It appears Roy Morgan may have resumed its weekly federal polling schedule, offering a new poll conducted last Monday to Sunday from a sample of 1522. This is consistent with its pre-election form and in contrast with its other two polls since the election, which had longer field work periods and bigger samples. The results, however, are much the same: Labor leads 57.5-42.5 on two-party preferred (56.5-43.5 when based on preference flows at the election rather than respondent allocation), in from 58-42 in last week’s result, from primary votes of Labor 36.5% (down one), Coalition 30.5% (down half) and Greens 12% (steady), although One Nation perks up two-and-a-half points to 8.5%.
The real problem that Liberal party have with quotas. Is if they have gender balance they will have gender balanced selection panels too. Which will then select on merit. Old dumb white guys only get selected on merit by selection panels made up of old dumb white guys. Who are the only ones who see any merit in old dumb white guys.
Entropy @ #440 Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 – 6:22 pm
If you watched it you would have found out that Tesla have collaborated with Boxabl. There are Tesla inclusions that Boxabl didn’t have, plus manufacture by giga-factory locally.
But hey, I get it that some people are stuck on cynicism mode wrt Tesla. I prefer to differentiate between Tesla and Musk.
It’s not just Musk C@t, Tesla have a serious overpromise/underdeliver problem.
Edit: Which is Musk’s fault not his employees.
Apropos holiday islands in American media, Jeff Bozo and Lauren Sanchez Bozo are holidaying on the White Lotus island for their honeymoon. Natch.
Stoogey Lurker @ #453 Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 – 7:19 pm
Yes I know but I am an eternal optimist and giver of 2nd chances. And the designs look really cool. Plus, Musk has probably had a bit of a scare recently from his vehicles like the Cybertruck falling apart and BYD eating his lunch, so has turned his attention to the problem. Hopefully. 🙂
Anyone else got a notification from QantASS f-ing Airways that they got hacked today …
I did, and I was having hopes they finally got A380s, ordered yet to materialise A350s, my wife loves their A220s …
The comms didn’t provide a lot of assurances about particulars exposed, I guess I’ll have to check with Idcare, ASD/ Cyber, have I been pawned?
Though no doubt they’ll blame the providers’ platform.
Supposedly the newish GMD gets less than the previous CEO. Ah well …
And of course, no one has forgotten about their behaviour i/c Chinese Wuflu/ Covid-19, offloading off staff that would even make Nationals blush.
And now this.
Anyway, let’s see the fine this org will cop.
The regulator has also got the opportunity to make them split Qantas Link from Qantas from Jetstar.
I say go for it, especially given Rex, Virgin/ Qatar, Ansett!
Certainly generally internationally I do not use them, domestically, well it depends on…
Tesla should sack Elon and replace him with Fred Lambert:
“Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been talking about releasing his ‘Tesla Master Plan Part 4’ for over a year now. It has yet to come, and Tesla has yet to complete the goals in Parts 2 and 3. So I decided to come up with my own Tesla Master Plan.
Now, this post is partly tongue-in-cheek. I’m not delusional. I’m fully aware that this is unlikely to happen, but one can dream. As a long-time fan of Tesla and someone who greatly appreciates the Company’s incredible contributions to accelerating the world’s transition to electric transport and renewable energy, I like to imagine a world where Tesla can return to being something more than just a meme stock for degenerate gamblers to bet on.”
https://electrek.co/2025/06/30/my-secret-tesla-master-plan-part-4/
Edit: C@T, affordable houses would be good.
“Elon Musk is reportedly taking over responsibilities for Tesla’s sales in North America and Europe amid a leadership transition.
The CEO is going from “sleeping on Tesla’s factory floor” to now sleeping in the sales offices.”
https://electrek.co/2025/07/01/elon-musk-sleeping-tesla-factory-floor-to-sleeping-sales-office/
We’re not there yet. Post scarcity societies require an infinite amount of effectively free energy.
Ian M Banks is the best scifi writer in this in my view. His whole Culture series is great.
Back in the real world, Abundance is really just a nicer way of saying wealth redistribution. The yanks would call it Communism. We would call it social democracy. But no where has achieved it.
But that should not stop us trying.
If you watched it you would have found out that Tesla have collaborated with Boxabl. There are Tesla inclusions that Boxabl didn’t have, plus manufacture by giga-factory locally.
=================================================================
I’m aware that Boxabl has 3 factories in the USA, all in Nevada with the first one built in 2021 (the other two on the same site in 2023) . I don’t know if you would call them giga-factories? As far as I know the small homes shown are being made in Boxabl’s current factories. I’m unaware that any actual so called “giga-factories” being built by Tesla to make them though. Do you know where this Tesla giga-factory is?
Bean,
Apparently, Chalmers and Leigh have embraced Abundance with gusto.
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/the-book-jim-chalmers-and-all-of-canberra-is-reading-20250623-p5m9na
—————
A long critique/review of Abundance:
The Real Path to Abundance
To deliver plentiful housing and clean energy, we have to get the story right about what’s standing in the way.
By Sandeep Vaheesan
https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-real-path-to-abundance/
Wealth distribution sure but not in the Communism way. Abundance is about reducing government to just giving handouts to property developers and destroying regulations. More expensive housing with no regard to living conditions and a defanged government stripped of even the veneer of having the power to reign in the oligarchy? Abundance!
https://michaelwest.com.au/happy-nacciversary-celebrating-two-years-of-not-very-much/, … aka duopoly to 2022, duopoly from 2022?
apologies if already posted
NSW Libs push Greiner to fund Bradfield court challenge after 26-vote loss
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-liberals-push-greiner-to-fund-bradfield-court-challenge-after-26-vote-loss-20250701-p5mbmy.html
“Your proposition may be good
But let’s have one thing understood:
Whatever it is, I’m against it
And even when you’ve changed it or condensed it
I’m against it”
(Marxist Philosophy; Groucho)
GOP leaders are scrambling to unite their conference behind the massive Senate bill that would enact President Trump’s domestic agenda and get it to the president’s desk before the holiday weekend.
They have their work cut out for them.
Not only are moderate Republicans balking at cuts to Medicaid, which were made larger by the Senate, but conservatives are also up in arms over the massive increase in deficit spending, also increased by the upper chamber. The combination is raising questions about whether GOP leaders can rally enough support to pass the bill, given a slim House majority that allows for only a small handful of defections.
“If you look at the totality of this, I don’t believe this delivers what the president, what the administration, were working to deliver on,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a vocal member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which is fighting to rein in deficit spending. “I know why they’re going to lobby for it, I know why the president’s going to push for it. They want to see it get done, and I get it,” he continued. “But I think we have more work to do.”
The resistance poses a huge challenge for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other GOP leaders, who are racing to bring the holdouts on board for the sake of enacting the core of Trump’s second-term agenda, including sweeping tax cuts, a crackdown on immigration, a shift away from green energy and huge cuts in federal health and nutrition programs.
Some of those House GOP critics — moderates and conservatives alike — had warned in no uncertain terms that they were ready to oppose the bill if it were made “worse” by the Senate. Now they face the dilemma of either abandoning that position, to give Trump a win, or standing by it to vote “no” — even if it means sinking the bill.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5380380-house-gop-senate-bill-trump-agenda/
Ok regarding the book “Abundance”
I can’t comment on the validity of the economics because I haven’t read it.
However it is worth noting that the general trend in economics has been towards bigger picture “not-mathy” books that blend public policy with broad economic concepts.
Some of the most notable recent economic nobel prizes are to economists most known for such books – Daron Acemoglu for example is academically cited widely, but by far known for his book “Why Nations Fail”.
So in practical terms, I doubt there is anything in the book that could be plugged into a macro/micro model
***
So what do I pre-emptivly think of the book “Abundance”? My suspicions are that it is an attempt to correct the grave errors of the Modern Monetary Theory crowd, a pre-2020 pop-belief that preached you can have anything you want from the government, until it is inflationary… and then we actually had inflation. I think the case it would be making that a lot of economic policy has shifted to focus closely on demand management, and trying to remind that supply is just as important.
Speaking of which, if I were the US Democrats I would not be focusing on “Abundance” and instead dusting off those copies of “Why Nations Fail”. The narrative contained is likely to hit a lot harder at home.
Qantas hack after they successfully convinced an employee at one of the airline’s call centres to grant them access to its database: They have not been asked to pay a ransom, and while operations and safety had not been harmed, it was likely that a “significant” amount of information had been taken, including customer names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers. The airline said credit card and payment details were stored separately and unaffected.
Whether or not “Abundance” is a book that is relevant to the Australian or not, we certainly need to improve our approvals processes. I posted this last night, but I’ll post it again:
https://theenergy.co/article/stop-working-at-cross-purposes-industry-offers-ideas-to-streamline-energy-projects
Note that even though the article is concerned with reforming the EPBC, there is very little consideration given to the EPBC part, it is mostly about timely approval or disapprovals. Minister Watt has an almost impossible job satisfying the various different interest groups.
Then there is the overlap with state approval processes. In NSW, all you need is 5o of Barnaby’s cookers and SAD conspiracy theorists to object and simple renewable energy projects on run-down agricultural land get sent to the IPC. It takes some windfarms 10 years before their approvals are denied. The following example is fairly mild in comparison, but it illustrates how easy it is to exploit the system:
https://reneweconomy.com.au/solar-and-battery-proposal-sails-through-epbc-and-into-a-storm-of-objections-some-of-them-wild/
5 nations, 8 days: PM Modi begins longest diplomatic tour to boost Atlantic ties
PM Modi said that the tour will reinforce India’s partnerships across the Global South, enhance its footprint on multilateral platforms and foster ties across both sides of the Atlantic.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pm-narendra-modi-leaves-for-5-nation-tour-to-africa-latin-america-and-caribbean-in-8-day-diplomatic-mission-2749254-2025-07-02?utm_source=izooto&utm_medium=push_notifications&utm_campaign=promotion#google_vignette
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday departed on an eight-day diplomatic tour covering five nations across Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean with a focus on boosting ties with the Global South and deepening cooperation in trade, energy, technology and multilateral engagement. During this tour, PM Modi will visit Ghana, Trinidad, Argentina, Brazil and Namibia from July 2 to July 9.”
A clever headline
Just when you thought Trump was done with musk
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/1/2331168/-You-can-now-identify-MAGA-cultists-by-a-new-scent?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_7&pm_medium=web
“Thanks to President Donald Trump’s obsession with turning everything into a cash grab, you can now identify the most die-hard MAGA voters by a new smell.
The president’s latest cologne and perfume sets have officially hit the market, and his cultists can now spritz themselves with the scents for the low price of $249—or $398 if they buy two. “
@Stoogey Lurker:
“I thought this was a good review of “Abundance” and its relevance to Australia:
https://insidestory.org.au/are-we-getting-in-our-own-way/”
Thankyou for sparing me the trouble of reading it.
As an anti-NIMBY, I have some sympathy for the argument about land use restrictions blocking progressive outcomes. I can cite you cases in my area where homeowners were blocked from adding solar panels to their properties by heritage rules, which is one sort of laudable aim blocking a more critical one, and despite the grumbling in that article about developers getting their own way, that’s not all developers (just the connected ones, who are building the costs of their lobbying into the costs of the development anyway) and NIMBY arguments against pretty much any new build in the inner suburbs DO add to the cost and difficulty of adding medium density, more affordable housing and letting more people live closer to where they work (thus less emissions, less time away from their families). The Vic state government is working on this recently with trying to make planning permission easier in zones around public transport and I wish more progressive groups would get out of their way rather than allying with the Brighton NIMBYs.
Obviously this requires not throwing the baby out with the bathwater to enable slums, environmental damage, dodgy waste disposal etc. And I agree with the article that there’s not likely to be as much improvement to be gained from this source as in the US – it’s not the one thing between us and utopia….
I always thought that for such a don’t tread on me country, it was weird the degree to which Americans tolerate these homeowners associations which restrict what people can do with their own properties to a larger extent than even strata properties do here.
Eta – @Stoogey Lurker – I would definitely hope the current government is cutting red tape for wind farm and solar approvals. The long approval process was an intentional feature, not a bug, from the Abbott/Morrison lot. (not helped when the likes of Bob Brown joined in the objections)
The Victorian Yoorrook Commission has found that Victorian European settlement amounted to a genocide on First Peoples in Victoria.
Hardly surprising, though it will bring howls of outrage from some.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-02/yoorrook-justice-inquiry-key-findings-takeaways/105483168
Some recommended actions in Education and Health as well as land rights.
From daily kos
The “abundance” movement are centrist liberals who want to obliterate any hope of avoiding right-wing Governments by pushing the goal of importing hundreds of millions of Indians into countries that can’t support those numbers and where the drastic drop in wages would immediately result in a heavy far-right tilt.
The problem is that cutting red tape isn’t going to spring up mum-and-pop property developers and make them decide to build affordable housing to rent while eating the cost.
You’re way off Whitlam. It’s more just a pitch for ‘lefties’ to return to Reaganism so snooty nerds can turn around and say to Tucker Carlson “ah hah! see! we are the real conservatives and you’re not”
Arky
Inside Story book reviews are often better than the book, I think.
Minister Bowen has Renewable Energy Transformation Agreements (RETAs) with the states, except QLD, which has sped up state planning processes a little.
Victoria has the Development Facilitation Program (DFP) which fast tracks approvals for renewable projects, mostly in seats which the ALP doesn’t hold. SKY and the Tories love using the DFP to stir up the base.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/big-batteries-and-solar-farm-win-fast-track-state-approval-amid-council-push-back-and-fire-risk-fears/
This is a really difficult issue.
Omar Comin’ @ #464 Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 – 8:00 pm
How to turn the electorate against you and make them hate you if you get your longed-for by-election, in one easy step.
There is supposedly a RedBridge poll in the AFR but I can’t access it.
Any one help with the result?
Entropy @ #460 Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 – 7:35 pm
It was stated in the video that the giga-factory concept will be adapted for the purpose of their construction.
Have you even watched the video? You could have answered your own question.
B. S. Fairman: The nationwide poll of 4036 voters conducted by the Redbridge Group in late June to test the post-election climate shows Labor’s support has stayed solid since its record victory two months ago. The low level of support for the Coalition, which is also largely unchanged, is driven by its low standing among those aged between 18 and 34, and not much better levels among the 35-to-49 age group. The poll shows just 19 per cent of voters aged between 18 and 34 years back the Coalition, whereas 40 per cent support Labor. The Greens, who championed themselves as the party of youth and also had a terrible election, attracted 24 per cent. Among 35-to-49-year-olds, Coalition support inches up to 25 per cent, still well behind Labor’s 37 per cent. Only in the 65-and-older cohort does the Coalition vote exceed Labor’s, by 44 per cent to 36 per cent.
The poll suggests the gender problem extends to men as well, with 32 per cent of males supporting the Coalition compared to 30 per cent of women.
Labor leads the Coalition on a two-party preferred basis by 55.5 per cent to 44.5 per cent, which is statistically the same as the 55.2 per cent-to-44.8 per cent election outcome.
Labor’s primary vote is up slightly from 34.6 per cent on election day to 37 per cent, while the Coalition’s has fallen slightly from 31.8 per cent to 31 per cent.
Thanks. I was out at the Airport picking up some packages so might have missed it if was already discussed.
It was stated in the video that the giga-factory concept will be adapted for the purpose of their construction.
Have you even watched the video? You could have answered your own question.
==============================================================
I thought the video was mainly Tesla spin. In my opinion Tesla has just placed a big order of small houses to be made by Boxabl in its current USA factories (Las Vegas) to a custom design specified by Tesla. Which will have the Tesla badge on it. This just looks like an on selling exercise of a Boxabl manufactured product. No doubt if it successful and the demand for Boxabl manufactured product increases. Boxabl (not Tesla) will need to expand its USA manufacturing by building more or bigger factories.
The word giga-factory is just Tesla spin too. The biggest factory by area is the Boeing factory but that is never referred to as giga-factory to my knowledge.
Holdenhillbilly says:
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 at 9:19 pm
B. S. Fairman: The nationwide poll of 4036 voters conducted by the Redbridge Group in late June to test the post-election climate shows Labor’s support has stayed solid since its record victory two months ago.
中华人民共和国
Anyone remember what the last RedBridge poll was before the election????
Rex Douglas says:
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 at 9:02 am
Voters must be vigilant against the increasing Libertarian influence of Govts around the world.
This type of leadership has no sense of society and little regard for the social safety net and the worst types legislate massive lowering of tax responsibility on the 1% who have more wealth than they will ever need.
The signs are there in Australia of creeping down that path. Resources and property interests have a ridiculously low taxation burden and then there’s the recent clawback of funding to social programs like the NDIS and My Aged Care as well as Minns’ tightening of workers compensation rules for injured workers.
Australia still has a very good social safety net and social conscience, but we voters must be vigilant and wide-eyed to attempts at watering it down.
———————————–
Yes, but the best way to protect against the bad side of libertarianism is to protect its good side, to protect our freedoms against excessive government control. We are a nanny state right now, and that’s the worst possible position to be in if you’re wanting to protect against rampant libertarian cuts to services. Because nanny stateism isn’t popular with the electorate. Most people I talk to are fed up with it, left, right or centre, the nanny state mentality our public sector seems to be stuck in is not popular with voters. And that’s what creates the biggest risk of a right-wing version of ‘libertarianism’ being voted in – the absence of the good side of libertarianism.
Upnorthsays:
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 at 10:37 pm
“Anyone remember what the last RedBridge poll was before the election????”
53-47 to Labor.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2025_Australian_federal_election
Upnorth at 10.37 pm
Redbridge/Accent in late April had Lab + Lib both on 34%, Greens on 12% and Hanson exaggerated at 8%.
TPP vote was 53/47 to Labor. So not as far out as some other pollsters.
There were Redbridge marginal seat polls that showed a large shift toward Labor during the campaign.
Pollsters should focus on Tasmania where there is an imminent election and a shortage of reliable polling.
Upnorth – Kevin Bonham summarised the last Redbridge poll on 30 April…
“Redbridge final national poll
ALP 34 L-NP 34 Green 12 ON 8 others 12
2PP 53-47 to ALP
(My last-election estimate for these primaries as published is similar, 53.2)”
They also had an ongoing 20 seat tracking poll poll that was closer to the mark, the last one implying 54.5% to ALP. https://bsky.app/profile/6newsau.bsky.social/post/3ln54elioge2z
If you want to the read the new AFR article, try this.
https://archive.is/xAg6I
In 1953, as Ian Fleming sat at his Jamaican estate, Goldeneye, crafting the character who would become one of the world’s most iconic spies, he searched for a name that was simple, unremarkable, and perfectly suited to a man of mystery. While browsing his bookshelf, Fleming stumbled upon “The Birds of the West Indies” by James Bond, an American ornithologist and bird expert. The name struck him as ideal—ordinary, yet unforgettable. Fleming later wrote to the real James Bond, humorously admitting he’d “stolen” his name for his fictional agent. And so, the quiet ornithologist became the unlikely namesake of the legendary 007.
James Bond, the ornithologist, was a distinguished figure in his own right. Born in 1900, he devoted his life to studying and documenting the bird species of the Caribbean. His seminal work, “The Birds of the West Indies,” published in 1936, remains a cornerstone of ornithology and an essential guide for birdwatchers and researchers. Bond’s meticulous research and passion for birds earned him respect in the scientific community, though his life was far removed from the glamour and danger of Fleming’s creation.
Despite the curious fame that came with sharing a name with the world’s most famous spy, Bond remained modest, preferring to focus on his scientific contributions. Fleming, a fan of Bond’s work, even sent him a signed copy of “You Only Live Twice,” inscribed to the “real” James Bond. The ornithologist took it all in stride, letting his legacy rest on the wings of the birds he loved.
James Bond passed away in 1989 and is buried in Lower Gwynedd Township, Pennsylvania. His grave is a quiet tribute to a dedicated scientist whose work continues to inspire bird lovers worldwide. While Ian Fleming’s James Bond became a global icon, the legacy of the original James Bond endures in the world of ornithology, where his passion and groundbreaking research remain his true claim to fame. As Fleming once wrote, “It struck me that this name, brief, unromantic, and yet very masculine, was just what I needed.” And so, the name James Bond became immortal, bridging the worlds of fiction and science in a way no one could have predicted.
~ *The Two Pennies*
A cooked middle aged white guy will do for the libs, as long as he seems old. Just ask well done Angus
New thread.
What a grovelling snivelling coward!
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5382760-warren-davidson-trump-big-beautiful-bill/
As far as I can tell abundance is just another way to try and maintain the current system that accommodates profits over everything else.
Destroy all other standards in the name of profits.