Day to Day Politics: More bad news for Turnbull
Tuesday 26 September 2017
1 Monday’s Newspoll brings more bad news for Turnbull and the Government. The poll has Labor’s two-party lead widening to 54-46. And Malcolm Turnbull’s preferred prime minister lead is also narrowing.
William Bowe of The Poll Bludger says that the first Newspoll in three weeks is 54-46, compared with 53-47 last time. On the primary vote, the Coalition is down a point to 36%, Labor is steady on 38%, the Greens are steady on 9% and One Nation is steady on 8%. The trend away from the Government is continuing.
If these numbers were to hold up then the Coalition is in for a a thumping when the next election comes around. With some huge decisions to be made prior to Christmas it’s difficult to see them improving their public image.
An observation
“Of all the things that have caused the disintegration in the public’s trust in the body politic. it is the lack of truth that defines it.”
2 As for the four separate enquiries focusing on the stealing of water from the Murray River system for the purpose of irrigation, I am apt to wonder just what people get away with in politics. None of the enquiries to my knowledge have terms of reference that includes Barnaby Joyce’s conduct. Remember how he shouted with beery disposition how the National Party had stolen millions of litres? Does it mean that as the minister he will get away with it?
Mike Seccombe is a piece for The Saturday Paper had this to say:
“But the big story here was not the alleged actions of the big irrigators – even if, as claimed, they involved the illegal pumping of a billion or more litres of water from the Murray–Darling system. It is the appearance of political and bureaucratic partisanship.”
3 I’m not going into a full throttle attack on Tony Abbott here except to point out another lie. When he was given a paper tissue headset he very neatly turned it around to say that all the fisticuffs were being delivered by the Yes campaigners he told yet another lie, and he knows it. He never sticks to the point of any debate, preferring to muddy the waters from the fringes. Marriage has always evolved within the society in which it exists, and Australia’s is a society with a long tradition of enlarging the rights of its people.
The man who headbutted former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Astro Labe, has declared it had “nothing to do” with same-sex marriage but was about his lifelong ambition to headbutt “a fascist”.
An observation
“The danger in looking back to often is that we lose the will to go forward”
4 I think very soon the Senate will be free of one of its standout nut cases: Malcolm Roberts. ‘What’ will he be replaced with? Well, another nut case will replace him. They have a long list from which to choose.
5 I have considered sending President Trump a copy of the renowned Dale Carnegie book ‘How to win friends and Influence people,’ however, it’s written in English so he wouldn’t understand it. As an American journalist by the name of Sheila Norten said:
“We should demand a president who understands and even means the words he or she speaks. It’s called integrity. And that, even more than intelligence, is what is lacking in this president”
Trump – among other things – must be the most abusive President ever. As a result of his insults more than 100 NFL players across the country on Sunday knelt during the national anthem or remained sitting in their locker rooms in protest. Most teams in the early afternoon games locked arms in solidarity, with at least three team owners joining their players.
After his diabolical speech to the UN the world had better get used to his reckless behaviour. He engaged in bellicosity and he blames others for his own ineptitude. He is mentally retarded, and we had better get used to it.
An observation
“Current world events only confirm my belief that history is just a commentary on the incompetence of men.”
6 One of my Facebook friends, Nathan Willis said this:
“Marriage equality will be law. The question is only, when. I genuinely struggle as I try to reconcile the history of Christian engagement in politics and the current conduct of many mainstream Christian leaders. Setting aside the yes/no campaigns for a moment. We must surely realise that the Church has repeatedly misused proof texts to support many issues which we now would not entertain: diminished role of women, slavery, diet controls, Nazi ideology, the list goes on… I know that, like me, church leaders have studied our history and know it. Therefore I am genuinely perplexed by those who refuse to learn from it. We need to lead our Christian communities towards embracing all in our community. Of course, there are some wonderful Christian leaders who do just that but we must accept that the Australian Christian Lobby wouldn’t exist if we did the right thing. Reflect my friends. We need to be on the right side of history. Jesus should be our focus, not religious power and control. Get outraged and politically engaged on the issues which do concern him. Read Matthew 5 again.”
An observation
“If you read the Bible searching for an understanding of life. And you read it with a logical reasoning and an exploratory mind you can only conclude that it was written by people seeking understanding, but constrained by the knowledge of the time.”
7 I think I will let the Cory Bernardi’s attacks on the ‘wear a dress’ fundraiser go through to the keeper. I won’t even enquire as to whether the keeper was wearing both a box and a dress. I will just thank Cory for pushing up the donations from a hopeful $900 to over $400,000. Well done!
8 “Ben Chifley was a plain-speaker – so let me put it bluntly: give me a union leader over an investment banker any day.”
Tanya Plibersek was delivering the “Light on the Hill” address, held in memory of former Labor prime minister Ben Chifley.
My thought for the day
“Our lives should be subject to constant reflection, otherwise the way forward is locked into the constraints of today’s thoughts.”
26 comments
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Jagger -
helvityni -
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metadatalata -
wam -
helvityni -
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Harquebus -
Henry Rodrigues -
Freetasman -
helvityni -
Terry2 -
Ill fares the land -
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jimhaz -
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Peter F -
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Kronomex
Return to home page“Incompetence is highly regarded in governmental circles” William Wallace.(1270-1305). Nothing much changes John.
“Of all the things that have caused the disintegration in the public’s trust in the body politic. it is the lack of truth that defines it.”
Only too true, sadly…
Mal looks glummer by the day; he is not used to losing, and certainly not to some zinger Bill…
I just checked the Guardian, Queensland Labor seems worried about Pauline’s rise over there…
I never believed the possibility of Pauline in the first place, now there she is for the second time…
Queensland is another country. It must be something to do with the heat. Just look at the politicians we have elected over the years. Be very careful, with global warming, you, too might end up with the same result.
I live in Queensland.
If you think like an LNP politician, the next logical step will be to provoke a war with North Korea or at the very least back that idiot Trump into running missions for a new “coalition of the US war corporations”. The LNP seem convinced that scaring Australians is the only way to improve their polling.
Very dangerous time to have a bunch of out-of-touch lying and thieving criminals in power in Australia and the USA.
What an hopeful thought:
“the Coalition is in for a a thumping when the next election comes around. With some huge decisions to be made prior to Christmas it’s difficult to see them improving their public image.”
Are you taking into account that polls are a snap shot and include the people whose intelligence you often bemoan, even deride?
Are you taking into account the jobs and growth figures(golden run of job growth continues ABS) that are yet to be sloganised for inclusion as a factor in voter’s ‘calculations’?
Are you confident that labor has the image to withstand the slogans?
Sounds like the complacency as shown by the crows for next sat. But, unlike bill, they have the runs on the board.
Thanks for my morning giggle, Lord. As usual your thought is thought provoking especially for those who consider thinking of tomorrow’s thoughts today with or without yesterday’s thoughts.
Sadly thoughts are rarely included in voting that is reserved for beliefs, adverts and slogans.
7 priests/bishops/mullahs/monks/mrs brown/nrl/afl/ and the man in the picture on top of bernie’s stairs wear ‘dresses’?
ps The bishop on the abc, just now, was honest enough to admit the point of marriage is the special love which is sex which is between a man and a woman. A truth rarely admitted, except by homophobes.
pps
The earliest written mention of animal homosexuality appears to date back to 2,300 years ago, when Aristotle (384–322 BC) described copulation between pigeons, partridges and quails of the same sex
Peter F, I live in Southern Highlands, and sometimes summer goes by un-noticed…
Then again this September the temperature rose to record high + 30C, also last summer’s heat forced us to have air-conditioning installed, just for cooling, heating was already sorted.
Global warming is creeping into my little Paradise. 🙂
Hevityni,
Yes One Naton preferences could very well put the LNP into Government after the next Qld election and compulsory preferential voting will make that more likely. And Labor support for Adani is going to damage its chances in the South East. As a Queenslander I struggle with where to put my vote and how to preference the candidates.The prospect of a cohort of PoorLeans nut cases holding a balance of power makes immigrating to Antarctica look like a real option (or what’s Finland like?).
Donald Trump was mentioned and I thought that some might be interested in this.
“Yeroen became famous (among Homo sapiens) when the Dutch primatologist Frans de Waal showcased his leadership style in a classic 1982 book, Chimpanzee Politics. In their Machiavellian machinations and power games, De Waal argued, chimps turn out to be a lot like human beings.
The curious case of Donald Trump, however, now shows that human beings turn out to be a lot like chimps.”
“For human beings today, dominance and prestige compete with each other as the two primal expressions of leadership.”
“For Trump, however, it is dominance all the way through.”
“Almost 40 years ago, in an interview with People magazine, Trump said: “Man is the most vicious of all animals, and life is a series of battles ending in victory or defeat.””
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/its-alpha-male-thing-what-dominant-chimpanzees-and-donald-trump-have-common
The Coalition’s goin’ down. That’s a no brainer.
Thanks John Lord, for the very precise and insightful summation of the events of the past week and other outstanding issues. This government and its practitioners, are the very worst that the Australia has ever had. Apart from being pretty much useless and incompetent, they compound the distress and anxiety of the people, with their selfish criminal behaviour, because their voters let them get away with it. Hopefully the next election will sort out them out.
The Essential Report also put the Labor 52-48 so looks like that the numbers are reliable.
The interesting figure is that 20% of the people are going through financial pressure and 43% cannot afford any extras above the household expenses.
Just wonder if the pain in the back pocket will wake up those that voted for the coalition because are the best to manage the economy.
Another point is that the small business still pushing for no increase in wages and cut overtime penalties. It appears to me that they do not realise that they are limiting the purchasing power of their own customers.
Frank Smith, when I lived in Finland, Summers were proper Summers, and Winters were cool, I mean cold; this did not prevent us as kids spending plenty of time in the snow, and we even got our noses peeling and our backs burnt in Summer, no UV protection in those days. And of course we had four seasons a,real Spring time and a colourful Autumn.
Otherwise it’s a very progressive little country, but no doubt they might welcome a tiny bit of Global Warming… 🙂
Pauline Hanson is busy pushing her brand of politics in Queensland at the moment, in anticipation of a state election probably early next year.
Oddly, her big pitch is (as always) immigration . Something that is one hundred percent the domain of the federal government overseen by the egregious Peter Dutton.
Do people understand this ?
In modern life as in politics, actions are no longer judged not by they are intrinsically “right” or “wrong” – perhaps that has long been true, but it is, I think, more true than ever.
Our selfish world-views and the diminution of our moral code has led us, more than ever before, to act solely according to whether our actions will have consequences.
People who speed, tailgate and run red lights on our roads tend to repeat those behaviours because they generally don’t suffer any consequence. Of course, there is the rogue factor – many now buy cars that transfer the risks of error to the drivers of small cars and take up that reduction in risk with more aggressive behaviours (a small guy with a “gun” can generally scare off a tough guy), but it tends to be human nature. It’s no less acceptable for that reason, but in a way, you can see the source of this kind of ignorance of the laws of the land. All that said, the law is a set of rules that apply to some and not others. Those who are ensconced in the “system, know that there are ways of ensuring that the laws don’t apply to them.
Politics and it’s bastard child, the public service, have devoted centuries to developing mechanisms that enable consequences to be avoided and responsibility averted. So it is with Joyce and the other public servants who deliberately allowed water to be stolen. Joyce once seemed to be a sensible straight-talker, but he has transformed himself into an obfuscating buffoon and the system will ensure he suffers no punishment for his ringing endorsement of water theft and deliberate breaking of the law.
helvityni, I can vouch for that. Winters in Finland are cold.
It was a real novelty for us to see people ice-skating in the middle of a city (Helsinki).
Freetasman, every single day turdbull govt attacks the opposition for not having an energy target, or policy that is even half decent.
Frank Smith, if you think labor will struggle for supporting Adani, Do you really think they won’t do the same to the nats.
If Queenslanders think Hanson is a great alternative, they are dumber than I thought, or they have very short memories, the party is being run by a Man that brought down a federal speaker of the house, on trumped up Sexuall charges only to have it thrown out in court, makes millions from his own printing buisness, that has exclusive rights too supply one nation candidates with election material, at and they get disendorsed, if any candidate disagrees with him or Hanson.
Hanson spent time in jail for fraud, first time round and it’s happening again, with the party being investigated.
Candidates have to pay out of their own pockets to run for the party, if they fail they lose the lot, if they succeed, they get a small% back.
This despite the million Hanson got from the AEC for the last Federal election, they got more for the senators led by the party leader chosen by Hanson during the last WA state election, after doing a deal with Barnett, despite saying she wouldn’t.
4 of her candidates quit or were told by Ashby they were no longer needed because they disagreed with that, but we’re still left with a couple of thousand or more worth of Ashbys campaign material and a bill to pay for it.
One Nation has proved time and time again, they are liberal stooges, showing their disdain for ordinary working Australians, pensioners, anyone on welfare, or the young looking for a job, by agreeing with the coalition on almost every pierce of legislation.
If Queenslanders are stupid enough to vote for this corrupt party, they deserve all they get.
@ Ill fares the land
[Politics and it’s bastard child, the public service, have devoted centuries to developing mechanisms that enable consequences to be avoided and responsibility averted. So it is with Joyce and the other public servants who deliberately allowed water to be stolen]
Get stuffed. Too broad a brush in including the public service in this manner. As ministers control departments, 99% of Public servants have no say in such matters, particularly now with the advent of executive contracts (the other 1%). We could of course leave – but what then – it is not as if private business is not a lot worse.
Helvityni,
Finand sounds better than Queensland under a Hanson dictated balance of power LNP government and undoubtedly better than the Antarctica alternative. Ummhh, must make sure my passport is in order.
A massave scare campaign,another ‘Tampa’
Helvityni – be careful that all this heat doesn’t’ affect your little grey cells.- you might be forced to travel north.
Qld always votes for the crooks ,Pauline Hanson is no different, just look at The latest senator.Roberts,
Useless voters in QLD . Grow a spine.
The LNP has raised my repulsion and disgust (feel free to add more words) levels to new highs for crowing about this –
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/turnbull-government-claws-back-4-billion-from-budget-deficit-20170926-gyott8.html
“”When you look back over the past 12 months we had 250,000 jobs created,” said Mr Morrison.” Oh, Scumbaggiam Morriscummus, how many of the 250,000 jobs did your gummint personally create and are they all permanent jobs? Somehow I don’t think we’ll get a reply.
Twelve months, if they last that long, from now and the bar for any help for the poor and disaffected will be buried a couple of metres underground. And still they want to give their donors, corporate masters, and mates the rest of the tax cuts? Darn, I keep forgetting that it will create new opportunities and tens of thousands of new jobs and wealth for all…no, wait scratch that last bit…for all the little people.
Kronomex,
Remind us again how the ABS classifies “unemployment”?
The massive scare campaign has started, its the Australian Energy Market Commission’s report of the dire straights of the energy electricity supplies along the East coast.
All down to Labor, and especially SA and Victoria ALP governments – You watch, the issue will get bigger (sorry already did) and bigger untill January then the LNP will bring it to a crescendo fix the issue (because there is no real issue) but that they fixed it in spite of Labor!
S G B
It’s the old Howard trick, SGB: create an imaginary problem and reassure the public that he – and only he – can fix it.
Yes Michael, I met a few of those clever sods who creat a problem that they want to fix, usually in overtime.
S G B
Gosh, what a non-surprise from the bald coconut –
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/only-malcolm-roberts-scott-ludlam-ineligible-george-brandis-argues-in-high-court-20170926-gypan6.html
The LNP is, to put it mildly, absolutely terrified at the thought of Barmybee getting the boot. So George is really reaching with the “If they didn’t know they were dual citizens then they should not be removed.” ploy. Desperate, desperate…