This coming Monday is the last date on which an election can be called for this year, specifically for the December 11 date spruiked recently by Anthony Albanese, which few if any still expect. The parlour game thus seems likely to move on now to the alternative scenarios of March and May. A complication in the former case is a South Australian state election set in the normal course of events for the third Saturday in March, i.e. March 19. If I understand the situation correctly, the South Australian government will have the discretion to delay the election by up to three weeks if a federal election is called before February 19 for a date in March.
Here’s what we do know:
• Max Maddison of The Australian reports grumbling within the New South Wales Liberal Party over its failure to have finalised candidates in the important seats of Dobell, Warringah and Gilmore. The report cites Liberal sources, no doubt with an interest in the matter, accusing Alex Hawke of using his clout on state executive to delay proceedings to the advantage of candidates of his centre right faction. “Other senior Liberal sources” contend the problem is “a lack of quality candidates and impending local government elections”. Prospective nominees for Dobell include former test cricketer Nathan Bracken, along with Michael Feneley, a cardiologist who has twice run unsuccessfully in Kingsford Smith, and Jemima Gleeson, owner of a chain of coffee shops.
• Further on Gilmore, the ever-readable Niki Savva reported in her Age/Herald column a fortnight ago that “speculation is rife” that Andrew Constance will not in fact proceed with his bid for preselection, just as he withdrew from contention Eden-Monaro ahead of last year’s by-election. If so, that would seemingly leave the path clear for Shoalhaven Heads lawyer Paul Ell, who is reckoned a formidable opponent to Constance in any case.
• Labor has not been breaking its back to get candidates in place in New South Wales either, with still no sign of progress in the crucial western Sydney fringe seat of Lindsay. However, candidates have recently been confirmed in two Liberal marginals: Zhi Soon, an education policy adviser and former diplomat, in Banks, and Sally Sitou, a University of Sydney doctoral candidate and one-time ministerial staffer, in Reid.
• In Victoria, Labor’s candidate in La Trobe will be Abhimanyu Kumar, owner of a local home building company.
• In an article by Jason Campbell of the Herald Sun, JWS Research says rising poll numbers for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party are being driven by “skilled labourers and lower-end middle-management”, supplementing an existing support base that had largely been limited to people over 65. Maleness and low education remain common threads.
• An article on the voter identification laws by Graeme Orr of the University of Queensland in The Conversation makes a point I had not previously heard noted: that those who lodge a declaration vote in lieu of providing identification will have no way of knowing if their vote was ultimately admitted to the count. This stands in contrast to some American states, where those who cast the equivalent of postal or absent votes can track their progress online.
New South Wales by-election latest:
• It is now clear that the by-elections will not be held simultaneously with the December 4 local government elections as initially anticipated. The Guardian reports that the state’s electoral commissioner, John Schmidt, told a parliamentary committee hearing yesterday that “it wouldn’t be possible or sensible to try and aim earlier than the middle of February”, in part because the government’s “piecemeal funding” of his agency had left it with inadequate cybersecurity standards.
• Labor has announced it will field a candidate in Bega, making it the only one of the five looming by-elections in which the Coalition and Labor are both confirmed starters. James O’Doherty of the Daily Telegraph (who I hope got paid extra for pointing out that “Labor has chosen to contest the seat despite Leader Chris Minns last month criticising the looming by-election as expensive and unnecessary”) reports nominees for Liberal preselection will include Eurobodalla Shire mayor Liz Innes and, possibly, Bega Valley Shire councillor Mitchell Nadin.
• Anton Rose of Inner West Courier reports Liberal hopes in Jodi McKay’s seat of Strathfield are not high, particularly if Burwood mayor John Faker emerges as the Labor candidate, and that the party would “not be mounting a vigorous campaign”. One prospective Liberal nominee is said to be Natalie Baini, a sports administrator who was said earlier in the year to planning a preselection against Fiona Martin in the federal seat of Reid.
Poll news:
• A Redbridge Group poll conducted for Simon Holmes a Court’s Climate 200 non-profit group records Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s primary vote as having slumped from 49.4% in his blue-ribbon Melbourne seat of Kooyong to 38%. With the Greens on 15%, well short of the heights achieved with Julian Burnside as candidate in 2019, such a result would put Frydenberg under pressure from Labor on 31%. Around half of the balance is attributed to the United Australia Party, which seems doubtful in an electorate such as Kooyong. The objective of the poll was to test the waters for a Zali Steggall-like independent challenge, and responses to some rather leading questions indicated that such a candidate would indeed be competitive or better. The survey was conducted from October 16 to 18 by automated phone polling from a sample of 1017.
• Liberal-aligned think tank the Blueprint Institute has results from a YouGov poll on attitudes towards carbon emissions policy, conducted in nine regional electorates from September 28 to October 12 with samples of around 415 each. In spite of everything, these show large majorities in favour of both halving emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050 even in such electorates as Hunter and Capricornia. Even among coal workers (sub-sample size unclear), the results are 63% and 64% respectively.
• The Australia Institute has published its annual Climate of the Nation survey, based on a poll of 2626 respondents conducted by YouGov in August.
• It took me a while to update BludgerTrack with last week’s Resolve Strategic and Roy Morgan results, but now that it’s done, I can exclusively reveal that they made very little difference. Labor is currently credited with a two-party lead of 53.8-46.2.
Also:
• Antony Green has published his analysis of the finalised Victorian state redistribution.
C@t ….
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/taiwans-tourism-industry-hopes-for-relaxed-border-controls-in-a-few-months-time
(we had Taiwanese neighbours in for a cuppa today, first time down here in four months)
Re Cat at 10.24 pm
According to worldometers (official figures that are reliable for many countries but far from all, e.g. the Russian figure is greatly understated, even according to official Russian statistics), the current per capita death rate per million for Taiwan is 35, which is what Australia’s was before the Delta wave.
As Cud Chewer noted some time back, Taiwan have suppressed their first Delta wave but they may well be tested in winter. I’m not sure of the leader’s knowledge but she is a lawyer with a London Ph.D not an epidemiologist. I think what is more important is the historically advanced, i.e. realistic not short-sighted and complacent, community attitudes in Taiwan as a result of its previous experience with SARS.
There is a new Covid wave occurring in much of eastern Europe (and Turkey) and now in parts of western Europe separate from the UK, especially Holland and Germany, which is where the anti-vaxxer idiocy has been coordinated from via the internet.
So yes, Taiwan is another success story in East Asia currently, but few countries have done well in what Gareth Evans once called the ‘East Asian Hemisphere’ in the past 6 months.
[‘Liberal: 39%’]
At the last election, Smith’s first preference vote was 49.26%; now down over 9% according to this poll, with 64% saying he should go now or at the next election. Guy’s judgment has been vindicated.
Mundo
I suggest you watch the video, awful performance. Howard was a very good orator, phenomenal memory, and ad lib one of the best ever, all despite his looks.
Firefox says:
Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 3:00 pm
The credit for marriage law reform should in fact go to the LBGTIQ community. They drove the process. The Greens might try to take the credit (like Morrison, taking credit for the efforts of others), but this is a fraudulent claim.
The credit in the parliament should go to Tanya Plibersek, who stood up and moved a reform bill in the House. That triggered the whole legislative reform process, a process was in fact carried to success by the community rather than by any Party.
If marriage law reform had relied upon the Greens it would never have happened.
Re: Taiwan, it is the deputy leader that is the epidemiologist.
Steelydan,
I am sure that Labor strategists are thanking you (with Lurker and Lars) for keeping Labor in the race this time. No hubris needed a la 2019 😉
Singing Bloos @ #1255 Sunday, November 7th, 2021 – 10:44 pm
Ten years worth of hard work. For example
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/meet-the-irish-leading-australia-s-marriage-equality-campaign-1.3213128
Griff @ #1290 Sunday, November 7th, 2021 – 10:45 pm
Thank you, Griff. 🙂
So, do you know how they are going now and what measures they are still taking/not telling people to take anymore? I’m just interested by way of comparison with those other countries mentioned earlier who are in the same region?
Well, if that poll is in any way reflective of what what Tim Smith has been hearing from his constituents over the last few days, I can see why he changed his mind on recontesting.
I repeat
Sukkar
It is sad (and maybe disturbing) to scan this site (and possibly others?) for the reason that this site (and possibly others?) would appear to identify this site (and possibly others?) as the social intercourse engagement of some in society with society (and an unknown to unknowns)
And that that social intercourse engagement goes around and around the same circle
A circle of futility
When circumstances which contain currency are introduced they are ignored – ignored because the same circle of futility is the parameter and the (very limited) capability
There are some who live in a contemporary world and attempt to align contemporary to future
But that is not the majority on this site – by a long, long way
And so to tawdry politics (the domain of, it seems, and basically, Greens and Liberals)
I had it put to me in the last few days that the Victorian State government pork barrel, witness where the level crossing removals are
By deferring to fact I countered by referring to the level crossing removals heading east of Melbourne – and those Seats, now with level crossings removed, are now held by the ALP (previously being safe Liberal seats)
Such is the defence of Liberals – aligning the Party today to them so very easily discounted
Until you get to the end of the rail line, where the Bible Group memberships are – courted by Bastiaan and Sukkar to garner the numbers to control the Victorian State Division as they do
I have referred to involvement in Local Council elections – and control of Councils including threats of funding withheld (noting the car park rorts as but one example)
And other involvements which you could suggest identify impropriety (at least)
Noting that Counsel Assisting has tendered that the current proceedings have as their catalyst a whistle blower (so low hanging fruit – the ALP having already taken action by expelling and demoting)
Memberships paid from public funds?
We do not know – but if so there will be a trail
Attending Branch matters on the public purse – well, my guess is that is widespread across Party lines and, under Oath, many will fall foul
The ALP had a demarcation – paying 50% of wages (so called “red shirts” – but that confirmed that demarcation was an issue so they paid 100% as the resolution
Lesson learned
It is in the eye of the beholder – and particularly the other side (no matter what they are doing themselves)
Counsel Assisting has said the current proceedings are just the start
A partisan media does not report this
There is no Federal audit
Which brings the matter back to Sukkar, at least
The internal audit of Sukkar (and Kevin Andrews and Bastiaan) was attended by the legal practice Sukkar worked for before entering politics (as a protege of Kevin Andrews)
We will see what the future brings now
But, on here the same pacers will no doubt go around and around the same circuit
To those who address antecedent, contemporaneous and future (so relevant), continue
To the rest
Boring – in the extreme
And then you have a Mortgage Broker saying to fix your home loan mortgage rate – and quickly
So, given the raft of repercussions from so acting and advice which should be sought before so acting, possibly illegal advice
I do note a headline referring to a need to introduce financial literacy as a curriculum subject at school
And about time
Thank you, ItzaDream and Dr Doolittle!
Dr Doolitle, Cud chewer has not got a single prediction right not even a little bit, wrong on every occasion, not a shred of credibility when it comes to Covid-19. Don’t use anything he says.
Covid-19 is now about living with it. We are stopping hospitalisations and death through vaccination, we have summer, we have follow-up jabs. Those that die from now on are those who refuse to get vaccinated.
“ https://asiapacificdefencereporter.com/what-happened-to-a-regionally-superior-conventional-submarine/
Worth a read.”
Quite. Largely in accordance with my views. Although like Socrates I think the article understates the abilities of SSNs.
One thing is for sure, I was certain that Morrison was bullshitting as soon as the AUKUS pivot to SSNs was announced. He’s still bullshitting if he wants us to believe that the first Attack class sub would not have been delivered until 2038: -although it may have taken a full 5 years from when that sub hit the water – 2032/33 for it to be fully capable (by which time the next two boats would have been in the water and the program would have learnt from all the sea trials of the lead boat and this would have reached operating capability at the same time, which would be fine). However, even that is overly pessimistic IMO. Most of the delays thus far have been to ensure that the construction rollout avoids the troubles that plagued the first two decades of the Collins class program.
I’m also certain that the higher ups in the RAN are also bullshitting on behalf of ScoMo: submarine policy is like the ‘3rd rail’ of Australian defence policy and having nuclear subs is like the dream of a teenage boy owning a Ferrari when he grows up for many navy officers and once ScoMo promised to open the goody room folk like V-A Noonan jumped on board and forgot all sense of propriety: his sworn evidence last week before the senate that conventional subs would not be capable by 2032 because of their indiscretion rate is a blatant lie: an unexplained 180 degree about face from everything that defence have been working on to future proof our conventional submarine program for the past 30 years. As I’ve posted before, and as this article touches upon, a combination of fuel cell AIPs and Lithium batteries increases the period between snorting from every 1-3 days to 3 weeks, now. Into the future, by say 2040, metallic batteries may likely mean that an attack class submarine wouldn’t have to snort for its while 70 day+ deployment.
I think there will need to be a commission of inquiry into this singular piece of Morrison merde and to make sure we don’t end up with a decades long capability gap.
C@tmomma,
As Dr Doolittle said, Worldometers is your friend. FT also has a good interface with lockdown periods. Haven’t spoken to my colleagues over there for over a month now, so have limited knowledge of the current situation on the ground, but things were on the downward slope primarily as a result of highly aggressive and accurate contact tracing, and high mask usage.
I was hoping it would make a rude gesture…
Dr Doolittle:
Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 10:13 pm
Thanks for your input.
_________________________________________
Griff,
Up here in Queensland masks have been mandated for some time now, bearing testimony to their utility, along with strict border control, reflected in the stats of 2,098 cases, and 7 only deaths, for a population of 5.2m. The only downside is that there’s a degree of
hesitancy in getting vaccinated, probably borne of complacency.
Steelydan @ #1264 Sunday, November 7th, 2021 – 9:55 pm
Worst idea ever.
Also factually untrue, when you frame it like that. Most (but not all) fatalities will be among the unvaccinated. Many (but not all) of those will be unvaccinated by choice.
Dr Doolittle
Taiwan is not just successful but also successful without high levels (yet) of vaccination. That makes it unique. We should study what they do there and from what I’ve seen, they have a contact tracing system that makes ours look lame.
They may well have issues in winter, but otoh, they have still got a way to go with vaccination.
The Biden Administration has a better idea than just learning to live with the death and health destruction of our latest plague:
Is there anyone from the nominal Left here that Steelydan doesn’t have a derogatory put-down to attempt to belittle them with?
a r
Its worse than this. The people who spout the bullshit that if you die then its your fault ignore the fact that when you have very high vaccination, most fatalities are going to be amongst fully vaccinated older people – purely because the risk goes up exponentially with age.
In other words “living with covid” in the sense of not really caring about the case numbers is defacto accepting a lot of needless deaths among older people.
The kind of “living with covid” I like is the kind where R always remains below 1.0 and where you have effective herd immunity that is a combination of vaccination, very good contact tracing and also continued sensible behaviour (distancing, mask wearing, moving activities outdoors).
We are seeing what looks like “effective herd immunity” in some countries.
Oh and to the person earlier who talked about covid pills. Yep, they are good and getting better, but nowhere near good enough.
For instance PrEP (for HIV) is 99% effective and is also a protease inhibitor. So far the best drug for covid is only 90% effective. We have a factor of 10 to go. We may get there, but now is not the time to go kissing strangers.
If COVID-19 were the title of a play by Shakespeare, we would be coming towards the end of Act II. Waning immunity against onward transmission and novel variants up next in Act III.
Mavis @ Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 10:59 pm
It is good to hear that mask use is happening in Queensland. It has certainly changed here in Sydney post-lockdown. We still have a reasonably strong stranger danger reaction, but no masks among friends. Didn’t even see masks used in several hairdressers/barbers this weekend as I drove past.
Re Cat at 10.51 pm
According to the NYT, Taiwan has a fully vaxxed (two-dose) rate of 35% of the population, so their underlying weakness is slow vaccine acquisition. A report from late September is at:
https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/09/24/taiwans-covid-19-vaccine-struggles/
There are still strict border controls while the vaccination level is slowly raised. See:
https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202110250014
Community awareness of the increased potential risk from Covid would remain very important.
Taiwan reduced the gap between Astra-Zeneca doses to 8 weeks. Clearly the authorities there appreciate the urgency of vaccination. Their success in controlling the recent outbreak is quite significant, as Cud says. Meanwhile, it is interesting that the US did not quickly supply the mass of vaccines needed to Taiwan when it needed them most, when was when US demand was slowing. That puts the geopolitical posturing from the US over Taiwan into a different light.
C@t
I do believe Malta has a doctor as their national leader and they are doing pretty well.
https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/malta/
It also helps to have a vaccination rate of 83.4% (yes, of the entire population).
Andrew_Earlwood
Have nuclear boats overcome all their noise issues in recent times?
Further to my points on the stealthiness of nuclear subs.
In the cold war (that ages me) when our navy performed anti-submarine execises the surface ships were completely unable to find our conventional subs. So much so that the submarine had to stick to a known heading, speed and location so that the surface ships could give their sonar operators experience with an actual submarine detection. When exercising with the US this information was not required because all US subs were nuclear and therefore much easier to detect.
Griff
And they call me depressing 🙂
Taiwan’s contact tracing is pretty impressive. Technologically far in advance of Australia.
Griff
Yes we still have a strong “stranger danger” social distancing response and we’re still using masks a lot (in general.. the Hunter is a bit disappointing tbh).
But what the public messaging should be about now is
1. Getting people to do a rapid test before visiting anyone over 60 or before travelling anywhere.
2. Getting people to understand the huge difference in risk between indoors and outdoors and getting them to socialise outdoors wherever possible.. even at a mates place.
Cud Chewer @ Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 11:16 pm
Is my Cassandra complex showing? 😉
“Taiwan’s contact tracing is pretty impressive. Technologically far in advance of Australia.”
Yep, and we’ve had 1.5 years to study and replicate. Instead we’re weakening out contact tracing.
Cud Chewer @ Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 11:19 pm
And air filtration! We need air filtration. What the flip are we waiting for?
Griff
Honestly, if R doesn’t go above 1 and we live happily every after I’ll be very happy. But we really do need to come to terms with just how fragile that balance is and start getting smart – doing more stuff outdoors, rapid testing etc.
Scary thing is that if you believe the official stats, it’d be much safer hanging around the streets of Dehli than Sydney.
We are enjoying the reprieve of high circulating antibodies. The benefit of an amazing vaccination rate once we got supplies. We should use this time to bolster our built environment against airborne transmission. We got it wrong in 2020. Covid-19 is airborne.
When circulating antibodies decline and/or new variants emerge, we could be in a better place if we make these changes now.
Griff @ #1282 Sunday, November 7th, 2021 – 10:19 pm
Are we doing NoSQL now?
Griff
Maybe we could ration air supply.. perhaps deny it to unvaccinated 20 somethings?
[‘The liar from the Shire:
But whatever side of the political divide you fall on with this diplomatic dispute, it still does not change the fact that Macron’s assertion that Morrison is a liar is fairly spot on.
As he attended the Glasgow COP26 climate conference this week, former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters that “Scott has always had a reputation for lying”.
Over Morrison’s time as PM, the Macron-Turnbull assertion has been plain to see, whether that be in relation to promising to establish a federal ICAC or to revoke laws allowing religious schools to expel LGBTQ students.
And there was that time the prime minister neglected to mention he was taking off to holiday in Hawaii during the unprecedented 2019-20 bushfire crisis.
But the current fallout with the French president has occurred in tandem with the annual United Nations climate conference, which has plainly shown our prime minister to be one of the great liars on the international stage at present.
Whilst in the States spruiking the AUKUS pact in late September, Morrison repeatedly told US reporters that he could not commit our country to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 until he produced a plan to do so, which he advised he would be doing prior to attending COP26.
Yet, when he did finally commit the nation to 2050 net zero, he did so without any plan whatsoever. Instead the prime minister produced a glossy document titled The Plan to Deliver Net Zero: The Australian Way, which, despite what it says on the cover, is no plan at all.
Rather, Morrison has blatantly lied to the Australian public, and in turn the entire globe, by delivering what is at best a vague commitment. He’s produced no concrete attempt to chart our nation’s emissions reductions.
Indeed, if anything, he produced a plan full of falsehoods that permits the fossil fuel industry to continue on with business as usual.’]
https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/even-with-the-leaked-texts-macron-was-right-morrison-is-a-liar/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=week-46
“I think there will need to be a commission of inquiry into this singular piece of Morrison merde and to make sure we don’t end up with a decades long capability gap.”
Commissions into Morrison Merde. Take a number mate. 🙁
Going to be interesting for the ALP to deal with when we get a change in Govt and i think they will focus on Jobs in SA and WA and that capability gap.
I think the answer will be Collins LOTE that includes updated motor, new diesels, new battery / electrical system. Maybe AIP, but by then there will be broad performance data around from subs using lithium batteries only. Japanese have just launched one.
Jobs will be Collins LOTE that the Swedes will be involved in. REplacement subs built / assembled here? The large version of the Swedes A26 i reckon is the lowest risk option.
https://www.saab.com/products/extended-range
Note the references to that “dud-sub”the Collins. 🙂 This is what people mean when they talk “Son of Collins” i think. FFS the design work is substantially done.
Thing i found funny in that article and had never thought of before was how they said that sound of running the diesels can get lost in background noise. And one of the advantages of lithium and other new batteries is that they have fast charge and discharge rates….increasing power available if you need it and much reducing the time you need to run the diesels to charge which ties into indiscretion rates.
If we do go nuke, which i still dont think will actually happen, particularly now we have pissed off the French so much…….a comprehensive Collins LOTE is a needed step. If the ALP can successfully avoid a commitment to nukes then Australia’s sub capability actually has a future.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42900/the-truth-about-the-growing-diesel-submarine-threat-from-a-veteran-sub-hunter
on finding subs.
Griff,
FWIW when I went grocery shopping in an inner southern suburb of Brisbane today I found myself shocked to see a single person without a mask on, for the first time in months. Compliance is still very high.
imacca
Wow that’s a read, but very interesting.. However one thing it does not address is how you can achieve the same outcomes through technology that isn’t a submarine.
Submarines really have two functions. One is aggressive – sneaking up on and blowing up things far from our shores – which I don’t think we should be doing. And even so, there’s other ways to accomplish this with drones. The other is being intelligence gatherers. Again, the question needs to be asked, would more visible but more plentiful assets (drones, satellites etc) provide a more robust and cost effective way to produce the same result?
The article doesn’t really answer that, but it does give strong hints at new technology that would make submarines more visible and therefore less cost effective.
Dandy
That’s good to hear. I can’t help but feel that the luck QLD is having with outbreaks that fizzle is saying something about the physical world. In the same way that Melbourne is far less lucky.
Daryl Maguire granted taxpayer aid for ICAC .
However, if ATO or Centrelink accuse you of being a thief (via a threatening letter by mail carriage) you are presumed guilty & must prove your innocence at your own cost.
How is this fair?
https://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/7500530/former-mp-maguire-granted-taxpayer-aid-for-icac-legal-costs/
New species of rare tadpole-carrying frog discovered in northern NSW
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/07/new-species-of-rare-tadpole-carrying-frog-discovered-in-northern-nsw
The eastern Australian waterbird survey is a white-knuckle flight of avian accounting
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/08/the-eastern-australian-waterbird-survey-is-a-white-knuckle-flight-of-avian-accounting
The corruption and rorting of taxpayer funds continues, but of course Sukkar was going to want to keep the details out of the public. How can the wants of the person accused of improper, unethical or illegal behaviour be the determining factor in whether something comes to public light or not?
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/michael-sukkar-knew-of-scheme-that-misused-public-funds-to-boost-faction-20211104-p5960i.html
Steely
Macron did not say, “I don’t think I know.”
He clearly said, “I don’t think. I know.”
So Macron was saying that it wasn’t that he thought Morrison was lying, it was that he knew Morrison was (and given the widespread reporting of this, he’d have corrected the record by now if everyone was misinterpreting what he had said).
Yours is a unique take, and suggests you’re going off a written report.
Howard’s phenomenal memory – and his arrogant refusal to read speeches – led to a huge gain for the scientific community.
He was meant to announce that a program would select 5 eminent scientists a year for 5 years and give them a huge pay boost.
Instead, he announced that it was select 25 each year for 5 years.
To save face, the government went with what he’d announced in his speech.
(At least two of my friends benefitted greatly from this…)
And who’d be a woman in the Liberal party when this is how your colleagues treat you!
…