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.
Yessirrebob says:
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 7:02 pm
Peg, as I said, I know a few people who have fled communist states, like Romania. They don’t have nice tales to tell.
Socialism may look good on paper, but it inevitably leads to an autocratic regime, no matter how “democratic” it pretends to be.
You want to do good for the people ? Try Keynes.
Socialism and communism are very different things, as anyone from Norway and Sweden can tell you. Bit like capitalism as implemented in China and Australia.
There is a call on Twitter this morning. What’s Cam the careers ambassador doing for his 3k? He’s pictured smoking a cig between takes of that building show.
Edit: sorry. $300k
Dotard thinks it’s all about him…
“There’s a reason most presidents are cautious when talking about the stock market. President Trump is learning it the hard way this week.
He is, in effect, experiencing the downside of having spent the last three years personalizing much of what happens in the markets and the economy, saying that the soaring stock values under his watch are a reflection of his special ability, and a central part of his case for re-election in November.
Most presidents avoid boasting about a rising stock market because they know how fragile it is, and how little control over stock prices they really have, and how stock prices can move sharply for reasons outside their control, or sometimes for no clear reason at all.
The cost of claiming personal credit for stock market gains comes when you get stock market losses. And that is particularly relevant after a 7 percent drop in the S&P 500 since its peak last Wednesday, seemingly caused by a recognition on Wall Street that the spread of coronavirus could disrupt the world economy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/upshot/coronavirus-trump-stock-market.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
I’m worried that the government will use the SportsRorts template to tackle any outbreak of covid-19 in Australia. Anyone with a pre-existing medical condition might be wise to relocate to a marginal electorate.
Trump is now suing media outlets. This will be the next thing for Scotty to deal with reporting he doesn’t approve of.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/25/democratic-debate/#link-2QJGT4I7OBDP3OX4BF44FOILLA
Very comprehensive story about Nina Funnell and the story and aftermath of her article about Bettina Arndt. Certainly, one of those inner beltway journo articles. However, it makes some excellent points and Funnell is clearly a gifted investigative journalist unafraid to tell truths that unmask hypocrisy and lies.
https://newmatilda.com/2020/02/26/new-matilda-statement-on-bettina-arndts-defamation-of-nina-funnell/
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
John Hewson begins this contribution with, “Scott Morrison dismissed Anthony Albanese’s commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 as “Bill Shorten 2.0”. Surely better than the Prime Minister’s effort – Tony Abbott 4.0. Then there’s the equation proposed by the Nationals’ senator Matt Canavan: net-zero emissions equals net-zero jobs. So, that would amount to no job losses, eh? Oh, the tyranny of all-too-simplistic slogans.”
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/global-finance-leaves-australia-behind-in-the-march-to-net-zero-emissions-20200226-p544fk.html
David Crowe tells us about Morrison being inundated with claims of crookedness over the sports rort issue.’
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/emails-reveal-morrison-office-s-role-in-100-million-sports-grants-program-20200226-p544n5.html
As does Paul Karp.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/26/clubs-denied-sports-grants-demand-funding-saying-process-was-politically-motivated
And apparently North Sydney can be classed as “regional” in order to get a grant!
https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-regional-facility-sydney-mayor-defends-10-million-pool-grant-20200226-p544o5.html
The preparations of many athletes for Tokyo 2020 have been thrown into disarray by the coronavirus, which is threatening the Olympics.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/we-have-cancelled-games-in-the-past-olympics-confronts-new-reality-as-athletes-stranded-20200226-p544on.html
In an excellent, measured contribution virologist Ian McKay tells us how to prepare for coronavirus pandemic should it hit here.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/you-and-i-may-get-coronavirus-and-live-with-it-here-s-how-to-prepare-for-a-pandemic-20200226-p544jg.html
And the SMH editorial says that as the threat of a coronavirus outbreak moves closer to Australia, citizens need to receive accurate information about the disease.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/clear-communication-can-help-fight-coronavirus-20200226-p544m5.html
Jess Irvine goes to our sensitivity to China’s economy.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/when-china-sneezes-our-economy-shivers-20200226-p544m9.html
Greg Jericho writes that the Coalition is relying on a struggling domestic economy to see us through an international crisis. He includes some awful looking charts in this article.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2020/feb/26/the-coalition-is-relying-on-a-struggling-domestic-economy-to-see-us-through-an-international-crisis
James Massola reports that diplomats in Jakarta are lobbying government officials over the fact that no cases of coronavirus have been reported in Indonesia. Seems a bit strange, huh!
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/us-embassy-raises-critical-coronavirus-concerns-with-indonesia-20200223-p543l3.html
Sporting stadiums converted into quarantine camps, police guarding medical stockpiles and schools temporarily shut down are some of the actions authorities are prepared to take if Australia succumbs to a major coronavirus outbreak write Kate Aubusson and Melissa Cunningham.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/states-pandemic-playbooks-reveal-plan-to-combat-covid-19-20200226-p544nv.html
The peerless Michael Kirby writes that the religious ‘freedom’ bill will divide Australians, not unite us. He concludes by saying that “we are witnessing the rise of the religious right in the US. We can do without it in Australia. I do not believe that the average Australian – especially the “quiet Australian” – would want religious groups to exercise such powers here.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/religious-freedom-bill-will-divide-australians-not-unite-us-20200225-p544bz.html
The Reserve Bank may be forced into an interest rate cut as early as next week to offset the growing financial fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/reserve-bank-under-pressure-to-cut-rates-in-response-to-coronavirus-20200226-p544kv.html
Mehreen Faruqi asserts that Peter Dutton’s response to a far-right threat shows how little has changed since Christchurch.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/26/peter-duttons-response-to-a-far-right-threat-shows-how-little-has-changed-since-christchurch
Jennifer Duke reports that EnergyAustralia boss Catherine Tanna has been called an “international corporate tax dodger” over her company’s history of paying little to no tax and faces a call to resign from the Reserve Bank board. Rex Patrick is leading the charge.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/resign-from-rba-board-senator-calls-for-energyaustralia-boss-to-go-20200226-p544k9.html
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has emerged as an unlikely champion for Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, declaring the current Nationals leader is “cut from the same cloth” as some of the party’s greats. WTF!!!!!
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/strange-bedfellows-kennett-throws-support-behind-michael-mccormack-20200226-p544ke.html
Financial advisory firm EY has strongly dismissed explosive claims from Labor senator Deborah O’Neill that accused the company of gross worker exploitation, humiliation and inappropriate behaviour towards employees.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/alcohol-fuelled-bender-senator-o-neill-slams-ey-s-governance-culture-20200226-p544fp.html
According to London’s Daily Telegraph the global economy may be heading for some sort of “sudden stop” in supply chains, trade flows and tourism, more akin to the outbreak of the First World War than the Lehman or dotcom crises.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/in-the-eye-of-the-storm-global-economy-is-heading-for-a-sudden-halt-20200226-p544ej.html
In dealing with the coronavirus, Scotty From Marketing has all of a sudden decided that, not only must we do what the medical experts’ advise, we must also concentrate our scientific resources on combating the cause rather than just reacting to the crisis. Yet this same logic does not seem to apply to the existential threat posed by global heating says Kaye Lee.
https://theaimn.com/the-advice-the-government-wont-listen-to/
The Morrison government wants new technology to do the heavy lifting on climate change. They must be prepared to wear a lot of failure writes energy expert Matthew Warren.
https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/risk-20200226-p544hw
Australia can achieve a transition to net zero emissions by 2050 with known technologies, but the deployment of low emissions options will need to be accelerated significantly, according to new analysis by ClimateWorks Australia.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/27/net-zero-emissions-by-2050-possible-in-australia-if-low-emissions-options-accelerated
After two decades of refusal to acknowledge the science of climate change, it has taken a national bushfire tragedy for policy-makers to wake-up writes John Iser with respect to the 2050 emissions target.
https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/australia-needs-to-commit-to-target-of-net-zero-emissions-by-2050,13633
If Labor plans to keep its promise of emission reductions by 2050, serious action must be taken as time is running out, writes Professor John Quiggin.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/one-cheer-for-labors-2050-zero-net-emissions-target,13631
Adrian Rollins reports that government departments and agencies have been targeted by criminal gangs and possibly state-sponsored actors in a sustained cyber attack amid warnings that the nation is falling behind in the race against escalating digital threats.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6651163/government-departments-targeted-in-massive-cyber-attack/?cs=14350
Sally Whyte tells us how legislation forcing single parents from the parenting payment onto Newstart has saved the budget $5 billion over the last 13 years – a saving that has forced already poor families into poverty
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6650793/forcing-single-parents-on-to-newstart-has-saved-budget-5b-but-increased-poverty/?cs=14350
Nationals Queensland senator Susan McDonald has slammed a Productivity Commission report that’s called for an end to tax concessions in remote parts of Australia. The commission argues the context for remote area tax concessions has changed considerably since the first concession was introduced in 1945.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6651013/senator-takes-aim-at-tax-concession-report/?cs=14350
Having dithered on real action to tackle global warming, some in the Coalition are now taking a keen interest in solving it — by going nuclear. Noel Wauchope investigates what’s behind the sudden push to overturn legislation prohibiting the exploration and mining of thorium and uranium and puts a definitive case against a nuclear industry in Australia.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/nuclear-lobby-takes-aim-at-victoria-to-tackle-prohibitions/
Isabelle Lane tells us that in a shock move, Telstra has announced that it will halve the speed of its fastest broadband internet plan on offer to the majority of NBN customers. She says this speaks volumes about the Coalition’s NBN. And it was accurately predicted!
https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/tech/2020/02/26/telstra-nbn-100mbps/
Paedophiles’ criminal history will be revealed to juries more frequently under law changes set to be introduced by the Victorian government.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/jurors-will-be-told-about-paedophiles-prior-convictions-under-law-change-20200226-p544og.html
If Arndt knows what chivalry is, she’ll relinquish her Order of Australia writes Wendy Tuohy.
https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/gender/if-arndt-knows-what-chivalry-is-she-ll-give-her-order-of-australia-back-20200225-p54494.html
Norfolk Island is experiencing a “dire” food shortage that has left supermarket shelves empty and residents resorting to ordering essentials via Australia Post. Residents on the island, which has not had a regular shipping service since November as there are no suitable ships to service the island, told The New Daily they had never seen food supplies get so low.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/02/27/norfolk-island-food-shortage/
Cartoon Corner
Alan Moir
David Rowe
What a superb effort from David Pope!
Matt Golding
John Shakespeare
Dionne Gain
Mark David
Fiona Katauskas
Glen Le Lievre
I think this effort from Leak will backfire.
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/6ac813393f5417c9ed19b89304889f8e?width=1024
From the US
Anything is possible when you don’t follow any guidelines (or have any guidelines), and override recommendations by independent bodies.
The Morrison government caught out being dishonestly corrupt will have very little consequences. It’s the Australian way. (apparently)
Is there “a tipping point”.
I remember a Member in the Reps being distraught with the realisation that he had become just another politician there for the money. It’s uncommon.
I remember a rather bland Tasmanian Senator bragging to me about the number of houses purchased during a long career representing the island state.
The voters or enough voters just don’t care unless it involves racism, unemployment or the next car.
The reality well hidden behind a veneer of prosperity.
McCormack a parliamentary Great? Unfathomable.
Jeff Kennett revealing his total lack of political judgement. “But can he kick a football?” 😮
Thanks BK. Ian McKay’s article is very sensible and a must read for everyone.
I reckon Peg should name and shame the councillors at Whitehorse, but I rather sure that I could guess the columns in for and against.
There is a whole lot of useless at Whitehorse, one only has to look at the bike lanes: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.8243075,145.153467,3a,75y,273.85h,78.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sn0Zh0CiD3cIL8yjUjzVsDQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Or the Bike Paths:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.8308029,145.1767621,3a,37.5y,63.77h,85.44t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sRrDy14Zmpk5pXiJX7zbByA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DRrDy14Zmpk5pXiJX7zbByA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D275.45865%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
Declaring a climate emergency might mean having to do something…
‘Labor and @JEChalmers want to replace responsible economic management with a yoga mat, beads and a “wellbeing budget”.’
It’s chilling how the coalition comes up with these killer lines that end up completely derailing any sensible debate.
Paul Lidicul
@PaulLidicul
·
16h
BREAKING: President Trump calls a press conference to assure the American people that the #Coronavirus has been completely contained, and that there is no legitimate threat to any Americans.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1232521315254292480
Isabelle Lane tells us that in a shock move, Telstra has announced that it will halve the speed of its fastest broadband internet plan on offer to the majority of NBN customers. She says this speaks volumes about the Coalition’s NBN. And it was accurately predicted!
https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/tech/2020/02/26/telstra-nbn-100mbps/
Labor should be mocking the coalition daily.
Crickets.
Isn’t it clever, the way that the Morrison government distracts us from each little crisis by moving swiftly on to the next one!
lizzie @ #564 Thursday, February 27th, 2020 – 8:12 am
Well, yes. That way no one really notices anything different. And the punters say crisis?
What crisis?
John Hewson begins this contribution with, “Scott Morrison dismissed Anthony Albanese’s commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 as “Bill Shorten 2.0”. Surely better than the Prime Minister’s effort – Tony Abbott 4.0. Then there’s the equation proposed by the Nationals’ senator Matt Canavan: net-zero emissions equals net-zero jobs. So, that would amount to no job losses, eh? Oh, the tyranny of all-too-simplistic slogans.”
Maybe Labor could get Kennett to write there lines.
Tony Abbott 4.0
Gold
I argue that Labor just needs to promise both a universal jobs guarantee and a massive expansion of Medicare (particularly into treatment in private hospitals) to win the 2022 election and in a landslide.
Because I argue that both of these policies alone would win a lot of voters, especially in electorates such as Dawson, Capricornia, Hinkler, Flynn & Wide Bay.
I think that you will find that when it comes to entitlements, the brazenness displayed by the mayor of North Sydney with regard to the $10M hand-out from the Federal Government is fairly characteristic of the rich.
It was good to see though that big Trent, everybody’s favourite Liberal, has turned out to be as bent as the rest of them.
AZ
Labor mayor, Sharon Ellis voted against the climate emergency declaration.
For: Prue Cutts (independent), Raylene Carr (independent), Tina Liu (?).
Against: Denise Massoud (Liberal), Andrew Munroe (Liberal), Blair Barker (Liberal), Bill Bennett (?), Andrew Davenport (Liberal),
Absent: Ben Stennett (Labor)
mundo says:
Thursday, February 27, 2020 at 8:08 am
‘Labor and @JEChalmers want to replace responsible economic management with a yoga mat, beads and a “wellbeing budget”.’
It’s chilling how the coalition comes up with these killer lines that end up completely derailing any sensible debate.
————————————————
It called Bellowing
The advantage that Morrison and his cronies will always have over Labor
The public seems to like the Bellowing over any facts
As footnote to the IA article BK linked to on Nuclear power which gives the impression the push is coming from solely from LNP and friends…
18 Feb 2020
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-bipartisanship-on-nuclear-energy-needed-awu-20200217-p541eh
25 Feb 2020
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/anthony-albanese-urged-to-rethink-nuclear-option/news-story/69681f945fe89bfeaeeadd61378ae8af
Stuart
Yes, I was a bit surprised (disappointed?) to find that Zimmerman also has feet of clay. Just another Liberal, more smooth-talking than most.
Oh no, the Scotty from Marketings department has broken the law. Gasp! Shock Horror! Scotty will grab the little hammer off the wall next to the box marked: “Phil Gaetjans. Break glass for investigation and Nothing to See Here response.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/27/prime-ministers-department-broke-the-law-delaying-foi-request-watchdog-finds
From his council bio….
Cr Bill Bennett was re-elected to Council for his second term in October, 2016. His tertiary qualifications include Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) from RMIT and a Diploma of Renewable Energy from Swinburne University. Cr Bennett is married and has two sons.
He has lived in the City of Whitehorse since 1971 and is an active member of the community with memberships to the Lions Club of South Vermont, Vermont Men’s Shed, Nunawading Community Gardens and the Alternative Technology Association.
His interests include urban design, solar installations and saving water within the community.
————-
And he spoke and voted against the CE declaration.
lizzie @ #543 Thursday, February 27th, 2020 – 4:59 am
In the name of balance, a counter point on McCormack from Amy yesterday during Question Time.
The Guardian blog
Dr Karen Williams is a consultant psychiatrist specialising in traumatic stress disorders. She is the founder of Doctors Against Violence Towards Women.
When men were being killed on the street, we took action. So why is domestic violence different?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-27/one-punch-attacks-drew-swift-response-why-not-domestic-violence/11998044
lizzie @ #549 Thursday, February 27th, 2020 – 5:12 am
That was always the Abbott Doctrine.
The momentum is building…
Nationals MP Pat Conaghan joins other Coalition figures breaking ranks to lobby for Newstart raise
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-27/nationals-mp-pat-conaghan-joins-calls-for-newstart-raise/12003324
Australia’s electricity market must be 100% renewables by 2035 to achieve net zero by 2050 – study
Australia needs at least half of all new cars in 10 years time to be electric vehicles to remain within 2C warming, new analysis shows
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/27/net-zero-emissions-by-2050-possible-in-australia-if-low-emissions-options-accelerated
mundo says: Thursday, February 27, 2020 at 8:10 am
Don’t forget that the NBN has gone from “It will be completed by June.” to, no surprise at all, “…Stephen Rue said the rollout of the $51 billion national broadband network was “well positioned” to be completed by June…”
You will note that he didn’t say June in which year it will be completed, if at all.
Some of those cartoons from the US are so spot on lol
The establishment going nuts over Bernie and Cuba is pure desperation. People who support Bernie are smart enough to realise that Bernie is entirely correct. Put simply, improving literacy and healthcare is a good thing, authoritarian regimes are not. OH NOES YOU CANT SAY THAT ITS TOO RADICAL! :O
I find myself rolling my eyes at the establishment again.
Amy Remeikis is a treasure. Her comments almost make QT bearable.
Apparently, Buttigieg has cancelled a Florida rally because he has a cold.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/484669-buttigieg-cancels-florida-events-due-to-cold-campaign?__twitter_impression=true
Morning all. Thanks BK. With Scomo it seems the laws are only guidelines.
Since North Sydney is now a “regional” area, no doubt the same is true of Adelaide’s Eastern Suburbs. I’d like a “sports grant”. I will form the Adelaide Greek Philosophers Motor Sports Enthusiasts Club. Grants will be used to buy Porsche Boxsters for any members not already owning one, plus running costs. The club will meet once a year at a Hills racetrack. In between meetings club equipment will be stored in club members garages and used regularly to ensure it is in good working order and club members stay familiar with them. This will benefit the development of motorsport skills in the relevant demographic in Adelaide.
Sounds as reasonable as all the rest.
The Guardian
Meanwhile, Jacqui Lambie has reiterated she will not negotiate with the government over its ensuring integrity bill, until it releases the Gaetjen’s report into sports rorts. Morrison will not do that. And so you have a situation where most non-government senators are doing all they can to disrupt government business in the Senate, in a bid to force the government into releasing the report.
Did Bernie really say the SC debate was rigged?! 😮
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/26/sanders-continues-sow-chaos/
Apparently the SC Democrats allowed sponsors of the event, which also enabled entry to the debate.
I do live in regional Australia and our local paper reported that we had local clubs who’d missed out on a sports rorts grant, presumably because we aren’t a marginal coalition electorate.
Glad to see wealthy North Sydney got funding ahead of us.
Thanks BK. Can I also commend Ian Mackay’s excellent article on Covid-19. One small point – Ian is gently telling us (ie Australians) to start preparing now, not “should” CoV19 become epidemic in Australia. This is largely to forestall the sort of draconian measures the China had to implement. We have done it before in Australia, with the “swine-flu” epidemic in 2009, without widespread panic or disruption and we are moving towards doing it again, though the economic & supply chain disruption of CoV19 will be much greater.
CoV19 is more transmissible than influenza & SARS. On the basis of what is already published, we can have reasonable confidence that SARS-CoV-2 can be shed from day 1 of contact and for more than 15 days afterwards, including from asymptomatic people. This is mainly via respiratory droplets and contact, for which social separation, rigorous hand hygiene using gel, and the use of masks to train us not to touch our own mucous membranes before gelling rather than to avoid “miasma” or social signal. Airborne spread due to aerosolisation by sneezing (or medical procedures, such as ventilation) and faecal oral transmission have not been ruled out, but seem far less likely to be major vectors – at least in Australia & outside hospitals.
It is more likely than not that SARS-CoV-2 will start spreading in Australia sometime in the next 3 months. We are mostly well prepared on an institutional basis, but we all need to consider the possibility that we might need to quarantine ourselves at home for up to 2 weeks, and start to prepare for the possibility. I have. Pro tip: learn cough etiquette & hand hygiene habits. Many pharmacies have run out of hand gel as well as the less useful masks – try $2 shops & hardware places for both hand gel & wipes.
Back to the Augean literature reviews.
ACCC head Rod Simms slams the gas industry for misleading government and raising gas prices. If only he had some power to act on price rorting. No wait, he does… why no action mr simms?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-27/gas-giants-misled-governments-accc-boss-rod-sims-says/12004254
Also this highlights the farcical nature of Scomo and minions’ scare campaign on climate change and power costs. Current government policy is putting power and gas prices up. Here in SA renewable power and Jay Weatherall’s big battery is pushing power prices down.
Forcing single parents on to Newstart has saved budget $5b, but increased poverty
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6650793/forcing-single-parents-on-to-newstart-has-saved-budget-5b-but-increased-poverty/?cs=14350
I still remember back in the day here how I was roundly and loudly condemned by some Laborites when I dared to raise the Newstart issue.
The argument supporting changes implemented by Gillard went wtte it was removing grandfathering and putting everyone on an equal footing so that was a good thing.
On an equal footing booting people into poverty. What an achievement.
Demonising “dole bludgers” was all the go, and remains so because of the pandering to the aspirational swinging voters in the marginal electorates who want to hang on to their hard-earned and say bugger the common good.
Peg,
Exactly the list that I had…
Tina Liu has associations with former Councillor Robert Chong.
Cutts had the climate emergency posted on her FB account…
Our local Bunnings sold out of the face masks when news of coronavirus first broke – along with the pharmacies and the hospital. A friend found face masks in a stock feeder supply store of all places. Hand sanitiser gel is also sold out here.
AZ
So Liu could be Labor? Bill Bennett was head of the local ratepayers’ association before he was elected as councillor. He might be an independent?
“Did Bernie really say the SC debate was rigged?”
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Not that the debate was rigged but rather that the audience was stacked. Lots of people on social media got the same impression. We all know Bloomberg is trying to buy the nomination in any and every way he can.
RH
The WHO seems very reluctant to declare COV19 a pandemic. Do you think this is right i.e. to avoid a panic? Or are they bring too politically timid, given the seeming non response of countries like Indonesia?
And a friend’s son who is an apprentice carpenter said his employer has received written advice from some authority saying it is illegal (surely not illegal) to pass off the face masks they use in their work as P2 masks. It had me wondering among other things who would police this?
Socrates @ #636 Thursday, February 27th, 2020 – 9:11 am
WHO is an international bureaucratic organisation with no direct power or budget, not an executive or technical power. Watch what the front line clinicians do, not the politicians or hand wavers.