Morgan: 56.5-43.5 to Labor (open thread)

Yet another poll result finding One Nation at new heights, as Labor ebbs to its lowest primary vote since the election.

The latest Roy Morgan poll, which is now reliably a monthly series with large samples accumulated from weekly surveying, has Labor’s two-party lead in from 57-43 to 56.5-43.5 on respondent-allocated preferences, though the primary vote movements are somewhat more unfavourable for Labor than this suggests: they are down two on last month to 33%, their weakest result since the election, with the Coalition steady on 27%, the Greens down half a point to 12.5% and One Nation up two to 14% (their best result from Morgan since 1998). Based on previous election flows, Labor’s lead is in from 57-43 to 55-45. Presumably to add more context to One Nation’s rise, the poll comes with breakdowns in unusual detail, including primary votes as well as two-party preferred results for all six states, together with gender and age breakdowns. The poll was conducted October 20 to November 16 from a sample of 5248.

UPDATE: Spectre Strategy, which published a poll late in the federal election that was in line with what other pollsters were showing, has emerged with a set of voting intention numbers showing Labor leading 53-47 on two-party preferred, on what appear to be respondent-allocated preferences, from primary votes of Labor 33%, Coalition 25%, One Nation 17.5% and Greens 12.5%. The poll was conducted November 4 to 17 from a sample of 1007.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

1,472 thoughts on “Morgan: 56.5-43.5 to Labor (open thread)”

Comments Page 1 of 30
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  1. UpN (previous thread)
    To quote Neville Wran:
    It was said of Caesar Augustus that he found Rome brick, and left it marble, it will be said of Gough Whitlam that he found the outer suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with nightcarts, and left them fully flushed

  2. It’s my best guess that some blue collar Labor voters are going straight to One Nation due to the furphy about immigration and housing.

  3. It’s also my best guess that the government are quietly working on a new immigration fix which will likely cut back on overseas student numbers. I was at a meeting last night and the subject of the expansion plans for our ‘local'(Newcastle via the Central Coast) uni were a hot topic and it was described as, no longer a seat of learning but a major corporation. So it wouldn’t hurt to have their ambitions trimmed a bit and to have a haircut.

    Possibly restrict family reunion to a direct family cohort only (I admit I’m not au fait with exactly what the parameters for family reunion are). Then tighten up the skilled trades deficits list that Bizzcan keeps highlighting for us to actually reflect those people we need here to fill gaps and no more.

    Then get on with building housing for all.

  5. C@t, which uni? Newcastle or New England? I’m punting Newcastle due to their expansion into Gosford. Inform your branch members that they have a very very good university that is know to be well run inside the sector.

    They are a mid-size, almost bordering on small in the Australian context. At ~15% international student enrollments, they are again in the mid to small end of overseas enrollments.

    Approximately 37,000 students, with a breakdown of 33,508 domestic and 6,387 international students in 2024.

  6. I’m not sure the government can have it both ways, you either have to properly fund universities or let them have international students imo

  7. Hard Being Green says:
    Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 6:43 am
    I’m not sure the government can have it both ways, you either have to properly fund universities or let them have international students imo

    ————|————————
    Precisely.

    The government must step up to the racists on this one.

    It’s not immigrants per se people don’t like, it’s brown ones.

  8. Education means immigration via the back door.

    Zero to do with racism it is caused by a fed labor government that’s only lever to grow the economy is a population Ponzi scheme with its side effects of inflation,housing crisis,rental crisis and homelessness etc etc.

  9. pied piper says:
    Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 6:26 am
    Tariff policy is working in USA this was before shutdown.China deficit slashed…

    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/us-foreign-trade-deficit-below-market-expectations-in-august/3748266

    That is, Trump is shrinking the US economy. Real wages falling, recession taking hold in a majority of US regions while the extra-territorial economy is throttled. The worst-hurt States are Red-voting. Trump is depressing incomes and jobs in MAGA-land.

    Trump is in line for a thrashing in 2026. The Republicans know it and are dumping the orange goose.

  10. This is what Russia is doing to Ukraine:

    “‘Destroyed in an instant’ — 26 killed, 142 injured, blackouts across Ukraine after Russian mass missile, drone attack”
    https://kyivindependent.com/emergency-power-outages-across-ukraine-as-russian-mass-missile-drone-attack-targets-western-cities/

    Russia carried out a mass overnight attack on multiple Ukrainian regions on Nov. 19, leaving at least 26 civilians dead and 141 injured, and causing widespread infrastructure damage and triggering emergency power outages.

    Russia launched 476 drones and 48 missiles at Ukraine, including 47 cruise missiles and one ballistic missile, the Air Force reported.

    Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 442 drones, 34 Kh-101 cruise missiles, and seven Kalibr cruise missiles. Meanwhile, seven missiles and 34 drones struck 14 locations, while debris from downed drones and missiles fell on six additional sites.

    Oblasts in western Ukraine, including Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Lviv, located over 500 kilometers (about 300 miles) from the front line and the Russian border, were affected.

    The Russian attack on Ternopil killed at least 26 people, including three children, and injured 93 others, among them 18 children, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.

    Two nine-story residential buildings were damaged in the strike. In one of them, the damage extended from the third to the ninth floor, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.

  11. pied piper says:
    Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 7:10 am
    Education means immigration via the back door.

    Zero to do with racism it is caused by a fed labor government that’s only lever to grow the economy is a population Ponzi scheme with its side effects of inflation,housing crisis,rental crisis and homelessness etc etc.

    That is….the Reactionaries’ line on the economy: crush it. Squash it. Demagogue it. The Reactionaries are detestable bigots. They cannot run the country. They have just one policy – concoct and then exploit grievance. This is not running a country. It is trading in hatred.

  13. And this is what Trump’s USA apparently wants to do to Ukraine:

    “US and Russian officials draft plan to end Ukraine war based on capitulation from Kyiv:
    It is unclear if Trump administration backs deal that would mean Kyiv giving up territory and slashing size of military”
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/19/us-and-russian-officials-draft-new-peace-plan-based-on-capitulation-from-ukraine

    US and Russian officials have quietly drafted a new plan to end the war in Ukraine that would require Kyiv to surrender territory and severely limit the size of its military, it was reported on Wednesday as Russian drone and missile strikes killed at least 25 people in the city of Ternopil.

    The draft plan, which was reportedly developed by Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev, would force draconian measures on Ukraine that would give Russia unprecedented control over the country’s military and political sovereignty. The plan is likely to be viewed as surrender in Kyiv.

    The two men have formed an important but unofficial backchannel between Moscow and Washington, and it was unclear whether the Trump administration had formally backed the plan.

    The Financial Times and Reuters reported that the proposal would require Ukraine to cede territory it controls in the east of the country and halve the size of its military, conditions that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has in the past called non-starters. Other conditions include limiting US military assistance and categories of armaments used by the Ukrainian military.

    If this is where the US lands, then as far as I am concerned, the US is an enemy, for as long as Trump or any of his allies is in power there. I would urge everyone I could to treat them as such.

  14. More details on this horrendous ‘plan’ apparently cooked up by US and Russian officials in Miami, Florida:

    People with direct knowledge of the draft say it would require Ukraine to give up the remainder of Donbas, including areas currently controlled by Kyiv, and to cut the size of its armed forces by half. Reuters has also reported that the plan includes territorial concessions.

    Crucially, the plan also requires Ukraine to give up key categories of weaponry and envisages a reduction in US military aid, which has been vital to its defence.

    The plan further provides for Russian to be recognised as an official state language in Ukraine and for the Russian Orthodox Church to be granted official status.

    The person familiar with the draft described it as a very generic document that was “heavily tilted towards Russia”. Another person familiar with the plan called it “very comfortable for Putin”.

    Kyiv officials who have seen the plan say it closely mirrors the Kremlin’s maximalist demands and that without substantial changes it will be unacceptable to Ukraine.

    https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/11/19/8008088/

    Fuck Trump, for greenlighting this endorsement of Russia’s maximalist war aims in its illegal and unjustified imperial conquest of independent Ukraine.

  16. “Properly funded universities” is a misnomer, code for the aspirations of several dozen petty warlord VCs pretending that each of their universities is a mini harvard.

    Far too many universities offer too many courses – 50k for an Arts degree is not enough, a stupidity tax that should be higher on people doing useless vanity study rather than real technical skills for the future.

    Bill Shorten has already accurately identified the solution:

    “The present model encouraged all universities to chase the same goals, spreading limited resources too thinly. This bred uniformity at best and mediocrity at worst.”

    ““Australia’s higher education market is saturated with prestige-driven narratives that often alienate Millennials, GenZ and potential students from regional, first-in-family, neurodiverse, mature-age and non- traditional backgrounds. It is time for change.””

    “Shorten floated the idea of creating a stream of specialist universities, giving examples such as a national university of advanced technologies, a national health sciences university, or a university of foreign studies.”

    ““Such institutions would concentrate our finite research funding and talent, creating genuine, world- leading centres of excellence, rather than dozens of competing, under-resourced departments.””

    https://theconversation.com/bill-shorten-re-imagines-universities-with-specialist-institutions-and-bespoke-degrees-264778

  18. CSIRO cuts highlight which jobs government protects in national interest

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-20/tomago-smelters-science-csiro-funding-cuts/106026312

    “While government funding has increased each year, it has not kept up with inflation. Far from it. According to Hilton, funding has grown by an average 1.3 per cent per annum over the past 15 years. That’s compared to an average inflation rate of 2.7 per cent. More than double.

    In other words, funding is being cut in real terms.
    :::
    While the CSIRO still has capacity to focus on priority areas for “applied” research, including clean energy and artificial intelligence, there’s now less room for so-called “pure” research, which isn’t tied to finding practical solutions.

    This is of deep concern to the scientific community.

    “Amazing things come from amazing minds when they don’t have to follow the bouncing ball,” says Ryan Winn, the CEO of Science and Technology Australia, which represents the nation’s scientists.
    :::
    The government is under pressure to find budget savings wherever it can to offset spending growth elsewhere. It plays down the impact of the CSIRO job cuts by pointing to increased university research picking up the slack, a claim contested by others in the research community.

    Either way, it’s clear Australia’s total spending on research and development by governments, universities and business, isn’t keeping up with comparable countries. As a percentage of GDP, Australia’s R&D spend sits at about 1.7 per cent, well below the OECD average of 2.7 per cent and way behind top performers including the US, Israel and South Korea.”

  19. Researchers say real impact of deforestation being hidden in Australia’s official figures by ‘sleight of hand’

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/19/australia-deforestation-hidden-official-figures-conservationists-report

    “At face value, the amount of forest in Australia is officially increasing, and has been since 2008.

    But if an old-growth tree is felled in a forest and seedlings grow elsewhere, is the official account ecologically sound? Not according to new analysis, which suggests that the way Australia calculates forest cover obfuscates the impacts of ongoing deforestation.

    Australia calculates forest cover as a net figure, in which forest losses are “netted off” against forest gains. That is problematic, according to a report led by Griffith University’s Climate Action Beacon, because new forests do not store as much carbon or have the same wildlife benefits as established forests that are being destroyed.

    Prof Brendan Mackey of Griffith University, one of the study’s co-authors, described measuring forest losses and gains in net terms as “an accounting sleight of hand”.”

  20. Carmen Lawrence

    Every coal and gas approval tarnishes Labor’s climate legacy

    https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/every-coal-and-gas-approval-tarnishes-labor-s-climate-legacy-20251113-p5nf7q.html

    “I write with a heavy heart. When a Labor government seeks to overhaul our weak national environment law in a way that will still allow new coal and gas projects to be waved through, it is more than a policy failure – it’s a failure of the duty of care owed to every Australian, to the places and species we love, and to our children’s futures.

    Since taking office in 2022, the Albanese government has been approving fossil fuel projects at almost the same pace and zeal as its federal Coalition predecessors. Thirty-two coal, oil and gas developments have been given the green light – six of them since the 2025 election, including the most recent approval just weeks ago for Chevron to extract gas from seven West Australian fields. Together, these projects generate roughly 10 to 13 million tonnes of climate pollution each year, and that’s likely a conservative figure, given some projects have withheld their emissions data.
    :::
    This is the context for the debate over the EPBC Act. The government says its reform package strengthens nature protection while keeping “carbon policing” in the safeguard mechanism. But this claim has a climate-sized hole in it. Certainly, developers would be required to provide some emissions information and a reduction plan – but the environment minister would be explicitly prohibited from considering climate harm when deciding whether to approve a project. Disclosure without consequence. A smoke alarm with no batteries – installed when the house is already ablaze.

    The safeguard mechanism cannot fix this flaw. It was designed to gradually reduce emissions from today’s polluters – not to keep tabs on expanding coal and gas projects. It doesn’t assess individual projects; it allows unlimited offsets of dubious benefit and leaves the climate minister only second-order powers to intervene after a polluting project is approved. Offsets can be banked for years, and many come from land carbon projects vulnerable to drought and fire. Passing more high-emitting coal and gas projects into the safeguard is not a serious way to manage the cumulative risk of new mega-polluters. It instead gives them a free pass.”

  22. World News & Politics Patrol:

    US proposals to end Russia’s war involve Ukraine giving up land, some weapons: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-proposals-end-russias-war-involve-ukraine-giving-up-land-some-weapons-sources-2025-11-19/

    Russian spy ship on edge of UK waters, warns defence secretary: https://news.sky.com/story/russian-spy-ship-currently-on-edge-of-uk-waters-warns-defence-secretary-13472703

    Mike Johnson who railed against the Epstein bill – but voted for it – is now mad the Senate approved the measure: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/epstein-files-release-mike-johnson-senate-b2868239.html

    Trump officials say president is plotting new wave of retribution after Epstein bill vote: ‘Democrats are going to come to regret this’: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-white-house-retribution-democrats-epstein-b2868464.html

    Epstein Files Bill Allowing Bondi to ‘Redact’ Details Comes Under Scrutiny: https://www.newsweek.com/epstein-files-bill-allowing-pam-bondi-redact-details-comes-under-scrutiny-11072704

    Trump’s DOJ Admits Comey Grand Jury Never Saw Final Indictment: https://www.newsweek.com/james-comey-indictment-jury-donald-trump-lindsey-halligan-11075754

    A clear majority of voters would choose a Democrat candidate for Congress if the midterms were held today, a new poll shows. The PBS News/NPR/Marist survey, conducted between November 10 and 13, revealed that 55 percent of voters would elect a Democratic candidate, compared to 41 percent who would opt for a Republican: https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-open-up-biggest-polling-lead-over-republicans-in-eight-years-11072273

    Gov. Abbott released 1,400 pages of emails about Elon Musk. Most are blacked out: https://www.kut.org/politics/2025-11-19/texas-governor-abbott-elon-musk-emails-redacted

    Boebert yells at Republicans on House floor after censure of Democrat fails: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5612208-boebert-republicans-censure-plaskett-mills/

    Thune fires back at House GOP effort to repeal senators’ $500,000 damages provision: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5613644-thune-house-gop-repeal-sue-doj/

    Immigrants Unlawfully Detained by ICE in New York to Receive Over $100 Million in Compensation: https://www.latintimes.com/immigrants-unlawfully-detained-ice-new-york-receive-over-100-million-compensation-591504

    Larry Summers resigns from OpenAI board, Harvard launches probe after release of Epstein emails: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/larry-summers-resigns-openai-board-jeffrey-epstein-emails-rcna244766

    Twin Cities ICE employee among 16 arrested in child sex trafficking sting: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/11/18/twin-cities-ice-employee-among-16-arrested-in-child-sex-trafficking-sting

    Pardoned Capitol rioter tried to bribe child sex victim with promise of Jan. 6 payout, officials say: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pardoned-capitol-rioter-tried-bribe-child-sex-victim-promise-jan-6-pay-rcna244627

  23. Good Morning! Here’s Your Daily News and Views Roundup

    Albanese has cut Australia’s COP bid off at the knees; has anyone told Chris Bowen?
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-has-cut-australia-s-cop-bid-off-at-the-knees-has-anyone-told-bowen-20251119-p5ngm3.html

    Bonn nuit: nailbiter for German city as Albanese and Bowen offer mixed messages on hosting Cop31
    Tom McIlroy
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/19/albanese-bowen-mixed-messages-cop31-host-germany-turkey-australia

    Government canvasses Pacific leaders on backdown option for COP31
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-19/australia-canvasses-backdown-option-on-cop31-bid/106029536

    Brazil is trying to stop fossil fuel interests derailing COP30 with one simple measure. Ahead of this year’s climate talks, host nation Brazil moved to tackle climate disinformation and delay tactics with a simple but clear approach: asking participants to publicly disclose who funded them to attend.
    https://theconversation.com/brazil-is-trying-to-stop-fossil-fuel-interests-derailing-cop30-with-one-simple-measure-268190

    One of the nation’s leading bankers says Australia should be an energy superpower with some of the cheapest electricity in the world, describing the nation’s failure to resolve its political impasse over energy as a sad development that should never have happened.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sad-bank-chief-slams-australia-s-political-failure-on-net-zero-and-energy-20251119-p5ngr3.html

    Report commissioned by conservationists suggests some recorded new growth is misclassified or otherwise not equivalent to losses in species-heavy forests
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/19/australia-deforestation-hidden-official-figures-conservationists-report

    Coalition and Labor negotiate nature laws as Greens warn compromise would show it was ‘written for big business’. Murray Watt says other parties must decide ‘whether they want to see us do a deal with the other side of politics’.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/19/coalition-and-labor-negotiate-nature-laws-as-greens-warn-compromise-would-show-it-was-written-for-big-business

    Australia’s biggest super funds accused of profiting from Russian ‘blood oil’.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-s-biggest-super-funds-accused-of-profiting-from-russian-blood-oil-20251114-p5nffe.html

    SMH Editorial: Importing Russian oil is pouring blood on troubled waters. It’s time to act.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/importing-russian-oil-is-pouring-blood-on-troubled-waters-it-s-time-to-act-20251118-p5ng7p.html

    Indian refinery pulls Russian oil from Australian petrol amid backlash. David Crowe
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/indian-refinery-pulls-russian-oil-from-australian-petrol-amid-backlash-20251119-p5ngjm.html

    Esafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant has been called to testify before the US Congress over Australia’s Online Safety Act, with a Republican lawmaker labelling her a “noted zealot for global take-downs” and an enemy of American free speech.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/noted-zealot-esafety-commissioner-called-to-testify-before-us-congress-20251119-p5nguc.html

    Tech giant Meta will begin removing the Facebook and Instagram accounts of children aged 13 to 15 a week before the government’s social media ban comes into effect, notifying teen users of the changes from Thursday.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/shut-it-down-the-sites-already-policing-the-world-s-first-social-media-ban-20251119-p5ngqk.html

    Here is a tale of two executions. One was brutal, but swift. The other slow, poorly planned and only half-finished. The first was how the Victorian Liberals dealt with their ailing leader this week. The second is the NSW Liberals’ approach to felling Mark Speakman, a cruel process which has dragged on for months.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/that-s-not-a-coup-this-is-a-coup-the-leadership-challenge-the-nsw-libs-can-learn-from-20251119-p5ngml.html

    NSW Liberals prepare for challenge as Speakman’s hold on leadership disintegrates.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-liberals-prepare-for-challenge-as-speakman-s-hold-on-leadership-disintegrates-20251120-p5ngw9.html

    The Coalition has done Australia a favour – now we have to decide who we really are. Shaun Carney
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-coalition-has-done-australia-a-favour-now-we-have-to-decide-who-we-really-are-20251118-p5nggj.html

    The Coalition’s climate shift: what’s at risk for Australia? – Full Story podcast
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2025/nov/19/coalition-climate-shift-risk-for-australia-full-story-podcast

    CSIRO cuts highlight which jobs government protects in national interest. David Speers
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-20/tomago-smelters-science-csiro-funding-cuts/106026312

    The CSIRO cuts are just the tip of the iceberg for Australia’s science funding
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-11-19/csiro-cuts-tip-australia-science-funding/106026174

    Tony Burke has blamed the Liberal Party for stoking discord over immigration and signalled a tightening of federal laws to crack down on increasingly emboldened neo-Nazis.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/2-5b-nauru-deal-won-t-be-made-public-without-court-challenge-or-agreement-says-burke-20251119-p5ngkh.html

    Liberals want ‘Australian values’ screening for new migrants
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australian-values-screening-on-liberals-immigration-agenda-20251119-p5ngkf.html

    The days of 4% pay rises are behind us – wages are now barely growing faster than inflation
    Greg Jericho
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2025/nov/19/wages-are-now-barely-growing-faster-than-inflation

    Real wages have grown – just – over the past year. But they’re still down near 2011 levels.
    https://theconversation.com/real-wages-have-grown-just-over-the-past-year-but-theyre-still-down-near-2011-levels-270141

    States launch coordinated attack on federal handling of public hospital negotiations.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-19/states-launch-attack-on-hospital-funding-negotiations/106029008

    Prison time, $22,000 fines for Nazi chants in new NSW laws
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/prison-time-22-000-fines-for-nazi-chants-in-new-laws-20251119-p5ngjc.html

    Is banning political parties the answer?
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/not-post-war-nazi-germany-is-banning-political-parties-the-answer-20251119-p5ngl6.html

    The exceptional thing about the battle of the Victorian bobs? It’s not exceptional.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/the-exceptional-thing-about-the-battle-of-the-bobs-it-s-not-exceptional-20251119-p5ngmg.html

    Former Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto could make a shock return to the Victorian Liberal frontbench as one of the names being floated for the prized treasury portfolio.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/shadow-cabinet-reshuffle-could-bring-divisive-figure-back-into-the-liberal-fold-20251119-p5ngls.html

    Lawmakers are quietly discussing how to quickly move new Russia sanctions legislation — this time with President Donald Trump’s blessing.
    https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/11/19/congress/congress-plots-path-forward-on-russia-sanctions-bill-with-trumps-blessing-00660067

    For good customers, Trump rolls out the red carpet. The rest get a tongue-lashing.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/for-good-customers-trump-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-the-rest-get-a-tongue-lashing-20251119-p5ngnt.html

    Trump shrugged off Khashoggi’s killing. This is a new low. Jamal Khashoggi was dismembered in a Saudi consulate. The president says ‘things happen’. Jodie Ginsberg
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/19/trump-khashoggi-killing-new-low

    Every time new emails drop, elites do the Epstein shuffle: ‘Yes I knew him, but I didn’t KNOW him’
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/19/emails-celebrities-epstein-new-york-washington

    Have the Epstein files ‘ripped MAGA apart’? Maybe not, but there will be fallout.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-19/donald-trump-epstein-files-unlikely-series-of-events/106022276

    ‘Democrats are going to come to regret this’: After Epstein vote, Trump ready to attack
    The White House is frustrated about being backed into a corner on the Epstein vote. They plan to punish Democrats for it.
    https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/19/trump-white-house-train-attacks-on-democrats-in-wake-of-epstein-vote-00657796

    ‘He used to say things like “Hitler was right”’: Nigel Farage faces more allegations of racist behaviour at school.
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/19/nigel-farage-allegations-racist-behaviour-school

    Reform UK councillor suspended over WhatsApp group featuring extremist posts. Tom Pickup confirms he was member of group in which one participant allegedly called for ‘mass Islam genocide’
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/19/reform-uk-councillor-suspended-over-whatsapp-group-featuring-extremist-posts

    No 10 calls on Farage to urgently address ‘disturbing allegations’ of past racist behaviour. Keir Starmer ramps up pressure on Reform leader, who has dismissed claims as ‘one person’s word against another’
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/19/farages-wholesale-denial-of-detailed-racism-claims-is-troubling-says-former-extremism-adviser

    Is the UK headed for a new prime minister?
    https://theconversation.com/is-the-uk-headed-for-a-new-prime-minister-269698

    The Guardian view on funding Ukraine’s resistance: a looming financial crisis in Kyiv must be averted.
    Whether by leveraging Russia’s frozen assets, or other means, the EU must deliver the cash necessary to withstand Putin’s war of attrition.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/19/the-guardian-view-on-funding-ukraines-resistance-a-looming-financial-crisis-in-kyiv-must-be-averted

    Russian barrage kills 25 in Ukraine city as Zelenskyy holds talks with Turkish leader
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-20/russian-barrage-kills-25-in-ukraine-city/106030344

    Australia sanctions Russian cybercrime providers accused of enabling attacks.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-20/federal-politics-live-blog-nov-20/106029496

    A Russian spy ship, the Yantar, is sailing close to British territorial waters. The UK’s Defence Minister John Healey says the country is “ready” but is not saying what the Royal Navy will do if it breaches British sovereignty. It comes as the UK, US and Australia all sanction a Russian company accused of involvement in ransomware attacks.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-20/uk-vows-to-act-as-russian-vessel-strays-close-to-territory/106030534

    EU ‘minutes from big casualties’ in Russian hybrid war, Lithuanian minister warns
    An act of railway sabotage in Poland is just the latest sign the bloc needs to respond to Moscow’s tactics, Lithuania’s foreign minister told POLITICO.
    https://www.politico.eu/article/lithuania-foreign-minister-kestutis-budrys-russia-hybrid-war-poland-railway-sabotage/

    Europe needs tactical nukes to counter Putin, says Airbus chief. European aerospace heavyweight warns that the continent must have a stronger deterrent against Russia’s massive arsenal.
    https://www.politico.eu/article/airbus-chair-rene-obermann-calls-european-tactical-nukes-counter-russia/

    Singapore’s world-first sustainable flights tax will see some Australians pay more to travel
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-19/singapore-sustainable-aviation-fuel-levy-costs-explained/106018080

    ‘Cut admissions in 2026’: The new rules shaking up university entry.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/cut-admissions-in-2026-the-new-rules-shaking-up-university-entry-20251117-p5ng1p.html

    ‘People are getting sick’: Urgent push to test for forever chemicals in food.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/people-are-getting-sick-urgent-push-to-test-for-forever-chemicals-in-food-20251119-p5ngqr.html

  26. C@tmomma @ #25 Thursday, November 20th, 2025 – 8:16 am

    Coalition and Labor negotiate nature laws as Greens warn compromise would show it was ‘written for big business’. Murray Watt says other parties must decide ‘whether they want to see us do a deal with the other side of politics’.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/19/coalition-and-labor-negotiate-nature-laws-as-greens-warn-compromise-would-show-it-was-written-for-big-business

    Shorter Murray Watt: “Look what you made me do!” 🙁

  28. The Greens need to get that the Australian voting public isn’t expecting more purity from Labor, but instead more reasonableness from the Greens.

  29. There’s a new billboard up in LA that has pictures of Trump, Bondi and Johnson with the tag line:

    GOP = Guardians of the Paedophiles

    Oof!

  31. GA

    “Turkey will host the Cop31 climate conference after the Australian government dropped its push to hold the event in Adelaide at the last moment despite having launched a more than three-year campaign.

    Independent sources confirmed to the Guardian that the fortnight-long event would be held in Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya in November 2026, with the details of a deal being thrashed out between the countries’ climate ministers, Chris Bowen and Murat Kurum, at the Cop30 conference in Brazil this week.

    Sources said Australia had proposed an arrangement under which it would take on the Cop presidency and lead the negotiations in return for backing down on the hosting venue.”

  34. New metro tunnel in Melbourne will be opening on the 30th November.

    One whole year ahead of schedule.

    I can see why the liberals changed leaders again. Lol

  36. Cat

    Thanks for the excellent roundup. On the story about Belgium reluctance to hand over frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, this needs to be called out for what it is – profiting from the war.

    Belgium based Euroclear bank has been holding €170 billion for over three years. They haven’t even given the interest to Ukraine. They say they have used the interest to fund loans to Ukraine. But those must be repayed. Nice deal for Euroclear.

    “Belgium’s caution on frozen Russian assets betrays Ukraine
    Belgium’s refusal to seize Russia’s frozen billions to help Ukraine is framed as prudence. In reality, it shields profit over principle — and risks turning Europe’s financial heart into a refuge for aggression.”
    https://voxeurop.eu/en/belgiums-caution-frozen-russian-assets-ukraine/

  37. Apparently the pre-emptive agreement to pass the Epstein bill unanimously in the Senate has seriously upset Speaker Mike Johnson.

    He had expected it to languish in the upper house for some time, being pulled apart, debated and watered down. And then it would have to survive a second House vote for ratification. All kinds of possibilities for mischief there!

    Johnson has already blamed “the Democrats”, specifically Chuck Schumer for … what? … somehow sneaking it past an innocent GOP Leader Thune? This is despite the fact that even in his own area of supposedly iron control, the HoR, he saw all-but-one of his own side vote for the bill in the same unamended form as did the Senate. They blame anyone but themselves for their misfortunes.

    Yesterday someone (Nath) chipped me for seeing GOP conspiracies everywhere: in their both refusing for months to debate the bill, and then overnight agreeing to rush it through, virtually unanimously. In answer to this, I think Speaker Johnson’s agitated, even panicked actions and language overnight have reconfirmed that where he and Donald Trump are involved, just about everything is a conspiracy. Nothing is straight or honest. What is black today is white tomorrow. And black again the day after that. No amount of logical analysis is safe from them. It will always be the other side’s fault, and they have always been perfectly consistent in their positions. It’s our fault (and the Democrats’) if we can’t see that.

  38. GA

    “Many locked into poverty amid lack of suitable jobs, report finds

    A lack of suitable jobs and a trend towards insecure work is locking hundreds of thousands of people in poverty, according to a new report that finds there are 39 Jobseekers for every entry-level position in Australia.

    Anglicare’s annual Jobs Snapshot found that of those, 25 have barriers to work. This is the highest ratio ever recorded by the Snapshot.

    Entry-level jobs now make up just 11% of all vacancies. This is their lowest share in a decade.

    Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers:

    “All of this shows that people are being failed by a system that treats unemployment as a personal fault instead of a policy failure.

    Taxpayers are spending billions of dollars on private employment providers whose business model depends on compliance and punishment. They profit whether or not people find work. Meanwhile, people are stuck in endless appointments and meaningless activities – all while competing for jobs that simply aren’t there.

    It’s time to end this failed experiment. The for-profit model has been running for over twenty years, and long-term unemployment has only grown.”
    ——————————

    Full report- Jobs Availability Snapshot 2025
    https://www.anglicare.asn.au/publications/jobs-availability-snapshot-2025/

  39. BB

    Stupidly I have very closely followed US politics from the moment the orange twerp became the candidate the first time around.

    These people are beyond evil.

    The corruption is not even being disguised anymore.

    What has surprised me the most, is how easily people have been brainwashed not to believe their own eyes and ears.

    It really is quite astounding.

  40. I have to read twice before I understood what temporary prosecutor Halligan did

    The Comey Grand Jury Never Voted On His Indictment

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/11/19/2354604/-The-Comey-Grand-Jury-Never-Voted-On-His-Indictment?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

    When she presented 3 count indictment to Grand jury, they issued no billing to first count.
    After removing the first count Halligan never submitted the 2 count indictment to the grand jury and hence they did not vote on it.

    Either it is a deliberate action by Halligan, or she doesn’t know the procedure or she is just incompetent.

  45. Soc,
    I think the deal with Belgium is that they see Ukraine as a supplicant wanting to get into the EU so they are holding them to a virtual ransom by withholding those frozen Russian assets and will only release them, not because Ukraine could really do a lot with them (and wouldn’t most of it come back to the EU for military purchases anyway?) but because they want to keep in Russia’s good books if Russia comes out of the freezer. I think it’s just so horribly cynical and will only change if global pressure to release the funds to Ukraine, occurs.

    The other thing I found interesting about the Ukraine-Russia war commentary, is that it’s been described as ‘a war of attrition’. Back to fighting like it is World War 1 all over again. But this time with drones and missiles.

  48. Victoriasays:
    Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 8:57 am
    New metro tunnel in Melbourne will be opening on the 30th November.

    One whole year ahead of schedule.

    I can see why the liberals changed leaders again. Lol
    _____________________________
    12 months before the 2014 election Daniel Andrews put out his signature policy: To remove 50 level crossings by 2022 and raised that target to 75 by 2025. We are now at about 90 out of 110 proposed removals completed. They promised and delivered the Metro Tunnel, the Westgate Tunnel and will deliver the North-East Link.
    At every point the ALP has told us what they are going to do and then done what they said they would do.
    The first speech of Jess Wilson was the same old nebulous song that the liberals always sing just with a younger face singing the tune. Could they ever actually try to give us a reason to vote for them? I am expecting the words “East-West Link” to pop out at some point…

  50. Maybe Fatima Payman should have respected Labor solidarity. It’s not rocket science. Just a core belief of Labor. And not tried to start her own political party. Oh well, too bad, so sad.

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