After an eventful conclusion to the year’s parliamentary sittings, more retirement announcements and preselection news, plus an opinion poll of sorts.
• The Financial Review reports there are two leading candidates to replace Christian Porter as the Liberal candidate in Pearce: Libby Lyons, former director of the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (and granddaughter of Joseph and Enid Lyons), and Nicole Robbins, a Melville councillor and high school teacher. No mention is made of Miquela Riley and Alyssa Hayden, who featured in a report in The West Australian on Thursday. Michael Read of the Financial Review reports former state Hillarys MP Peter Katsambanis has indicated he would have been a contender had not the state government’s “heavy-handed” border restrictions left him stranded in Melbourne, but he would have had to contend with the party leadership’s clear preference that a woman be selected to succeed Porter.
• Phillip Coorey of the Financial Review reports Christian Porter’s decision to jump ship was influenced by internal polling for his seat that was, according to a source familiar with the matter, “not good”. However, the remainder of the report emphasises Labor’s hard path to a majority: the Coalition “claim they will hold Bass and Braddon in Tasmania”, “feels comfortable in all-important Queensland but may lose at least one seat”, and “believe they can win Lyons in Tasmania and, if Andrew Constance is preselected, Gilmore in southern NSW”. Elsewhere in the Financial Review, Michael Read of the Financial Review reports both parties expect Labor to win the Melbourne seat of Chisholm from Gladys Liu.
• Damian Drum, who has held the rural Victorian seat of Nicholls (known before 2019 as Murray) for the Nationals since 2016, has announced he will not contest the election. Rob Harris of the Sydney Morning Herald reports the Liberals now hope to recover the seat, which Drum won upon the retirement of Liberal member Sharman Stone. Anticipated Nationals preselection candidates are Sam Birrell, former chief executive of the Committee for Shepparton; Michael Dobbie, former paralympian and staffer to Liberal MP Jane Prentice and Nationals MP Darren Chester; and Amanda McClaren, former Strathbogie Shire mayor. The only Liberal mentioned is Stephen Brooks, a “Cobram school teacher, irrigator and former international commodities trader”. Rob Priestly, Greater Shepparton deputy mayor and co-owner of an industrial laundry firm in Shepparton, recently announced he would run as an independent.
• The Katina Curtis of the Sydney Morning Herald reports the Liberals have pushed back the closure of nominations for the Warringah preselection to January 14, in the hope that Gladys Berejiklian might yet agree to run, and also in Parramatta, where the Liberals are hoping the retirement of sitting member Julie Owens will help them knock over the 3.5% Labor margin. State Parramatta MP Geoff Lee has thus far resisted entreaties to run, which have displeased Dominic Perrottet, who would sooner avoid further by-elections.
• The West Australian has a poll by Painted Dog Research in which 801 Western Australian respondents were presented with a four-way preferred prime minister question, putting Scott Morrison at 41%, Tanya Plibersek at 32%, Anthony Albanese at 22% and Peter Dutton at 4%. Plibersek led Morrison by 41% to 36% among women, while Morrison led 47% to 25% among men. When asked who they trusted more out of the Premier and the Prime Minister, Mark McGowan scored 78% and Morrison 22%. Here too there was a significant gender gap, with McGowan’s lead of 71-29 among men comparing with 86-14 among women.
Affairs of state:
• Antony Green notes on Twitter that South Australia’s parliament has adjourned ahead of the election without having corrected the legislative anomaly that means pre-poll votes are not counted on election night, which is now unique to the state. As a result, the election night count will be “quick, over early, but will be very incomplete with no guarantee we will know the outcome until the declaration votes start being counted on the Monday after the election”.
• Yoni Bashan of The Australian reports Bridget Sakr, who has gained prominence as a victims support advocate since her daughter and three of her cousins were killed after in February last year after a ute mounted the kerb, is considering an approach from the New South Wales Liberals to run in the looming Strathfield by-election. The seat is being vacated with the retirement of ousted Labor leader Jodi McKay, who held the seat by 5.0% in 2019.
ItzaDream @ #41 Saturday, December 4th, 2021 – 8:45 am
Part of the uncertainty re clinical effects of variants (and vaccine effectiveness) is ascertainment bias: we detect the virus variance directly by PCR which can be (and is) routinely sequenced – which is not the case with RATs. COVID diagnosis is not the detection of all (or a specific sample of) cases which match a clinical definition, it is the direct detection of a specific genetic signal within several sub-populations (eg travelers) , which are not necessarily representative of general populations. That’s what I meant by “founder effects”. Like all evolutionary processes, viruses don’t give a Scummo about human anxiety and rationales.
Most people tend to assume that whatever is published relates to them personally . They often seem to regard personalisation of risk as a birthright, and get quite offended by the “dunno yet” honest answer.
Vaccines are good, but were never the providential panacea that was promised by pollys.
JimmyD from last thread: “Agreed, and the best means for that urgent action to be taken is for a Labor government to be elected in 2022.”
***
Nay, the best means – indeed the only means – for taking the urgent action that is required is getting the Greens in the balance of power in one or both houses.
Labor being elected on it’s own will not deliver the urgent action that is required – they have confirmed that themselves. Labor’s weak climate policies don’t even go close to doing enough to avert catastrophic climate change.
BKsays:
Saturday, December 4, 2021
I checked two of the linked SMH articles for today and both claim that the LNP target is 35%.
This is false, it is 26-28%, unchanged from 2019.
I have submitted comments pointing out this obvious error (yet to be published!)
This is the result of Morrisons sneaky wording around “possible” reductions.
“sprocket_says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 7:43 am
Should we be worried about Omicron? No evidence as yet as to how severe it is for vaccinated people, but emerging evidence that it breaks through…”…
… and yet again, just like with Delta, the Omicron invasion has started from the Coalition-run NSW. Will Perrottet respond to Omicron in the same way as Berejiklian responded to Delta and thus infect NSW and from there also infect Victoria?…. Do the Liberals have any capacity to learn from their past mistakes?… In any event, thanks to us the voters, I live in the ALP-run Queensland, where we not only take Covid seriously but we have also been able to stop the spreaders-of-disease from NSW!
Asha says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 10:35 am
Bloos, I really do wonder what you are trying to achieve by saying the exact same goddamn thing 40-50 times each day. Have some mercy on your poor Ctrl, C, and V keys.
It is well and truly worth making these observations about the Greens. I have oft been criticised and cautioned for them. My language – used to make accurate and fair descriptions of the Greens – has been abridged. I have been censored, rebuked and redacted. And yet I have been correct. Every day now, in the run through to the election, we will see that I have been correct. There are examples every day.
The Greens will do their level best to sustain the Reactionaries in office….and the country will be the worse for it. They are one of the forces that stand in the way of reforms that are very urgently needed. I have no hesitation in faulting them for that.
Firefox,
I would prefer a Labor majority in the House and a shared BOP between the Greens and independents/minor parties in the Senate. I personally don’t think it would be healthy for democracy for any one person or party to have the sole BOP in the Senate.
Could the liberal party government in South Australia ,seal Morrison and his cronies fate by closing the S.A border
“Because 43% is better than 28%?”
***
But less than 45% (Labor 2019) and much less than 75% (Greens – what the science demands).
We either do enough to prevent catastrophic climate change or we don’t do enough, there is no middle ground. Labor’s policy is not enough. There’s no such thing as a “good start” or “perfect being the enemy of the good” – we need to do it properly now or else the planet is stuffed.
Lizzie @ 9:42
re the report from San Anglo TX of the 14 yr old virgin impregnated by the vaccine:
I assume her name is Mary, and that they intend naming the child ‘Jesus’. The San Angelo jabber was Gabriel, and her boyfriend, Joseph is quietly working as a carpenter, and denying all knowledge of the matter . They have booked a manger at the local confinement stables. Meantime, shepherds are tending their sheep by night.
“I think so too. It could be a smokey out of the box on election night if Labor choose (have chosen?) a good candidate. Arch Bevis was the ideal candidate for that seat and why he held on so long I reckon. From the Urbane Labor faction.
Will The Greens run with Andrew Bartlett again? I don’t think it will improve their vote from last time if they do. Maybe the Brisbane Greens’ Councillor?”
@C@tmomma
Catcomma I know in ALP circles Arch Bevis was criticised for losing his seat in 2010. There was a view he didn’t work the seat hard enough to combat the unfavorable redistribution he received.
The seat has changed alot and the demographics are alot more blue then when Bevis held the seat in his tenure. Greens won’t finish in the final two party preferred vote despite some talk from over enthusiastic supporters.
“phoenixREDsays:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 9:28 am
Victoria records 1,365 new local COVID-19 cases and nine deaths”…
The ALP-run Victoria has been under Covid-terrorism attack from the Fascist antivaxxer mob, supported by the Liberal party. Delta spread from NSW to Victoria in association with several public gatherings of the Fascist antivaxxer mob. Queensland, on the other hand resisted the attack very well with obvious consequences for the health and safety of all Queenslanders: Thanks to Anna and her ALP government!
Read here:
Weekly cumulative local cases (Mon to Sun) since 14th of June (third Covid wave):
…………………………………NSW (Coalition Gov.)………VIC (ALP)………QLD (ALP)
14-20 June: ……….…………. 29 ……………………………… 26………………..15
21-27 June: ……………………114 …………………………….. 21…………………18
28 June – 4 July: ……………186……………………….…….9…………………..33
5-11 July: …………………… 311………………………………..8…………………..22
12-18 July: …………………….699………………………………63…………………16
19-25 July: …………………….846…………………………….117………………….16
26 July – 1 August: …………1361……………………………46………………….39
……………………………………………(End of July, anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne: “Tough stay-at-home measures were in force at the time in Victoria as the state battled rising Covid-19 case numbers that jumped the border from Sydney’s deadly Delta outbreak.”)
2-8 August: …………………..1773………………………………62………………..109
9-15 August: …………………2599……………………………..134…………………37
…………………………………………(About 14 August, large illegal party in Melbourne)
16-22 August: ……………….4541………………………………310…………………9
………………………………………(21 August, large anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne)
23-29 August: ……………….6654………………………………481…………………3
30 August- 5 September……9311……………………………..1026………………5
6-12 September……………..9789……………………………..2213…………………7
13-19 September……………8692……………………………..3407…………………8
……………………………………(About 19 September, protests at CFMEU headquarters in Melbourne started, subsequently spreading to the Shrine of Remembrance)
20-26 September……………7066……………………………..4932…………………4
27 September-3 October……5798…………………………7951………………….16
(Weekly cases in Victoria “finally” overcome the number of weekly cases in NSW: “Mission accomplished???”)…………………………………………………………………………..
4-10 October…………………4115…………………………….11891…………………5
11-17 October……………….2728…………………………….12951…………………0
18-24 October……………….2166…………………………….13599…………………1
25-31 October……………….1677…………………………….10475………………….2
1-7 November………………..1569…………………………….8432…………………..4
8-14 November………………1625…………………………….7752…………………..9
……………………………………………………..(Number of Covid cases in Victoria peak on 18-24 October to then steadily go down, and on November 13 there is another anti-Victorian government demonstration in Melbourne. Demonstrations continued in the following days.)
15-21 November………….1444…………………………7374………………..0
22-28 November………….1581…………………………7981………………..4
……………………………………………………….(27 November, as soon as the appearance of the Omicron variant of Covid in South Africa is announced, anti-vax mandate protesters gather again in Melbourne and Sydney. Omicron-Covid eventually enters Australia via NSW.)
In terms of Covid Third Wave deaths, however, NSW is still doing worse than Victoria.
Covid Third-Wave deaths in the three largest states (in terms of population)
Updated until 4 December 2021:
571 deaths in NSW
543 deaths in VIC
0 deaths in QLD
Firefox says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 10:39 am
JimmyD from last thread: “Agreed, and the best means for that urgent action to be taken is for a Labor government to be elected in 2022.”
***
Nay, the best means – indeed the only means – for taking the urgent action that is required is getting the Greens in the balance of power in one or both houses.
If there is any prospect whatsoever that the Greens will be able to blackmail a new Labor Government, the country will vote for the LNP en masse. We know (well in advance) that the Greens in the Senate will collude with the LNP to destroy a new Labor Government.
For mine, things are sufficiently serious that Labor should direct its prefs away from the Greens. They should be placed second last – above ON. Labor have to make it clear – indisputably clear – that they are not Green-friendly. The Greens are predators. They have to be driven away.
‘Additionally, the Liberal Party has a culture that values rank-and-file members choosing candidates.’
So does Labor.
‘This ethos and the party’s philosophical aversion to government or organisational overreach impeded the adoption of quotas. The quota system is a more natural fit in the Labor Party where faction leaders pick candidates in backroom deals much more commonly than conservative parties.’
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/victorian-liberals-abandon-push-for-gender-quota-20211130-p59dms.html
When Lou Lieberman retired from Indi in the early 2000s, I had at least three of the candidates for Liberal preselection talking to me on a regular basis, all through the process.
The final vote was 50% local members, 50% HO delegates (exactly the same as Labor, with the exception that, with Labor, the 50% HO delegates don’t vote unless there’s some ambiguity about the local outcome).
The local vote was swamped by the HO delegates. It was clear (I was told by several sources) that they had been instructed to get a woman up (either Mirabella or Sussan Ley) and also the losing woman would then be selected for another seat.
If there’s a will, there’s a way.
There’s no will in the Liberal party.
(And yes, the ‘culture’ of the Liberals has resulted in fewer women being preselected. Which suggests their ‘culture’ needs to change).
Isn’t a greens balance of power more or less a good thing if the ALP win. I don’t mean better than the ALP having outright control of the senate, but i mean if the ALP need the greens and a few of the crazies it is a lot lot harder than if they just need the greens.
I’m not sure all the insane ranting about how bad the greens are is well … i guess I summed it up with insane ranting
Firefox says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 10:47 am
“Because 43% is better than 28%?”
***
But less than 45% (Labor 2019) and much less than 75% (Greens – what the science demands).
We either do enough to prevent catastrophic climate change or we don’t do enough, there is no middle ground. Labor’s policy is not enough. There’s no such thing as a “good start” or “perfect being the enemy of the good” – we need to do it properly now or else the planet is stuffed.
The premise here is that the Greens can “save” the planet. This is absolute fucking bullshit. The corollary is that Labor will “ruin” the planet. Equally, this is absolute fucking bullshit. The Green claims are utterly spurious in both respects. They are simply using climate change to campaign against Labor, and, thereby, will advantage the LNP. The Greens are allies of the LNP in practice, and therefore are among the enemies of reform in this country.,
“Firefoxsays:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 10:47 am
“But less than 45% (Labor 2019) and much less than 75% (Greens – what the science demands).”….
Writing 75% is easy, I can even write 90%… see?…. Implementing that with policies that don’t ruin the economy and send unemployment skyrocketing is a very different matter. IF you are a true Green, one day you will learn the difference between “idealism” and “realism”…. one day. But in any event, we all know that parties of chronic opposition don’t need to bother with “realism”….
Themunz @ #103 Saturday, December 4th, 2021 – 10:39 am
Both Liberal and Labor are doing effectively nothing except fiddling at the edges, and instead relying on the States to get their numbers up.
It is silly to claim either one is better than the other when both are so completely inadequate. Especially when the numbers being bandied about are quite meaningless:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-03/satellites-are-challenging-australias-coal-mining-industry/100663676
If you want to genuine action, you need to vote for it. Vote Independent.
Are The Greens’ fan club STILL running with ‘what the Science says’?
Sorry, but ‘the science’ doesn’t have a vote.
I don’t know why people are getting agitated by FF’s posts which say the same offensive thing over and over again and only use arguments against to repeat the same old shite.
Either FF is trolling everyone to the right of him/her/they or FF has gone so far down the ideological (dare I say theological) rabbit hole that there is no saving. Either way it’s a waste of space and just leads all the sane people here repeating themselves ad nauseam.
And the kicker is that the election will be decided on the votes of people who would see the discussions here so arcane that they’d rather cut their ears off with razor blades than try to make sense of it.
“WeWantPaulsays:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 10:54 am
Isn’t a greens balance of power more or less a good thing if the ALP win. “…
Whether good or bad the reality is that the coming Albo ALP Federal government will not hold a majority in the Senate. However, the majority will be determined by the combined vote of both Greens and some Independents, alongside the ALP. The message to all of them is to learn from past negative experiences, abandon idealism, embrace realism, and move forward for the benefit of the Australian People.
Is that too much to ask?…. The consequence for not doing so is a return of the Coalition after just one term in opposition, which is exactly what Murdoch is hoping for.
C@tmomma @ #118 Saturday, December 4th, 2021 – 10:57 am
It is hard to know how to respond to a post as silly as this … so I won’t … oh, drat!
Ah, TPOF, the voice of outer suburban banality. good morning.
Omicron transmission in a HongKong quarantine hotel..
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/28/2/21-2422_article
WeWantPaul says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 10:54 am
Isn’t a greens balance of power more or less a good thing if the ALP win. I don’t mean better than the ALP having outright control of the senate, but i mean if the ALP need the greens and a few of the crazies it is a lot lot harder than if they just need the greens.
Knock on a few doors in Balcatta, Hamilton Hill or Spearwood; or Ellenbrook, Wilson, Myaree, Bassendean or Kelmscott; or Yokine, Morley, Two Rocks or Joondalup. Ask the voters you meet – voters who will decide the election in their own areas – voters who might or might not be Labor-friendly what they think of the Greens. Then work out whether they will vote Labor if they believe the Greens will be able to blackmail a Labor Government.
The idea that Labor will parlay with the Greens is enough to drive these voters into the arms of the LNP. Political results – electoral results – are decided by voters. It is their opinions that count.
“TPOF says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 10:59 am
I don’t know why people are getting agitated by FF’s posts”
I guess that we just like to debunk crap. But, hey, don’t forget that I hold some suspicion that FF is not a true Green, but a Liberal party stooge pretending to be a Green. His mission is to attack the ALP here, just as the other more overt Liberals do….
Bloos:
My point is that we all came to an opinion on the the validity or lack thereof of your arguments the first six billion times you made them. Restating the same exact thing again and again and again and again achieves nothing beyond making the rest of us long for the sweet release of death.
Political results – electoral results – are decided by voters. It is their opinions that count.
_______________________________________
Apparently this is not what the science says.
Bludging Bloos says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 11:01 am
Knock on a few doors in Balcatta, Hamilton Hill or Spearwood; or Ellenbrook, Wilson, Myaree, Bassendean or Kelmscott; or Yokine, Morley, Two Rocks or Joondalup
______________
Of course Labor should determine their attitudes to the Greens by reference to a few redneck suburbs in Perth. Backwaters of a backwater. There is a reason that elections are usually over before W.A gets counting, that’s because it’s largely irrelevant. And so are it’s prejudices.
EB says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 10:11 am
….
If the Nationals don’t improve their primary vote and One Nation does better than 2019, One Nation could steal the seat from Labor on National Party preferences. OMG. Say it isn’t so Joel. Losing the seat to One Nation is possible, as for the Coalition, nah.
_____________
Yes I think thats a distinct chance. It would be ironic if Hunter allowed Scomo to hold on with ONP support.
Those Tomago votes Albo and Turtle Bowen blew off yesterday might be crucial.
Brisbane (the seat) has been tricky for Labor ever since the 2009 redistribution, which added the Liberal heartland around Ascot, Clayfield, and Eaglefarm. That said, those areas have been increasingly trending to Labor and the Greens on a state level, but it’s hard to know whether that will translate federally.
Asha says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 11:04 am
My point is that we all came to an opinion on the the validity or lack thereof of your arguments the first six billion times you made them. Restating the same exact thing again and again and again and again achieves nothing beyond making the rest of us long for the sweet release of death.
__________________________________
I’m sure that repeating the same thing over and over again will eventually get through to the Greens on this site. History shows this to be correct. Oh…..wait…..
BK @ #88 Saturday, December 4th, 2021 – 10:21 am
I thought the National Plan was ‘dead, buried and cremated’?
Of course to people living in the Northern suburbs of Perth the whole world might seem like it revolves around, what was it? Joondalup. To 92% of Australians it’s just a funny word.
Asha @ #129 Saturday, December 4th, 2021 – 11:08 am
Isn’t it the case though that, the reason those sort of suburbs have been trending Labor is because, even on a nationwide basis, similar type areas have been trending Labor as the Liberal Party becomes more Trumpy and Religious Right Wing/Socially Conservative in it’s nature?
C@tmomma says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 11:09 am
I thought the National Plan was ‘dead, buried and cremated’?
————————-
Morrison promised Liberal party state government wouldn’t tell people what to do
“Knock on a few doors in Balcatta, Hamilton Hill or Spearwood; or Ellenbrook, Wilson, Myaree, Bassendean or Kelmscott; or Yokine, Morley, Two Rocks or Joondalup. Ask the voters you meet – voters who will decide the election in their own areas – voters who might or might not be Labor-friendly what they think of the Greens. ”
Been there done that, both in the olden days where you just knocked on every door, and in the dodgy targetted app age where you were only knocking on doors the party identifies.
Met a couple of crazies, but none that would come close to your personal level and almost none so terrified.
Nath:
I realise you are mostly just trying to troll Briefly rather than expressing your own sincere views, but elitist attitudes like that are precisely why it’s unlikely the Greens will be expanding their appeal beyond the inner-city anytime soon.
‘“I think so too. It could be a smokey out of the box on election night if Labor choose (have chosen?) a good candidate. Arch Bevis was the ideal candidate for that seat and why he held on so long I reckon. From the Urbane Labor faction.
Will The Greens run with Andrew Bartlett again? I don’t think it will improve their vote from last time if they do. Maybe the Brisbane Greens’ Councillor?”’
***
If you are referring to the electorate of Brisbane, we have had a candidate preselected and campaigning on the ground there for some time. His name is Stephen Bates (click here to read about him).
Andrew Bartlet’s run last time was pretty inspirational TBH. Not many people were aware at the time but he was actually undergoing treatment for cancer during the campaign. He would have been well within his rights to say “stuff politics, I’m focusing on my health” but he kept going and even managed to gain a positive swing. A truly fantastic effort.
Asha says:
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 11:13 am
Nath:
I realise you are mostly just trying to troll Briefly rather than expressing your own sincere views, but elitist attitudes like that are precisely why it’s unlikely the Greens will be expanding their appeal beyond the inner-city anytime soon.
_____________________
Oh it’s pretty close to my sincere views alright. Outer suburban hellscapes are no joke. It’s where the meth creeps into the cities from the regions, or is it where the meth creeps into the regions from the city? Either way, I don’t mind being considered elitist, after all, I am.
C@t:
Possibly. It could also just be the standard pattern of state Labor doing much better in Queensland than federal Labor, which (with a few notable exception) we’ve seen since the Beattie years.
What are you then asha? Everyman ? Populist man of the people?
@GANyborg
Norway is seeing the world’s first omicron superspreader event after a party downtown Oslo last Friday. Of 120 healthy non-symptomatic fully vaccinated individuals with a negative test, two had recently returned from South Africa and turned out to be positive, omicron.
Now some 80-90 of the 120 are PCR pos, 13 of these confirmed omicron, the rest waiting for sequencing results. Some of those infected w omicron were not at the party but present at the same restaurant that evening. Not looking good re transmissibility.
Lib von TrollHard in for a long shift today
That’s just silly.
I must admit I had to chuckle to myself while watching journalist Chris Smith on Sky News After Dark claim that Lidia Thorpe is “seriously unhinged” for yelling to Hollie Hughes to close her legs when she was wearing a short skirt in the Senate chamber when he had himself admitted to groping several females at the Christmas Party for the radio station he was on at the time under the influence of alcohol and anti-depressants and on another occasion had exposed himself to several females in the boardroom, on another occasion he forged Channel 9’s lawyers signature to get a prisoner on day release, I could go on……….
But hey if you’ve door knocked the north eastern corridor perhaps you can have a word with the Govt about actually building the railway they promised and ended this go slow, I tell you two guys leaning on a shovel at smoko work faster than this govt. FFS they are in their second term and they haven’t even opened the railway line started by the libs before them. Tell them to get the fingers out.
The biggest mistake with 43% is not making it 42% instead. Then it would at least be meme-worthy and provide an obvious deflection to the “why 42%?” question. 42 is the answer.
Lars:
I am the archetypal Australian, the voice of the people, with an expert understanding of the hopes and dreams of all 26 million people in this country.
Or, I might just be some idiot pretending to know what he’s talking about on an internet forum. Hard to tell, really.
Nath:
I’m glad you can admit it, at least!
FireFox @10 :47
“We either do enough to prevent catastrophic climate change or we don’t do enough, there is no middle ground. Labor’s policy is not enough. There’s no such thing as a “good start” or “perfect being the enemy of the good” – we need to do it properly now or else the planet is stuffed.”
This is an example of a false dichotomy. I would say : We either do as much as is feasible now , and work towards doing more, or scream for the impossible, and go round with banners saying ‘the end is nigh!’
if you’re right, then the end really is nigh. the alternative is the only path that offers any hope at all.
Of course we can argue as to how much is possible, but the 2019 election shows the consequence of asking too much of the electorate. the ‘perfect’ is what is attainable, even if theoretically insufficient . The real world is a hard place! Think of the dinosaurs.