Unconnected electoral developments of the last fortnight or so:
• Paul Starick of The Advertiser reports the top end of Labor’s South Australian Senate ticket has been confirmed, with Penny Wong and Don Farrell unopposed for first and second position respectively. Starick notes that Farrell will be 80 by the end of a prospective six-year term beginning from mid-2028.
• Sarah Elks of The Australian reports a challenge to Liberal MP Angie Bell’s preselection in the Gold Coast seat of Moncrieff has fallen through, prospective nominee Trent Belling telling the Liberal National Party’s federal division council he had “taken the advice of many” in deciding to withdraw. Belling is a disability housing developer and the party’s metropolitan vice-president.
• DemosAU this week published a Tasmanian state poll showing that recorded little change on its last result in June/July, with the Liberals steady on 28%, Labor up one to 22%, One Nation steady on 21% and the Greens up one to 15%. Jeremy Rockliff was rated positively by 35% (steady), neutrally by 30% (up three) and negatively by 35% (down three), while Labor’s Josh Willie was respectively at 21% (down two), 50% (up two) and 29% (steady). Rockliff led over Willie on preferred premier was 42-34, compared with 41-32 last time. The poll was conducted September 1 to 20 from a sample of 1097.
• The Northern Territory’s Mulka by-election of September 12, arising from the retirement of independent member Yingiya Mark Guyula, ended with Labor’s Yiwarr McGrath polling 1960 votes to independent Andrew Blamey’s 574. This is Labor’s second by-election gain from the cross-bench since the August 2024 election, which reduced Labor to four seats, the first being when the Darwin seat of Nightcliff was won from the Greens in March. The governing Country Liberal Party continues to hold 17 seats, with Labor on six and two independents.
Shellbellsays:
Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 8:35 pm
Organisers asked speakers to submit old photos
https://www.cpac.network/cpac-2026-speakers
__________________________________
Albo impersonator?
https://www.cpac.network/web/image/9925-55cd04cc/Speaker%20Tiles%202026%20%281%29.webp
Nath:
They get that guy to pose for the selfies so the PM doesn’t have to smell Trump’s dirty diapers.
Halloween was definitely a thing when I was growing up in the late 70s and 80s, although not on the scale it is now.
As for Thanksgiving, my view has long been that if we are going to tolerate the American import of Black Friday, I want the Thursday feasting part of the deal as well.
Ven, HBG and Mavis – cheers, I thought last week was nerve shredding!
OC – Crossland was sent off, and neither he nor any other Knight argued that toss. Nor do I. But steady on – it was reckless, not malicious, and nobody on either side was after blood over it.
What we did for the rest of the match with 12 was awe inspiring in my book. After that effort, I’m not writing us off against anyone.
Then I would appreciate Newcastle victory even more. 🙂
And if Penrith can’t win without Cleary, then they have huge problem.
Look what happened to Newcastle after Andrew Johns retired at a relatively young age. They did not reach GF for more than 20 years
Cleary’s career could well be over due to a malicious act by a toothless nobody from Edgeworth. If it is, I hope civil action is taken.
A majority of Queensland voters would prefer One Nation leader Pauline Hanson as prime minister over Anthony Albanese and her party holds a commanding 36 per cent primary vote in the Sunshine State, as voters in NSW and Western Australia also abandon Labor and the Coalition in droves.
An exclusive Newspoll quarterly analysis prepared for The Australian by Pyxis Polling & Insights reveals that One Nation has overtaken Labor and the Coalition on the primary vote in NSW and Queensland and is only a point behind the ALP in WA and South Australia.
Comparing aggregate results for Newspolls conducted between July and September with the same three-month period last year following the May 2025 election, core support for One Nation has surged by 26 per cent in Senator Hanson’s home state of Queensland (currently 36 per cent), 21 per cent in NSW (31 per cent), 20 per cent in South Australia (31 per cent) and 18 per cent in Western Australia (29 per cent) and Victoria (25 per cent).
The quarterly analysis of Newspoll surveys, conducted between July 13 and September 18 with 4967 voters, shows Labor’s primary vote in Queensland plunged from 30 per cent in the April-June period to 25 per cent in polls conducted over the past three months.
Boasting a net approval rating of plus-14 in her home state, Senator Hanson now leads Mr Albanese as preferred prime minister in Queensland by a margin of 52 per cent to 48 per cent.
While the Coalition has borne the brunt of One Nation’s unprecedented rise, support for Anthony Albanese and Labor has collapsed at a rapid rate after Islamic State-inspired terrorists murdered and injured Jewish-Australians and bystanders at Bondi Beach on December 14 last year.
Mr Albanese’s net approval rating has plunged at an alarming rate when Newspolls conducted over July and September are compared with the same period last year.
The Labor leader’s net approval rating in Queensland over the past three months averaged minus-38, which was down by 29 points compared with Newspolls published between July and September last year.
Mr Albanese’s net approval rating is down by 21 points across the country, as Australians struggle with sticky inflation, high interest rates and cost-of-living pressures.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/one-nation-supports-rockets-in-queensland-nsw-and-wa-with-hanson-top-pm-choice-up-north/news-story/076a02f293b8834f3dc00dfa73b637b6
Wallabies lead the Springboks 42-17 at 67 minutes. Big upset on the cards?
Amuses me how politicians talk like gangsters behind the scenes. Butter wouldn’t melt in their mouth when a tv camera is around:
When Anthony Albanese lost his first run for the Labor leadership in 2013, he blamed nine defectors from his own Left faction who had voted for the Right’s candidate, Bill Shorten.
“They’ve all been executed, except one,” a Labor source close to Albanese tells The Saturday Paper, referring to Lisa Chesters, who holds the regional Victorian seat of Bendigo on a margin of 2.8 per cent.
“And she’s being kept there as a warning to others, like a head on a spike.”
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2026/09/26/inside-albaneses-factional-dominance-theyve-all-been-executed-except-one
BB@821pm
It is true that women in Iran can get away without wearing a hijab, sometimes, at the discretion of the local law enforcement.
But, it is not a right and, it was only in 2022 that Masha Amini was beaten to death for wearing a hijab with a bit of hair showing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahsa_Amini_protests
I loathe Trump, and believe his attacks on Iran are war crimes.
But saying he should leave Iran alone because it is society where women can go about freely without a hijab really misrepresents current Iranian realities.
A US jury ruled that Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab owes San Diego-based Taction more than $5.7 billion for using its patented technology to power the haptic feedback in iPhones and Apple Watches. Apple said it would appeal the country’s largest such verdict to date.
The jury said on Friday that Apple’s Taptic Engine, which creates tapping vibrations, infringed two Taction patents
“Apple’s Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction’s technology, which Taction’s own testing of Apple’s products confirmed during trial,” Apple said in response
“Apple does not use Taction’s technology, and we will appeal,” it added in a statement
“We’re happy the jury found for Taction and vindicated its patent rights,” said Taction attorney Lance Yang.
Taction, which uses its technology in headphones and gaming headsets, filed the lawsuit in 2021
Apple denied the allegations and said the patents were invalid
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revived the case last year after a San Diego federal judge ruled in 2023 that Apple did not infringe the patents
Wallabies d Saffies 42-38
Taoiseach Martin weighs into Northern Ireland affairs:
Parades Commission decision “wrong and incomprehensible”
https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0927/1593090-crowds-gather-garvaghy-road/
I think Doug Cameron’s problem is that the current Labor government’s primary focus is undoing the catastrophic legacy of the previous Labor government, especially PM Gillard. Whether it be the Gillard Gov’s dithering on defence procurement, a climate policy that accelerated de-industrialisation and offshoring of emissions, or the disastrous NDIS, there is so little to note of Cameron’s time in politics that he is mostly known for his accent.
Kirsdarke: in Quebec, that would be a PQ government one way or another if those seat numbers happen, although with five parties above 10% and FPTP, who knows.
It’s more complicated because there isn’t just a left/right axis, there’s also a separatist/federalist one. PQ and the Liberals are both centre-left but differ on the second; similar with CAQ and the Conservatives on the right. QS are further left (like the Greens here), and also on the separatist (or sovereigntist – apparently they’re different things) side of things.
On those numbers a PQ/QS partnership could work as well. It’d be less incoherent than just about any other pair of those five parties. Then again if they’re polling down in the low teens, QS are in the same position as the Greens here – on the cusp of winning a bunch of seats, but could also lose them all.
They just have to get some kind of proportional representation going there. If PQ lead the next government they’d surely do it, after being almost wiped out and watching a party with 40% primary vote get a huge majority. Good old self interest.
@Bird of Paradox
Interesting, thanks for that.
@ Bird of paradox, there are two PQ being one provincial (Parti Québécois) and the other Federal ( Bloc Québécois) where they are often associated with each other but technically different parties. The Federal one is more progressive and pragmatic (except for being anti-Muslim) but the Provincial one used to be similar to the Federal One but it has shifted to become more like a Right-wing Cooker Party (albeit retaining left-wing economics a bit like Pauline Hanson taking over the Labor Party) when Paul St-Pierre Plamondon took over the leadership.
Via GhostWhoVotes on Twitter:
#Newspoll SA Federal Primary Votes: ALP 32 (0) ON 31 (-1) GRN 14 (0) L/NP 13 (-3) Others 10 (+4) #auspol
https://x.com/GhostWhoVotes/status/2104182183997088211
Yes, that is the Libs coming fourth behind the Greens. Ouch.
What a time to be alive.
The Libs had a much better result in other states, successfully not coming fourth. They even scored over 20% in WA and Vic. Crushing it!
Oh, and 36% for One Nation in Qld – the whole state, not just the redneck parts. Assuming the part of Brisbane that votes for future prime minister Max Chandler-Mather is less than that, they’re doing numbers in seats like Flynn and Wide Bay.
Just had a thought.
Last election there were a lot of voters not sure whether they would vote independent or vote labor. They mostly voted Labor but weren’t really picked up very much by the polls. Labor ended up doing better than the polls suggested.
Now, there’s a lot of people tossing up between voting LNP or one nation, which presumably aren’t being picked up very well by the polls because you can only pick one party in the polls.
Could be another reason why Labor will do worse than polling suggests, or at least the right-wing parties will do better.
New thread.
“ FUBAR says:
Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 5:09 pm
We used Au Pairs for 6 years.”
______
But of course you did.
Assume the tory power stance!
D&M I don’t know where you got your PhD, but I’m starting to think it was off the back of a Kellogs Cornflakes box, if this is your level of comprehension:
I never mentioned “leaving Iran alone”. I referred to Trump’s casual threats to “annihilate” the entire country, which is a lot different level of intervention to just “leaving them alone”, or not.
No country deserves to be annihilated, much less over their non-conformance to religious standards that you expect them to adopt. Islam has been the religion of Iran for 1,500 years or more. The Persian civilization goes back several thousand years further, back to when our own ancestors were still painting themselves blue. Let Iran decide what’s appropriate for Iran.
Yes, women have been persecuted there for not conforming to religious dictates, even unto death. Likewise, here, one woman a week is beaten, shot or burned to death for disobeying their husband or partner. Both situations are unacceptable. Let’s not single Iran out for annihilation, invasion or any other military prosecution over their failures before we sort out our own.
Trump doesn’t give a damn about women’s rights anywhere, whether that be Iran or America. He is not threatening to annihilate Iran because women there are oppressed. He is threatening to annihilate them simply because he can. He’s a psychopath, a serial killer, high on absolute power, enjoying the idea that if he wakes up in a bad mood he can go and kill someone to cheer himself up. Like all psychopaths, he started out small, sinking tinnies in the Caribbean, but his hunger for killing others – the ultimate power trip – needs more and more victims.
This isn’t the first time he’s mused about obliterating Iran, sending it – and it’s women and children that you seem so concerned about – “back into the Stone Age”. He did that first in a National address back in April. Now it’s resurfaced. Having exhausted the word “obliterate”, he’s turned to a new word: “annihilate”. You can tell he’s in love with the idea of annihilating an entire country. It’s clear he really wants to do it, but probably isn’t sure whether his generals and admirals would carry out the order. So he normalises the concept of pre-emptive annihilation in the meantime, inventing and reinventing a grievance, “nuclear weapons” (this time), to egg himself (and ultimately us) on, so as to keep the issue alive.
Trump doesn’t give a damn about your quaint notions of “womens’ rights” or “social justice” as regards Iran. You would be a fool for thinking that you can use him nevertheless to achieve the goals you deem desirable, like he’s some kind of useful idiot who can be steered in the right direction. Plenty of people before you have dealt with Trump on that basis before, to their regret and ruination.
He’s out to rule the world, not reform it. And if the world rejects him, the world can go to a hell of his making. Whatever you do, don’t look to Donald Trump for even collateral salvation. You’ll be bitterly disappointed if you do.
Is there a US election thread. Apologies I couldn’t find one so if there is a better spot I will place it there.
I subscribe to a substack (and youtune channel) of Dave Trotter (voting trends on YT) who has an interesting website I thought I’d share in relation to the US.
Edit I did check with Dave before posting the link.
It’s called his Nowcast and has a lot of data with relatively up to date votes and metrics. I would hope this would be an interesting tool for following the early votes and stuff.
https://votingtrend.com/?eevt_state=FL&eevt_election_id=2
Again apologies if there is a better site and I hope I am not breaking a convention by posting a site.