loop it back to your verbal tic of the week – Dutton and Bandt and communalist hatreds
Have you thought about seeking treatment for this OCD?
PageBoi: I guess BW has to be allowed his hobby.
Personally, I find it difficult to feel the passionate hatred fro the Coalition and the Greens that he displays because I find the Albo Governent to be so extraordinarily uninspiring. But I accept that he’s a party loyalist. Except, of course for the 2013 election when, while I voted Labor, he sent out his usual three trillion posts telling us all that we should vote informal.
PageBoi says:
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 7:09 am
Griff,
I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say the greens have neutralised Labor, Albo managed that all by himself with his lack of ambition and cowardice. The parliament is balanced to support a much more ambitious and progressive policy agenda, and yet the ALP continues to serve up reheated coalition policy or measures that are tokenistic is inadequate
Let’s face it, the coalition will oppose government policy anyway because it’s all they’ve got (seeing as they’re a policy free zone), so I just don’t see why the ALP continues to hope for ‘bipartisanship’ from a coalition that just doesn’t care about the national interest and exists solely to win elections.
Work with the croasbench and greens and start really trying to improve the country for the better, or slide into minority government deserving the label of being a weak do nothing government
____________
This is such a poor take. Labor lost political capital due to the referendum. Was Albanese naive and failing to pivot when Frydenberg didn’t get the Opposition leadership? Yes. But lacking ambition and cowardice? No.
I want progressive policy actioned. I don’t have a horse in this race. I seeing delays due to Coalition and Greens. The crossbench have shown that they negotiate to pass legislation. The Coalition and the Greens have another agenda. Both want to be (back) in charge. If you want to see the situation through green-tinted spectacles, that is alright. Like I said to mj, who would listen to some anonymous poster on the internet 🙂
Ven, if you are around, I have done a little reading on Bangladesh. The saying goes “truth is the first casualty in war”.
Fox has picked it up: https://www.foxnews.com/world/bangladesh-protests-threaten-safety-religious-minorities-temples-burned-homes-ransacked. Interestingly they mention it is Indian officials that provided the information.
Further, there have been more deaths prior to the ousting of Hasina than afterwards to date. The prior deaths by the Hasina regime have been reported: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/03/world/asia/bangladesh-protests-students.html#:~:text=But%20the%20crackdown%20by%20the,and%20broadened%20the%20movement's%20scope.
The counterpoint to the Indian media in this case would be Al Jazeera. For example: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/8/islamophobic-alarmist-how-some-india-outlets-covered-bangladesh-crisis
I am not saying that any side is reporting the truth. But the truth might lie somewhere between.
“Work with the Greens” = Take their orders & put up with their never ending criticism.
Yes, working with the Greens has become just about impossible these days. With the Greens, it’s all or nothing.
Massive upset in rugby. In Wellington, the Pumas defeated the All Blacks 38-30, only their third win against them in 38 attempts.
This article on the situation in Bangladesh from The Conversation is helpful: https://theconversation.com/bangladesh-at-a-crossroad-after-hasinas-resignation-heres-what-could-happen-next-236264
Morning all. Thanks for the roundup Holden Hillbilly.
Regarding violence against Hindus in Bangladesh I am sure it is happening to a degree.
My view of the evidence of history over the past century is that no racial group has a mortgage on ethical conduct. Given the right circumstances (poverty, oppression and populist leaders) any racial differences can be turned into murderous conflict. It has been true of Russians, Germans, Cambodians, US southerners, Serbians and now Jews, Yemenis and it seems Bangladeshis. (Obviously that is a far from complete list).
That being said, it happens more often in some systems and cultures than others. Any systems that eliminates individual rights, like Communism, or defines one group as superior, like fascism and apartheid policies, seems almost guaranteed to lead to mass murder when things go bad.
Muskie,
Not sure that’s true – IR, some of the environmental laws and climate target, the HAFF are just a few examples where Labor was able to pass better legislation than what was originally proposed, thanks to the greens and croasbench (especially senator Pocock)
Sure all sides use big rhetoric and hyperbole, the coalition, greens, ALP are all guilty of it, but I’d argue that much of the better legislation passed this term were instances where the government worked with the croasbench rather than the coalition
Socrates says:
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 9:28 am
Morning all. Thanks for the roundup Holden Hillbilly.
Regarding violence against Hindus in Bangladesh I am sure it is happening to a degree.
My view of the evidence of history over the past century is that no racial group has a mortgage on ethical conduct. Given the right circumstances (poverty, oppression and populist leaders) any racial differences can be turned into murderous conflict. It has been true of Russians, Germans, Cambodians, US southerners, Serbians and now Jews, Yemenis and it seems Bangladeshis. (Obviously that is a far from complete list).
That being said, it happens more often in some systems and cultures than others. Any systems that eliminates individual rights, like Communism, or defines one group as superior, like fascism and apartheid policies, seems almost guaranteed to lead to mass murder when things go bad.
_________
Good post. Most would say that the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia committed autogenocide. But I do like the main argument.
Griff
Sorry good point about the Khmers. I suppose under communism differences in class can be used to justify genocide in the same way race can be. But I think the general point is the same. No race or culture should assume they are “above” this.
Sadly in Australia’s case settler attitudes to the Aboriginal population (racial superiority) resulted in many small but similar events here, just scattered over a larger area.
Insiders was fascinating/disturbing this morning, particularly the “Moving Pictures” section, where almost all of the cartoons showed the Albanese Government as weak, gutless, prone to being prodded in the bum with a vaulting pole by Michele Bullock & etc.
I doubt that we are going to see anything too catastrophic in the NewsPoll tonight. However, just in case the polling is bad, a comment by David Speers at the end suggests that he might have had a phone call from Paris (or wherever) from a certain Minister named Bill. Bill wanted to tell him all about a fabulous improvement to MyGov which is going to reduce the amount of places our personal information is going to be held and thereby protect it more effectively from being hacked by bad actors. Apparently facial recognition technology is going to be part of it. Speersy couldn’t really explain how it would work, but he said that “they” had been “working really hard on it.”
Three cheers to Bill. Or at least two cheers because goodness only knows how many decades it will take to set up. But it’s good to know that, if something happened to go wrong with the Albanese Government – like really bad polling numbers – there’s someone highly capable there who is ready to step in and take charge.
Hope springs eternal, as they say.
On happier news, the next Olympics will do away with the equestrian component of the Pentathlon event. Not before time.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/11/olympics-bid-adieu-to-one-era-of-modern-pentathlon-as-door-to-another-opens
If I had to pick two event’s I’d love to see dropped from the Olympics, Equestrian and Boxing would be my top two, followed closely by golf and tennis. The first is elitist, costly and cruel to horses. The second is brutal, corrupt and cruel to humans.
You can guess my view of what to do with racetracks. If premiers stopped thinking of the small number of people who work in horse racing on pittance wages, and thought about the thousands who could be built homes on the huge areas allocated to racetracks they might realise there are more votes to be won than lost doing away with such anachronisms.
‘PageBoi says:
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 8:18 am
FFS BW, you just can’t help yourself can you……
Ven and meher have a discussion about the situation in Bangladesh, and you just have to loop it back to your verbal tic of the week – Dutton and Bandt and communalist hatreds
Have you thought about seeking treatment for this OCD?’
——————-
1. It is remarkable how personally vicious Greens voters can be when they are triggered by something that is being posted.
2. Using mental illness as an insult is, IMO, deeply unethical.
3. There is a direct relevance between the consequences of communalist hatreds being stoked up in Bangla Desh and what is happening in Australia. The Cronulla riot was real thing. What is happening in the Middle East is a real thing.
4. There has already been a huge increase in incidents which give expression to communalist hatreds in Australia. This is a real thing.
5. Dutton and Bandt should both pull their heads in and stop stoking up communalist tensions in Australia.
‘Socrates says:
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 10:19 am
On happier news, the next Olympics will do away with the equestrian component of the Pentathlon event. Not before time.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/11/olympics-bid-adieu-to-one-era-of-modern-pentathlon-as-door-to-another-opens
If I had to pick two event’s I’d love to see dropped from the Olympics, Equestrian and Boxing would be my top two, followed closely by golf and tennis. The first is elitist, costly and cruel to horses. The second is brutal, corrupt and cruel to humans.
You can guess my view of what to do with racetracks. If premiers stopped thinking of the small number of people who work in horse racing on pittance wages, and thought about the thousands who could be built homes on the huge areas allocated to racetracks they might realise there are more votes to be won than lost doing away with such anachronisms.’
————————
I’d cut the lot. All the Olympics do is act as a rather nasty expression of international maldistribution of wealth, stoke up nationalist tensions, take funding from community sports, and contribute a shedload of CO2.
Randwick Racecourse is built on a swamp. I’d rather see it restored as a wetland and green open space than covered in thousands of units.
Just for Mavis
Some world class rugger by the All Blacks
https://x.com/CharlieFelix/status/1822207103139737784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1822207103139737784%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=
Fortunately, Australia’s participation in the Olympics has broad community support.
We love it.
Excellent OC
https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/aug/11/abc-chair-kim-williams-newscorp-comments-funding
Interesting insight into Williams’ mindset as ABC boss.
His appointment may turn out to be a good appointment. Maybe there’s hope for it yet…
Socrates
With regard to the conversation on the SM6 last night. The SM6 has the capability to strike land and naval targets as well as long range AA.
Socrates says:
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 10:19 am
……
“You can guess my view of what to do with racetracks. If premiers stopped thinking of the small number of people who work in horse racing on pittance wages, and thought about the thousands who could be built homes on the huge areas allocated to racetracks they might realise there are more votes to be won than lost doing away with such anachronisms.”
I used to live in Rose Park in Adelaide, and when Victoria Park racetrack finally closed, they turned into …… a park.
Obviously, you cannot build new homes in the Eastern ‘burbs – but a few apartments overlooking the green and leafy ..
Socrates says:
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 10:19 am
……
“You can guess my view of what to do with racetracks. If premiers stopped thinking of the small number of people who work in horse racing on pittance wages, and thought about the thousands who could be built homes on the huge areas allocated to racetracks they might realise there are more votes to be won than lost doing away with such anachronisms.”
I used to live in Rose Park in Adelaide, and when Victoria Park racetrack finally closed, they turned into …… a park.
Obviously, you cannot build new homes in the Eastern ‘burbs – but a few apartments overlooking the green and leafy ..
‘Aqualung says:
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 10:31 am
Randwick Racecourse is built on a swamp. I’d rather see it restored as a wetland and green open space than covered in thousands of units.’
——————-
The Two Bob Each Way Greens: all for more housing supply, with piteous hand-wringing for the poor and the needy, until they are against it.
Racecourses are often built on floodplains. Planning was once more considered than now. As much as the gambling/racing lobby has undue influence. There are often legitimate reasons for not redeveloping these locations
The ALP and L/NP are as one on the big issues that matter.
Fossil fuels
Defence
Immigration
Property investment
Social services and welfare
Indigenous affairs
Corporate welfare
Forget the daily pantomime politicking. That’s just a game over who sits to the right of the Speaker and gets a bigger paycheck.
They’ve both been captured by the same corporate vampires.
Working with the crossbench is to be working against their masters direction.
For these reasons I can’t see a minority Govt happening, rather fresh elections will be called to deliver majority Govt either way.
I’m hoping the Teal form a party that provides a choice for traditional conservative voters, in every seat.
It needs to happen and it needs to get enough support to break the current parliamentary duopoly.
“This sort of stuff illustrates the total inanity of concepts such as “defund the police.” What happens when law and order breaks down in a society is nothing like that everyone holding hands and singing Kumbaya. What happens is that the ruthless alpha males take charge and terrorise everyone else.’
Pretty wild segue and some might say inane characterisation of the whole defund the police issue, which ultimately is about seeing issues as social and funding them as such rather than seeing them as criminal and funding the police to handle issues that they in many instances are unequipped to deal with.
I lasted just over one minute this morning before the tone of Speers’ voice turned me right off Insiders. Enough is enough!
Poisoning boundaries and rocky areas was far more entertaining and relaxing!
Late on the scene (busy life). Re last nights criticism of the lack of Ministers in the Albanese Cabinet with STEM qualification. WRONG – Deputy Prime Minister Marshes has a Bachelor of Science as well as a Bachelor Laws .
Bed meet bedbug.
But who is parasitizing whom?
Coalition plus Phon: up 4.3%.
Greens up: .5%.
Dutton has suckered the Bandt into pushing the Overton window to the right.
“All the Olympics do is act as a rather nasty expression of international maldistribution of wealth, stoke up nationalist tensions, take funding from community sports, and contribute a shedload of CO2”
In the olympics people are happy to finish second and third and even just to make the top ten. Quite rare these days. The funding and CO2 are certainly issues, but the ‘Olympic spirit’ is still quite strong among the athletes and most supporters.