Three new polls of federal voting intention:
• The Australian reports the first Newspoll in four weeks has Labor down a point to 31%, the Coalition up one to 21%, One Nation down one to 26% and the Greens up one to 12%. Anthony Albanese is down one on approval to 39% and up two on disapproval to 57%, while Angus Taylor is down two to 35% and up one to 42%. Albanese’s lead as preferred prime minister shifts from 45-37 to 44-36. As with other recent Newspoll results showing One Nation leading the Coalition, no two-party preferred result is provided. The poll was conducted Monday to Thursday from a sample of 1232.
• The monthly RedBridge Group/Accent Research poll for the Financial Review sets new records for One Nation, up a point to 29%, and the Coalition, down two to 17%, with Labor steady on 32% and the Greens up one to 13%. Labor holds two-party leads over both One Nation and the Coalition of 53-47, respectively in from 54-46 and steady. Anthony Albanese’s favourable rating is down three to 29% and his unfavourable rating is up one to 46%; Angus Taylor is steady on 19% and up two to 22% (24% had not heard of him, only one point down on a month ago); and Pauline Hanson is up two to 38% and up three to 43%. A three-way preferred prime minister question has Albanese down a point to 33%, Taylor up four to 14% and Hanson steady on 23%. The poll finds 61% holding Donald Trump most responsible for rising petrol prices compared with 14% for Anthony Albanese and 16% for neither. It was conducted Monday to Friday from a sample of 1003.
• The monthly Fox & Hedgehog poll for the News Corp tabloids has Labor steady on 30%, the Coalition down one to 23%, One Nation down two to 23% and the Greens up one to 13%. The pollster’s three-party preferred measure has Labor up two to 46%, the Coalition steady on 27% and One Nation down two to 27%. Labor’s two-party lead over the Coalition is unchanged at 51-49, and its lead over One Nation is out from 53-47 to 56-44. Anthony Albanese is down two on approval to 30% and up two on disapproval to 49%, Angus Taylor is down two to 24% and up one to 24%, and Albanese’s lead as preferred prime minister shifts from 40-35 to 39-35. The government’s handling of the fuel crisis is rated good by 18% and poor by 57%, but 55% hold disruption from war in the Middle East as the factor most responsible compared with 24% for the federal government and 15% for stations and suppliers. The full release has regular personal ratings on a range of political figures other than the two leaders. The poll was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday from a sample of 1810.
The Australia Institute also has polls from three teal seats conducted as part of its campaign for a gas exports tax. When a forced-response follow-up for the initially undecided is included, the results are as follows:
• In Kooyong, independent Monique Ryan 29.7%, Liberals 34.8%; One Nation 13.4%; Labor 12.8% and Greens 5.7%. A respondent-allocated two-candidate preferred result has Ryan and the Liberals at 50-50. The poll was conducted March 17 and 18 from a sample of 1184.
• In Mackellar, independent Sophie Scamps 31.4%, Liberal 25.0%, One Nation 21.7%, Labor 14.7%, Greens 4.7%, with Scamps holding a 56.7-43.3 two-party lead over the Liberals. The poll was conducted March 17 to 19 from a sample of 1046.
• In Wentworth, independent Allegra Spender 30.6%, Liberal 25.7%, One Nation 16.3%, Labor 16.4%, Greens 7.9%, with Spender holding a 59.4-40.6 two-party lead over the Liberals. The poll was conducted March 17 to 19 from a sample of 1190.
It probably would have helped if the geniuses that designed our towns and cities back in the day didn’t make them all so goddamn spread out.
I don’t have any figures at hand, but I’d argue that for at least 60-70% of Australia’s population, a vehicle of some kind is a nessecity to maintain gainful employment and engage with society in general, and that percentage is certainly much higher outside of the cities.
Hell, even right in the cities, not having a car can be a nightmare. I’ve lost count of the amount of social occasions I had to bow out of in my twenties back before I had a car because there was no reliable public transport route and I couldn’t justify the cost of a taxi. (This being in those dark days pre-Uber when our only options for cabs was engaging in the Kafkaesque nightmare of trying to get a traditional taxi to come pick you up at some point before the heat death of the universe.)
There are certainly many parts of Australia – generally the more urbanised areas – where walking instead of driving / taking PT is a practical solution to getting where you want to go. More often than not, however, its probably more practical to attempt to grow wings.
Dr Fumbles, you would need to apply a factor for the proportion of electrical energy provided by renewables, rather than fossil fuel generators.
Alliance criticises reported government gambling reforms
https://www.agr.org.au/agr-media-releases/parents-shouldn%E2%80%99t-be-forced-to-%E2%80%98opt-out%E2%80%99-of-gambling-ads-to-protect-their-kids-
“This is not even tinkering around the edges.”
Fair enough if one is disappointed by the Government’s gambling reforms and wishes to criticise them. I don’t think they go far enough either.
But there is something uncomfortably ghoulish about the way Peta Murphy keeps being brought into this discussion, largely in a callous attempt to evoke an emotive response rather than any kind of regard for Murphy herself.
“I’m done on the topic”
Didn’t last long
@Griff, 10.07 pm.
Like Merv Hughes running in from Bay 13.
Or Dermie kicking 8 goals in a losing Granny.
Schlaf gut! Träum Süß.
Socrates says:
Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Subgeometer
I am happy to be corrected if wrong. However Australian oil consumption is just over one million barrels per day. Each barrel is 159 litres. So accepting only 70-75% of our oil use is in transport, that is over 100 million litres per day on transport. 2% of that must be in excess of one million litres.
That makes our fuel usage average 5 litres per adult per day.
___________________________________
That sounds pretty good, but how is ‘transport’ defined? If it included rail, trucks, buses an planes it is an over estimate. Need the figure cars/light trucks etc. Even so the 5 litres/day sounds good.
Should be a total ban on gambling advertising. It’s an addiction that destroys people.
Excellent:
a complete ban during live sport broadcasts between 6am and 830pm
Ban in sports venues and on players’ and officials’ uniforms.
Good:
Ban on online platforms, unless people logged in, over 18 and have the option to opt-out
Banning use of celebrities and sports players, along with odds-style ads targeting sports fans
OK but should go further:
Banon the radio during school drop off and pick up times (8am to 9am and 3pm to 4pm)
Lame:
Restricting broadcast television to no more than three ads each hour between 6am and 8.30pm
Ghost Of Whitlam:
Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 9:21 pm
Albanese said that only 85 ADF personnel and a RAAF plane would be sent to the Gulf.
The public has a right to know if he’s exceeded the stated number, whether they’re elite or otherwise. He doesn’t need to reveal what their mission is or where exactly they will be deployed.
In the Czech Republic, slot machines are totally banned.
In China, not only are slots but all gambling is banned except for Macau, with the exception of a few charity lotteries.
If only the Albanese Government had a spine. The worst of all worlds: like the CCP without balls.
Dr Fumbles
I don’t have recent figures but the last time I worked on it the split of fuel use by transport mode in Australia was roughly as follows:
Car 55%
Trucks 30%
Air 8%
Train 5% (passenger and freight combined)
Sea 2%
So maybe 3 litres per day of the 5L/day/adult is cars.
I think this is the bigger issue for Albo. Trust. 80 SAS might only be doing airfield security. But if they are there and Albo lied about it that will damage his credibility when he is trying to get the public to trust him to follow his lead on the fuel crisis.
For what its worth, I dont think poker machines (or other forms of gambling) should be banned outright, for much the same reason I’m against prohibition of the vast majority of vices. In a liberal* democracy, grown adults should be entitled to make whatever poor decisions they like as long as they arn’t hurting others.
I do, however, fully support enforcing betting limits and the complete banning of gambling advertising, as well as making it as easy as possible for problem gamblers to self-exclude. It would also be lovely to see pubs go back to just being pubs rather than glorified casinos.
* “Liberal” here meaning the more generic use of the word, not the Australian political party that has increasingly abandoned any association with that name.
Timmy:
It sure is interesting to see the extent to which the right both in this country and abroad increasingly lionise the sort of authoritarian communist regimes that they once regarded as the great evil.
Maybe the parents should do some parenting and educate their children about gambling, not leaving it up to Albo to do their job.
“Albanese said that only 85 ADF personnel and a RAAF plane would be sent to the Gulf.”
The SAS may well have been part of the Australian contingent in the gulf before this war broke out. 85 sounds about right to me to support the deployment of an E7 …which is what was announced to the UAE.
From three weeks ago
https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/transcripts/2026-03-17/television-interview-sky-news-first-edition
“MARLES: Yes, they are. And so our E-7 is operating now and has been doing a really good job, and there’s 85 personnel who go with it. They obviously don’t all fly, but they are there and supporting the aircraft, and it is making a difference in defence of the Gulf countries, and particularly the United Arab Emirates. And it’s in respect of that country’s request that we deploy this. I would say more broadly, we’ve got more than 200 personnel who are across the region in different roles, and we do have a latent presence in the Middle East. As you know, we’ve got an operational headquarters in the UAE at the Al Minhad Air Base. So, there are a number of Australian serving personnel who are in the region, and they are all accounted for and safe. They’re all doing a great job.”
“Maybe the parents should do some parenting and educate their children about gambling, not leaving it up to Albo to do their job.”
Why stop at gambling. Why not abandon all regulation and leave everything up to parents. Drugs, sex, porn. Free for all. Parents, you’re on your own. Fuck seatbelts. We could even stop regulating food and drink. Bring back moonshine and methanol. What’s a little ecoli between consenting children.
One of the biggest victims of gambling of course are children whose parents are addicted.
Late Riser at 1.55 pm and sprocket at 8.40 pm
LR: “Timing matters in politics as in everything else.” Sensible observation of the day, clearly.
If Trump had committed to ending his war, that petrol price graph would mean more.
The uncertainty is what will happen to fuel costs in a month or two with supply through the Straits of Hormuz still limited.
s: “Perhaps there is a quiet agreement to diplomatically tell Trump to piss off …”
Trump won’t listen. He started his war with Iran, for whatever reasons, disregarding all the previous scenario planning of what would happen and how Iran would respond.
It was obviously a historic blunder. Those who endorsed it quickly were misguided. Those who chose a clearer response, such as Sanchez of Spain, will be vindicated.
One of the most enduring lessons of strategy is that it’s easier to start a war than stop it.
It is wishful thinking to suppose that Trump will merely ape Littleproud and bugger off.
The Iranians will do partial, ad hoc deals for oil passage with states not allied to the US. They will not allow the Straits to open fully until Trump has definitely ended his war.
Trump promised more of the same, i.e. no major escalation and no withdrawal. He had said his war will be over in 2 to 3 weeks previously. His timetables are clearly vacuous.
It is in this context that Albo’s language, merely calling for “de-escalation” not for an immediate end to the war, which has been the call from Mr Guterres, the UN Secretary General for many weeks, matters. The lady journo in the yellow jacket at the NPC asked him if he meant “stop the war now”, and yet he refused to comment directly on that.
Literally “de-escalate” means to reduce the intensity of a conflict or war, not to stop it.
While the only way out of the war is negotiation, it won’t be easy for Iran to accept any deal with Trump, because of his past behaviour, and his lack of any credible diplomats.
It is ironic that, although much of the brutal Iranian leadership has been assassinated, the main obstacle to a negotiated end to Trump’s war is his refusal to tolerate a “draw”.
For the fact that the Iranian regime has been strengthened by Trump’s war, see this:
https://theconversation.com/trump-underestimated-irans-resilience-now-there-is-only-one-way-out-of-the-war-279667 (article by Amin Saikal, author of a book on the fall of the Shah, Princeton, 1980).
See also the Time article linked by him at the end:
https://time.com/article/2026/03/30/iran-war-strait-hormuz/ (‘Why Iran thinks it’s winning’, 31 Mar)
Including this:
‘“Rather than bringing down the regime, the campaign is, in several key respects, actually reinforcing it,” Danny Citrinowicz, a former Iran specialist for Israeli military intelligence, wrote in Israel Hayom on March 27. Two days earlier, the former head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6, Alex Younger, told the Economist: “The reality is that the U.S. underestimated the task, and I think as of about two weeks ago lost the initiative to Iran.”
More troubling to ordinary Iranians, {Saeid} Golkar* says, is that Trump is suing for peace with a regime more extreme and aggressive than at the beginning of the war.’
* an expert on the IRGC, the military core of the Iranian regime who are now stronger.
Well you can watch (and bet on) the races in Hong Kong, where they have 2 meetings a week
There are a number of Australians registered with the HKJC including trainers and jockeys
Gaining the privilege of invitation to train or ride in Hong Kong, one of the leading racing jurisdictions globally, is an achievement
David Hayes, back there for a second stint, trains the champion Kay Ying Rising
Hong Kong is under Chinese rule
In regards gambling, the industry provides the employment it does because people punt including by purchasing lottery tickets
So there is an economic equation
There are “problem gamblers” no doubt but I would put that they are in the minority (and an illness akin to drug taking)
So should the majority be penalised for the excesses of a few?
You could even put that owning Shares (including our superannuation fund managers) is punting – so Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss Statements and forward projections are analysed leading to investments and much the same as analysing the form guide
So how far do you go?
Noting it is a responsibility of government to invest in the ambiance of society, so the arts and sporting events and where in regard these sporting events there is wagering on the result
My view is, as with everything, it is down to education within the home and also in the education system
But I come from a school which decries the absence of financial management in the formal education agenda, so teaching values of not only a cohesive and functioning rules based society but also the value and purpose of money
This factors into a line I used once upon a time, that everyone is rich enough to do something, the secrets being to not over extend but also not to under achieve
So a very fine line
And punting comes into that – if you cannot afford to lose it you do not punt
Then you look at the (yet again) impact Trump has had on equity markets today
So losers abound (unless doing what the IPA Ms Wilson does and backing falling markets)
Complicated, hey?
Socrates:
Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 10:54 pm
Agree. In ’62, we sent around 30 ADF personnel to Vietnam, described as advisors. By ’65, we were sending diggers there (1RAR). By the time the war/conflict ended in ’75, 523 Aussies were killed & around 2,500 were injured. One of those mentally injured was a mate of mine from school. He topped himself 9 months after returning home. He returned from Vietnam on HMAS Sydney in ’71, in which I was serving on at the time. Albanese needs to be frank about any further involvement in Netanyahu’s and Trump’s war in the Gulf.
– The DC Brief
Trump needs to be scheduled & asap!
Difficult
Lol, reaching for a life preserver provided by the Delirium Tremens? Are you also a Gnats MP?
I have received some information from Graham Young of On Line Opinion about research about people’s opinions of the government during the COVID pandemic.
He found that a large part of the new One Nation constituency is made up of former Coalition voters who strongly disapproved of the federal government’s policies during COVID, who strongly think immigration is too high, and who disapprove of the anti-Semitism legislation.Lockdowns and mandates combined with heavy government spending alienated pro-individual pro-free enterprise Coalition voters. The refusal of their parties to move on immigration provided a current policy path away from the Coalition. The censorship in the anti-Semitism legislation persuaded them that the Coalition wasn’t listening and was in fact part of a two-party elite that had lost touch with average Australians.These are people who no longer recognise the Coalition as representing them, even though most of them still think of themselves as Liberal voters.
There was not the same triggering amongst Labor and Greens voters because of their different world views. It was interesting that Greens and Labor voters were actually more supportive of the federal government’s COVID policies than Coalition and former Coalition voters even though they were policies of a government they would not have voted for.
Further to my last, most recognise One Nation as nothing more than a grievance party, and that research suggests the rise in support for ON has its roots in government actions at the time of COVID.
I wonder when they will get over it?
Socrates
no worries. Not meant as a personal criticism, I really appreciate the expertise you bring to the site
Fed labor nutjobs and globalists still pile people into Australia creating a inflationary tradie shortage…
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/21k-tradie-shortage-threatens-to-drive-up-home-prices-rents-rates/
New thread.
pP that article says we need to bring in 21,000 trade workers pronto.
I thought you were anti-immigration.
Ukraine is gaining territory. This is a good description of what is going on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot_48WaZjpk