Essential Research: carbon, coal and coronavirus

A quick look at this week’s Essential Research report, and a deeper one at last week’s ANU survey on the impact of the bushfires.

The latest fortnightly poll from Essential Research finds 75% support for a net zero carbon pollution target by 2050, with only 25% opposed; 32% wishing to see coal-fired power plants phased out as soon as possible and another 47% wanting an end to subsidies and government support, compared with 21% wanting government support for both existing and new plants; and 80% support for the government preventing people entering the country from China due to coronavirus, with only 6% opposed. There are further questions and breakdowns in the report, but not a lot to get excited about on the whole – I can only beseech the pollster to bite the bullet and get back in the voting intention game.

To add more meat to this post, I will instead probe deeper into the report on the political impact of the bushfires published last week by the Australian National University’s Centre for Social Research and Methods. This was based on a regular panel survey conducted by the centre on a roughly quarterly basis, largely dealing with questions such as satisfaction with governments, public institutions and life in general. Since most of the respondents had also completed previous surveys, the report is able to explore changes in voting intention and attitudes over time. On this occasion, the survey was supplemented by questions on respondents’ exposure to the bushfires.

The study found a slump in electoral support for the Coalition, from 42.6% in the October survey to 37.2%, with Labor up from 33.7% to 35.8%, the Greens up from 14.4% to 14.7% (which is obviously too high at both ends) and others up from 9.3% to 11.2% (after excluding non-respondents, of which there were 5.1% in October and 6.6% in January). However, it did not find evidence that the fall in Coalition support was particularly pronounced among those who had been exposed to the bushfires.

Some of the factors that did associate with defection from the Coalition suggest an intensification of trends evident at the election, with university-educated voters more likely to have abandoned the Coalition and voters aged 75 and over less likely to have done so. However, the Coalition had a particular drop in support outside capital cities, though not in a way that suggested exposure to the fires was the reason. Out of the sample of 618 Coalition defectors, 43.9% supported Labor, 14.3% the Greens and 24.7% others, with the remainder uncommitted.

Consistent with the findings of the Ipsos Issues Monitor survey in January, the number of respondents rating environmental issues as the first or second most important facing the country rose from 41.5% in the October survey to 49.7%. For whatever reason, there was a significant effect here for indirect exposure to the bushfire (having friends or family whose properties were damaged or threatened, having travel plans affected, or exposure to smoke or anxiety), but not for direct exposure. However, as the report notes, what the survey registered as concern for environmental issues extended to blaming “the greenies” for the extent of the fires.

Support for new coal mines was down from 45.3% in the June survey to 37.0%, with the fall particularly pronounced among Coalition voters, down from 71.8% to 57.5%. However, those directly exposed to the bushfires who had expressed support for coal mines in June were relatively resistant to this trend.

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.

1,024 comments on “Essential Research: carbon, coal and coronavirus”

Comments Page 1 of 21
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  1. Tanya Plibersek
    @tanya_plibersek
    ·
    12m
    BREAKING: New data shows around 140,000 apprentices + trainees lost under the Libs. As a result, Australia now has shortages of bricklayers, plumbers, hairdressers, bakers, mechanics + other critical trades. Scott Morrison has created a tradie crisis.

  2. William
    IMO, the Drought needs to be treated as an important separate variable from the Fires when discussing environmental concerns, assuming respondents thought of the Drought as an environmental concern.
    The MSM largely forgot about the Drought during the fires.
    This may well have increased the resentment of those suffering from the Drought.
    My point is that the Drought is much more likely than the fires to have been an explanation for changes in Coalition voting patterns than the Coalition in areas west of the Divide.

  3. Sheep aren’t stupid. They were desperately searching for air. McCormack is an arrogant fool.

    Al Shuwaikh is the only double-tiered live export ship currently operating in Australia.

    It is owned by Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading, with Perth-based Rural Export and Trading WA (RETWA) as the Australian exporter.

    A report released by the agriculture department last year said some sheep on a 2018 voyage of Al Shuwaikh died due to smothering when crowding around air vents.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/25/michael-mccormack-grants-exemption-to-live-export-ship-that-fails-new-rules?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

  4. Morning Dawn Patrollers

    The Australian government has activated its emergency response plan to an impending coronavirus pandemic, foreshadowing fever clinics, fast-tracked vaccines and severe pressure on hospitals, blood banks, medical supplies and mortuaries. Pretty scary reading, this.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/virus-emergency-blueprint-australia-pulls-trigger-on-pandemic-plan-20200225-p54490.html
    As we confront the emerging threat of coronavirus, xenophobia towards sufferers and their ethnicity is becoming more evident writes Dr Justin Koonin. He says we must avoid the AIDS-type hysteria.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/epidemic-must-not-be-allowed-to-unleash-aids-style-hysteria-20200225-p5442l.html
    Shane Wright explains how Infrastructure Australia has urged federal and state governments to invest billions of dollars shoring up the country’s water supply, roads and telecommunications networks to protect them from national disasters and climate change. Another list for the Coalition to use for its own political advantage?
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/governments-urged-to-invest-in-roads-water-telecoms-to-protect-against-natural-disasters-20200225-p5445q.html
    Kate McClymont reports on more dirt revealed in the Eddie Obeid case.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/eddie-obeid-wanted-to-hide-the-ownership-of-family-farm-court-hears-20200225-p544ai.html
    The Canberra Times editorial examines ASIO’s change of heart on the neo-nazi threat.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6648760/right-wing-extremist-threat-is-not-new/?cs=14258
    Greg Brown reveals that Labor frontbencher Mark Dreyfus has used a meeting of Victorian Right MPs to take aim at Joel Fitzgibbon for freelancing on climate­ change policies, arguing it was doing damage to other right-wing members of the ALP.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/labors-joel-fitzgibbon-facing-climate-policy-payback/news-story/b2a28c6edcce148e81ed836a69ef45e4
    Gladys Berejiklian has ruled out privatising TAFE but foreshadowed the private sector playing a bigger role in delivering courses.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/business-fears-tafe-funding-to-be-slashed-in-face-of-skills-crisis-20200225-p5443n.html
    The great fiscal rhetoric softening has begun says Shane Wright.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-surplus-unwinding-begins-20200225-p5447m.html
    And Phil Coorey writes that the Morrison government is bracing for the economy to contract in the first three months of this year but has ruled out any fiscal stimulus, after revealing the impact of the coronavirus will outstrip that of the summer of bushfires.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/government-braces-for-negative-quarter-as-virus-bites-20200225-p5448a
    Associate Professor of Constitutional Law Luke Beck says of the religious discrimination bill that Porter must either fix it or ditch it.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/religious-discrimination-bill-porter-must-fix-it-or-ditch-it-20200225-p54461.html
    Meanwhile the Royal Women’s Hospital has joined with state health services in condemning the religious freedom bill, arguing it prioritises religious views over patient health.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/royal-women-s-hospital-joins-state-health-services-to-oppose-religious-freedom-bill-20200225-p5442j.html
    The unlawful killing and “cruel treatment” of multiple civilians and prisoners by Australian special forces in Afghanistan is being investigated by the military watchdog, which says it is not examining misconduct that occurred in the heat of battle. So much for the scorn heaped upon the “left wing Fairfax and ABC” over their reporting!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/more-than-50-incidents-investigated-as-part-of-war-crimes-inquiry-20200225-p54464.html
    The SMH editorial believes that by putting some of the above matters on the public record it has helped reassure ADF members they would get a fair hearing.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/report-on-afghanistan-war-crimes-needs-to-bring-closure-to-veterans-20200225-p544ak.html
    Dana McCauley writes that the peak bodies for aged care providers and older Australians have united to call for urgent action to address the overuse of psychotropic drugs, with residents’ families continuing to raise concerns about their loved ones three months after the royal commission’s interim report. (In many cases residents are now entering residential aged care already being prescribed benzos).
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/zonked-out-fears-over-too-many-prescription-drugs-in-aged-care-20200224-p543oo.html
    10000 scientists, professors and university employees have signed a petition asking the sector’s default superannuation fund Unisuper to divest from fossil fuel producers.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/10-000-academics-sign-unisuper-divestment-petition-20200225-p5448s.html
    The federal government is spending up to $2m buying water from Queensland agribusiness Eastern Australia Agriculture in a bid to keep an internationally significant wetlands from dying, despite paying $80m to the same company three years ago for water rights for the same purpose. Anne Davies writes that Angas Taylor’s name comes up again.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/26/government-to-spend-millions-buying-water-from-company-it-already-paid-80m
    Nina Hendy explores the rising cost of living over the last decade.
    https://www.smh.com.au/money/insurance/why-you-are-feeling-the-pinch-cost-of-living-soars-20200224-p543rf.html
    On the other side of the equation Ross Gittins looks at the benefits of 120 years of productivity improvement.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-magic-of-capitalism-you-re-working-less-time-to-buy-your-daily-bread-20200225-p5440y.html
    The jobs market is nowhere near as good as you’ve heard, and it’s changing us writes Michael Keating.
    https://theconversation.com/the-jobs-market-is-nowhere-near-as-good-as-youve-heard-and-its-changing-us-132249
    The government’s controversial cashless debit card scheme and other compulsory welfare income management programs are causing more harm than good, a new study has found. Luke Henriques-Gomes explains how those forced onto controversial income management have ‘overwhelming number’ of negative experiences
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/26/stigma-shame-and-frustration-cashless-welfare-card-found-to-do-more-harm-than-good
    The authors of such a study write that its finding is that compulsory income management is having a disabling, not an enabling, impact on many users’ lives and that as the policy has been extended, more and more Australians with no pre-existing problems have been caught up in its path.
    https://theconversation.com/i-dont-want-anybody-to-see-me-using-it-cashless-welfare-cards-do-more-harm-than-good-132341
    Caitlin Fitzsimons describes the opportunities for transition into retirement.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/the-workplace-right-older-workers-don-t-know-they-have-20200224-p543y6.html
    It’s not our small carbon contribution that matters, it’s the disproportionate damage Australia will suffer in a warmer world writes Adrian Blundell-Wignall.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/myopic-australia-looks-at-the-wrong-climate-number-20200225-p5443r
    On this subject Jennifer Hewett declares that business is 30 years ahead of the government.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/while-business-is-focused-on-2050-the-politicians-are-focused-on-2020-20200225-p54486
    The Coalition wants to turn scientists into lapdogs – and muzzle climate research in the process says Paul Willis.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/25/the-coalition-wants-to-turn-scientists-into-lapdogs-and-muzzle-climate-research-in-the-process
    Australia has been unable to deal with the issue of foreign interference because of its “embarrassingly” white political system, a researcher has claimed.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6649130/australias-too-white-politics-cant-deal-with-foreign-interference/?cs=14350
    The corporate watchdog, ASIC, slammed parts of the Federal Court’s now-famous ‘Wagyu beef and shiraz’ judgment as “fundamentally wrong” before a full court yesterday.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/asic-slams-extraordinary-wagyu-and-shiraz-lending-judgment-20200225-p5442w
    Energy experts Frank Jotzo and John Wiseman tells us how the end of coal-fired power can be either managed or messy. They offer some sage advice.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-end-of-coal-fired-power-can-be-managed-or-messy-20200225-p5441n.html
    And right on cue Noel Towell reports that the owner of the giant Yallourn mine and power station in Victoria’s east says it has had one of its “most trying” years on record after its profits slumped by 50 per cent, or nearly $300 million. The dramatic collapse of Energy Australia’s earnings for 2019 was accompanied by rhetoric from the company about “decarbonising our power assets,” raising fears for the future of Yallourn which produces about 14 million tonnes of carbon pollution each year.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/cloud-hangs-over-yallourn-as-owners-power-on-with-decarbonising-20200225-p5449z.html
    Carbon pricing: it’s a proven way to reduce emissions but everyone’s too scared to mention it says the Grattan Institute’s Tony Wood.
    https://theconversation.com/carbon-pricing-its-a-proven-way-to-reduce-emissions-but-everyones-too-scared-to-mention-it-132342
    Paul Bongiorno says that Angus Taylor is playing funny business with the zero emissions target.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/02/25/angus-taylor-zero-emissions-target/
    The outbreak of coal-20 virus – which brings death and ill health to the community but not carriers – has significant implications for the health of all Australians and the international community. Writes David Shearman with tongue in cheek.
    https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/dangerous-new-coal-virus-rampant-in-canberra,13625
    The telco sector will remain firmly in the regulator’s headlights this year, Rod Sims has promised, as he bounces back from a high-profile court loss to TPG and Vodafone last week.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/telecommunications/telco-and-energy-sectors-in-accc-s-headlights-20200225-p5442u
    The Crown inquiry is starting to feel a lot like the Hayne royal commission says Elizabeth Knight.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/crown-inquiry-is-starting-to-feel-a-lot-like-the-hayne-royal-commission-20200225-p5449s.html
    Nobody goes to work to be harassed or assaulted. The Weinstein case must be a shift in civil society norms too says the AFR’s editorial.
    https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/management/weinstein-verdict-must-be-social-watershed-20200225-p5443b
    Celebrity chef George Calombaris’s food empire collapsed owing its secured creditors $22.3m and having racked up a merry-go-round of intercompany loans totallin­g $17.8m, new documents reveal. How can one get so far into the clag before pulling the pin? This is criminial!
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/george-calombariss-tangled-empire-owes-creditors-223m/news-story/a7bd4ac164fd5be12cb2f01eb7fd68c7
    Post-politics, Julia Gillard made a decision. The result is a model former prime minister of dignity and grace who has only risen in public esteem writes Troy Bramston.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/julia-gillard-the-prime-of-her-life/news-story/10c72ea64cc06a191ec8a1ba7e8f09b1
    The AIMN describes the smirking arrogance of the LNP.
    https://theaimn.com/the-smirking-arrogance-of-the-lnp/
    The Morrison government has backed the opposition’s call for men’s rights activist Bettina Arndt to be stripped of her Order of Australia.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6647244/senate-backs-push-for-arndt-to-lose-honour/?cs=14350
    Foxtel is reaching a threshold where it will have to decide if it wants to continue its proprietary pay-TV service, writes Paul Budde.
    https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/foxtel-pay-tv-faces-slow-death,13629
    Victoria’s Waste Crime Prevention Inspectorate will target cowboys who amass huge quantities of toxic waste, as part of a $71 million crackdown.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/new-waste-crime-squad-to-tackle-illegal-rubbish-and-chemical-stockpiles-20200225-p544ab.html
    The publicity that engulfed St Kevin’s College last year and that was revisited on Four Corners last week is a reminder to us all about the need to continue to work at shaping school culture, and the ongoing challenges around gender relations for young people today writes the rector of Xavier College.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/boys-schools-must-challenge-entrenched-attitudes-20200224-p543r1.html
    Garry Linnell tells us that the wage theft excuses just don’t pass the pub test.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/02/25/garry-linnell-wage-theft/
    Even as the US justice system faces a crisis of credibility because of the Trump administration’s handling of federal cases, Donald Trump has taken the unusual step of attacking two supreme court justices on Twitter and in remarks to the press.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/25/trump-supreme-court-sonia-sotomayor-ruth-bader-ginsburg
    Here is a worthy nominee for “Arsehole of the Week”.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/six-week-old-baby-nearly-killed-in-ice-fuelled-attack-court-told-20200225-p544ap.html

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe

    David Pope

    Matt Golding




    John Shakespeare

    Fiona Katauskas

    Sean Leahy


    Johannes Leak might be on the money with this one.
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/a2cee16040a35154b933f2cf7f911edb?width=1024

    From the US








  5. #UPDATE Austria placed a hotel in the Alpine city of Innsbruck under lockdown after an Italian receptionist working there contracted the coronavirus, becoming one of the country’s first cases u.afp.com/3UCZ

    The chickens of globalisation practice, coming home to roost.

  6. Greensborough Growlersays:
    Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 8:15 am
    It’s so disappointing this person was never given any opportunity to implement his ideas.
    ————————————
    He was the Prime Minister, how much more of an opportunity did he need. All he lacked was the courage to try.

  7. The tax of $7.10 per month per non-NBN fixed-line broadband user will come into effect on July 1, if the Regional Broadband Scheme Bill passes the Senate as expected, with the funds to be used to prop up NBN Co’s loss-making fixed wireless and satellite networks in regional and remote Australia.

    How much more disadvantage will we suffer by not being on NBN through no fault of our own?

    https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/tech/2020/02/26/regional-broadband-tax-nbn/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning%20News%20-%2020200226

  8. Peter Stanton @ #8 Wednesday, February 26th, 2020 – 8:29 am

    Greensborough Growlersays:
    Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 8:15 am
    It’s so disappointing this person was never given any opportunity to implement his ideas.
    ————————————
    He was the Prime Minister, how much more of an opportunity did he need. All he lacked was the courage to try.

    You are wrong. That was his evil twin brother.

  9. ‘Stigma, shame and frustration’: cashless welfare card found to do more harm than good

    Researchers say those forced onto controversial income management have ‘overwhelming number’ of negative experiences

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/26/stigma-shame-and-frustration-cashless-welfare-card-found-to-do-more-harm-than-good

    The study was prepared by researchers from the universities of Queensland, Griffith and Monash, based on 114 in-depth interviews with participants in the cashless debit card trial sites of Ceduna (South Australia) and Hinkler (Queensland), as well as Playford (SA) and Shepparton (Victoria), where the Basics card is in place. The cashless debit card is also in place in the East Kimberley and Goldfields areas of Western Australia.
    :::
    Marston said generally those who welcomed the “discipline” of the card had volunteered to use it.

    “We don’t discount the place for a voluntary income management scheme and think that one of the reforms the government could make is to continue with a voluntary scheme,” he said. “But we really don’t see the value in continuing with a compulsory scheme.”

    Both major parties were in lock step supporting the cashless welfare card when it was first introduced and, for many years after, producing ‘evidence’ how well received it was by the communities within which it was implemented and the great results it produced.

    The Greens party consistently highlighted problems with such cards in all their subsequent iterations. As is often the case, Greens Rachel Siewert’s advocacy against such cards is being proven correct but only after years of damage to so many individuals.

  10. Peebee re Babboon….. yes it is very odd. You think a vasectomy could be done in their medical facilities at the zoo, or in a nearby Vet clinic…you don’t need a fully resourced, A Grade Major Hospital for that.

  11. I don’t want anybody to see me using it’: cashless welfare cards do more harm than good

    https://theconversation.com/i-dont-want-anybody-to-see-me-using-it-cashless-welfare-cards-do-more-harm-than-good-132341

    However, our study found the card can also stigmatise and infantilise users – pushing people without these problems further to the margins.

    One of the problems is that compulsory income management is routinely applied based on where a person lives and their payment type, and not on any history of problem behaviour. The large majority of our respondents indicated they did not have alcohol, drug or gambling issues.
    :::
    The overwhelming finding from our study is that compulsory income management is having a disabling, not an enabling, impact on many users’ lives. As the policy has been extended, more and more Australians with no pre-existing problems have been caught up in its path.

    The overwhelming finding from our study is that compulsory income management is having a disabling, not an enabling, impact on many users’ lives. As the policy has been extended, more and more Australians with no pre-existing problems have been caught up in its path.

  12. ABC RN Breakfast

    The Future of Gas: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/the-future-of-gas/12001058

    The oil and gas industry suffered a big blow yesterday, with the Norwegian oil giant Equinor abandoning plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight amid mounting protests from environmental groups.

    Yet the industry still sees glory days ahead, as natural gas emerges as the fossil fuel of choice in the battle against climate change.

    Gas is being hailed as a crucial “transitional fuel” — more reliable during peak electricity demand than renewables, and less emission-intensive than coal-fired power.

    But not all climate experts think we should be flicking the switch to gas.

  13. Australian shares are poised to fall again, as Wall Street extended its sell-off after the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans to prepare for “severe” disruption to daily life with a domestic outbreak of the coronavirus.

    ASX futures were down 162 points or 2.4% to 6664 near 8.30am AEDT, paring some earlier losses. The local currency was little changed.

    In New York, all three major benchmarks closed at or near their session lows. The Dow ended down 3.2% or 879 points; it fluctuated wildly through the session; in early trading it had been up almost 190 points.

    After approaching the 30,000 point mark a week ago, the Dow is now on the verge of falling below 27,000 points; it closed at 27,081.

    “The best course of action for investors is if you’re in stocks and you have a reasonable allocation, stay with that; we would not be selling into this weakness,” David Katz, chief investment officer at Matrix Asset Advisors. “By the same token, if you have had cash on the sidelines you are hopeful to put to work, we think this is a good opportunity to be adding into stocks here.”

    The VIX (The CBOE Volatility Index, known by its ticker symbol VIX, is a popular measure of the stock market’s expectation of volatility implied by S&P 500 index options) spiked to its highest since the late December 2018 markets swoon. It finished up 11.3% at 27.9.

    President Donald Trump and his top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, each sought to calm concern about the virus in contrast to the CDC’s tone.
    In the text of a speech, Federal Reserve vice chairman Richard Clarida reaffirmed the US central bank’s manta that the US economy “is in a good place” overall. “The labour market remains strong, economic activity is increasing at a moderate pace, and the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) baseline outlook is for a continuation of this performance in 2020.”

    In response to Mr Clarida’s comments, Jim Bianco tweeted: “The Fed is still hiding under their desk.”

  14. lizzie says: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 8:36 am

    How about the day that someone from Duttonuci’s department shows up at your door and gives you one choice: Sign up or else!

  15. Chris sorted through the ‘blood and gore’ on social media. Now he’s suing Facebook over PTSD

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-26/ex-facebook-moderator-suing-company-over-ptsd/11972364

    “Content moderation is a new unsung, almost firefighter job of the of the internet world. This is where our public conversation takes place now, on Facebook, on social media, on YouTube,” activist lawyer Cori Crider tells ABC RN’s Law Report.

    https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lawreport/former-facebook-moderator-sues-for-ptsd/11970784

    (*And a warning this program discusses disturbing material*)

  16. Quentin Dempster
    @QuentinDempster
    ·
    6m

    @australian⁩ is out to destroy grass roots campaigner@GetUp⁩ which strives for transparency in its funding. News Corp does not post it’s executive or proprietor salaries. News Corp has dropped the biggest story of 2019 election: Clive Palmer’s $80m scare spend.

  17. Crikey Worm: https://www.crikey.com.au/2020/02/25/australias-lobbyists-poor-regulatory-framework/

    Australia’s lobbyists are winning thanks to a ‘piss-poor’ regulatory framework

    It’s impossible to hold lobbyists to account when they’re operating within such a shoddy framework

    …In Australia, there’s an awful lot we don’t know about the work of political lobbyists, whose everyday work remains relatively hidden.

    And thanks to a patchwork, wafer-thin regulatory system, we have little ability to ever hold them to scrutiny or account.
    :::
    ….“We have the most lax lobbying regime out of most developed democracies.
    :::
    But most startlingly, Australia is being left behind on issues of transparency and regulating political lobbying.
    :::
    But in Australia, we’re no clearer about the depths of the Canberra swamp. And we have little way of holding lobbyists to account when their work crosses the line.

  18. Greens party has made attempts to clean up politics, one in 2018…

    Labor and Coalition combine to vote down stricter lobbying rules

    Greens-proposed five-year ban on lobbying by former ministers fails to pass Senate

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/19/labor-and-coalition-combine-to-vote-down-stricter-lobbying-rules

    The Greens moved a Senate motion late on Tuesday afternoon calling for a five-year ban on lobbying by former ministers. The motion also called for “meaningful penalties” for former ministers who breach the ministerial code of conduct.
    :::
    “The whole reason for us being concerned about this revolving door of lobbyists and politicians in this place is the wholesale takeover of big business of our democracy,” she said. “We have a litany of examples of it. We have the donations that are flowing, regularly and generously to both sides of politics from all sorts of industries with vested interests.”

    Earlier this week, Guardian Australia revealed more than half of all federally-registered lobbyists worked within government at some point. One in four worked in the offices of politicians.

  19. Data retention scheme is being abused exactly as critics predicted

    A review of the Abbott government’s data retention scheme has shown it is being widely abused by scores of bodies around the country.

    https://www.crikey.com.au/2020/02/25/data-retention-scheme-abuse/

    A review of the mass surveillance scheme established by the Abbott government six years ago has revealed how it is being widely abused in ways voters were assured would never happen.

    The government’s data retention regime, which compels communications providers to retain personal information on service use by customers for two years, is currently the subject of a statutory review by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

    The Greens opposed the legislation. The Coalition and Labor supported the legislation.

  20. Israeli President in federal parliament: Groups calls on Australia and Israel to stop blocking International Criminal Court

    https://www.medianet.com.au/releases/184593/

    “Groups call on Israeli President to respect Palestinian human rights
    8am 26 February, Parliament House Lawns”

    Speakers:
    Adam Bandt MP – Leader of the Australian Greens
    Susan Templeman – Labor member for Macquarie
    Andrew Wilkie MP – Independent member for Denison
    Bishop George Browning – former Anglican Bishop of Canberra/Goulburn
    Dr Sue Wareham – Medical Association for Prevention of War
    Alex White – Secretary, Unions ACT
    Nasser Mashni – Palestinian refugee and Australian businessman

  21. “It’s impossible to hold lobbyists to account when they’re operating within such a shoddy framework.”

    And that’s the way the LNP wants to keep it. Make noise about lobbying being terrible every now and then then unzip (all LNP carpets come with fitted zips) the carpet, push the piles of cash aside, sweep noise next to it and zip it closed again. Use the handy dandy carpet roller to flatten the lumps and all is well again.

  22. The Greens Push For Celeste Barber’s $52 Million Fund To Go To Bushfire Victims

    https://10daily.com.au/news/australia/a200225lsqrw/the-greens-push-for-celeste-barbers-52-million-fund-to-go-to-bushfire-victims-20200225

    “The Greens will put forward legislation to ensure $52 million donated to the NSW Rural Fire Service via a Celeste Barber-inspired online bushfire appeal is used to help torched communities and animals.
    Funds donated to the NSW fire authorities under current law are restricted to equipment, operations and supplies expenditure.

    Greens MP David Shoebridge says the party’s bill would amend the Rural Fires Act to allow fund donations received from November 1, 2019 to February 1, 2020 to go toward their intended cause.”

  23. They want a new trial? Unbelievable.

    President Trump on Tuesday injected new political drama into the legal debate over whether Roger Stone deserves a new trial, tweeting as a hearing in the matter was ongoing that the jury forewoman who voted to convict his longtime friend and confidante was “totally biased.”

    Trump’s comments came just as the judge in the case had rebuked him and others over their attacks on the juror, and it seemed to put the president at odds with his own Justice Department.

    As the president fumed on social media, federal prosecutors were in court arguing against Stone’s bid for a new trial based on the alleged political bias of the jury forewoman. Trump’s attorney general, William P. Barr, has warned him publicly and privately to stop tweeting about Justice Department criminal cases and told people close to Trump he was considering quitting over the matter.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/roger-stone-allegation-of-juror-misconduct-and-demand-for-new-trial-to-be-heard-in-semi-public-hearing-tuesday/2020/02/25/2ad48758-5729-11ea-9000-f3cffee23036_story.html

  24. Pegasus @ #13 Wednesday, February 26th, 2020 – 6:24 am

    Greens party has made attempts to clean up politics, one in 2018…

    Labor and Coalition combine to vote down stricter lobbying rules

    Greens-proposed five-year ban on lobbying by former ministers fails to pass Senate

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/19/labor-and-coalition-combine-to-vote-down-stricter-lobbying-rules

    The Greens moved a Senate motion late on Tuesday afternoon calling for a five-year ban on lobbying by former ministers. The motion also called for “meaningful penalties” for former ministers who breach the ministerial code of conduct.
    :::
    “The whole reason for us being concerned about this revolving door of lobbyists and politicians in this place is the wholesale takeover of big business of our democracy,” she said. “We have a litany of examples of it. We have the donations that are flowing, regularly and generously to both sides of politics from all sorts of industries with vested interests.”

    Earlier this week, Guardian Australia revealed more than half of all federally-registered lobbyists worked within government at some point. One in four worked in the offices of politicians.

    Personally I think real time publishing of Minister’s diaries online is a better way to go.

    This would include a reason for and issues raised at the meeting.

  25. No surprises here at all – I’ve been saying this for a while now.

    Why does Sanders look similarly electable to leading moderates in polls against Trump? We fielded a 40,000-person survey in early 2020 that helps us look into this question with more precision. We asked Americans to choose between Trump and one of the leading Democratic candidates: Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, and Mike Bloomberg.

    So that respondents would not strategically claim to only support their chosen candidate against Trump, we only asked each respondent about one Democratic candidate. The surveys were fielded by Lucid, an online market research company that provides nationally representative samples of Americans.

    We found that nominating Sanders would drive many Americans who would otherwise vote for a moderate Democrat to vote for Trump, especially otherwise Trump-skeptical Republicans.

    Republicans are more likely to say they would vote for Trump if Sanders is nominated: Approximately 2 percent of Republicans choose Trump over Sanders but desert Trump when we pit him against a more moderate Democrat like Buttigieg, Biden, or Bloomberg.

    Democrats and independents are also slightly more likely to say they would vote for Trump if Sanders is nominated. Swing voters may be rare — but their choices between candidates often determine elections, and many appear to favor Trump over Sanders but not over other Democrats.

    https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/25/21152538/bernie-sanders-electability-president-moderates-data

  26. 2014 report: Who pays the piper? Rules for lobbying governments in Australia, Canada, UK and USA

    In late 2011 the Senate referred an inquiry into the operation of the Lobbying Code of Conduct and the Lobbyist Register to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee. The Committee noted that a number of submissions supported an expansion of the Code to include all organisations that lobby government and argued for ‘a dramatic expansion of the regulatory scope of the Code’.[39] The Committee’s report, tabled in March 2012, did not recommend any changes to the Code or the Register.[40]

    The report included a Dissenting report by Senator Lee Rhiannon on behalf of the Australian Greens. Senator Rhiannon noted that ‘the inquiry has overlooked the clear evidence from many that current regulation is deficient’ and made eight recommendations for reform of the lobbying regime.[41] These included the establishment of an Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying, support for a legislative framework for the regulation of lobbying, inclusion of members of parliament as subjects of lobbying, expansion of who is defined as a lobbyist and the strengthening of post-separation employment provisions.[42] A number of these recommendations were included in the motion moved by Senator Rhiannon on the regulation of lobbyists.[43] The motion, which was supported only by the Australian Greens, was defeated.

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