The three-weekly federal poll from YouGov records little change on voting intention, with Labor steady at 32%, the Coalition up a point to 37%, the Greens up a point to 15% and One Nation down two to 6%, and Labor’s two-party lead steady at 52-48. However, Anthony Albanese personal ratings are improved, up four on approval to 44% and down three on disapproval to 50%, and his lead as preferred prime minister out from 45-38 to 48-34. Peter Dutton is at 39% approval and 49% disapproval, down two points on last time in net terms. The poll also records an 86-14 split in favour of the principle behind the recently passed “right to disconnect” laws. It was conducted February 24 to March 5 from a sample of 1539.
The rather more volatile weekly poll from Roy Morgan recorded a spike this week in favour of Labor, who lead 53.5-46.5 on two-party preferred after a dead heat last week, from primary votes of Labor 34% (up two-and-a-half), Coalition 36.5% (down one-and-a-half), Greens 13.5% (up one-and-a-half) and One Nation 3.5% (down one-and-a-half). The poll was conducted last Monday to Sunday from a sample of 1679.
The other big item of federal electoral news for the week was Monday’s Liberal preselection for Scott Morrison’s seat of Cook, where a by-election will be held on a date to be determined. The winner was Simon Kennedy, former McKinsey consultant and unsuccessful candidate for Bennelong in 2022, who won in the first round with 158 votes to Carmelo Pesce’s 90, Gwen Cherne’s 35 and Benjamin Britton’s 13.
”
Pueosays:
Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 5:41 pm
UFOs are MOOs.
Pentagon says most UFOs are misidentified ordinary objects
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-09/pentagon-says-most-ufos-are-misidentified-ordinary-objects/103568554
”
No bloody wonder. Most of the UFOs were sighted in US of A.
Britain did plenty to defeat Napoleon. Organising grand coalitions, helping to bog down and defeat French armies in Spain and Egypt.
And as far as I’m aware, claiming that they defeated Napoleon alone has never been part of how history has been taught in Britain.
This has just been yet another exercise in certain people trying to show how cool they are by being anglophobic.
Tjorn Sibma MLC got rolled this afternoon in upper house preselection for libs.
His opponent was the guy behind not Goodenough getting the boot.
The Dark Arts.
Ven says:
Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 9:37 pm
I made a mistake there. Obviously, the 45,000 Prussians were under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher’s command, not under Wellington’s.
What I should have said was that of the well over 100,000 soldiers who fought Napoleon’s army, only 24,000 were British. And it seems 6,000 of the recorded British were actually German.
I stand by the rest of my post. It wasn’t the British who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, although they have convinced themselves of it.
Rainmansays:
Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 10:12 pm
Ven says:
Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 9:37 pm
I made a mistake there. Obviously, the 45,000 Prussians were under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher’s command, not under Wellington’s.
What I should have said was that of the well over 100,000 soldiers who fought Napoleon’s army, only 24,000 were British. And it seems 6,000 of the recorded British were actually German.
================================================
Germany didn’t exist until 1871 though. So they weren’t Germans as such but Germanic people. Then again Anglo Saxons are Germanic people too. Britain was ruled by George III at the time who was very much a Germanic king too.
I read that UK is second unhappiest (is it a new word, should read second most unhappy country or something like that) and Australia is the 6th unhappiest country in the world.
No wonder Albanese government is in doldrums.
Would you believe. Srilanka is second happiest country in the world.(hard to believe)
What I should have said was that of the well over 100,000 soldiers who fought Napoleon’s army, only 24,000 were British. And it seems 6,000 of the recorded British were actually German.
__________
24,000 were British, an additional 6,000 were the King’s German Legion. The King of Britain was at this time also the King of Hanover.
It’s not really a great secret that Britain devoted most of its military resources to the Royal Navy and not the Army, even during the Napoleonic Wars.
Entropy says:
Germany didn’t exist until 1871 though. So they weren’t Germans as such but Germanic people.
__________
Which is a distinction without a difference. All designed to show you know the date of German unification.
nath says:
Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 10:07 pm
This has just been yet another exercise in certain people trying to show how cool they are by being anglophobic.
——————————————————————————
I’m not trying be cool. I’ve just never gotten over Cromwell.
nathsays:
Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 10:30 pm
Entropy says:
Germany didn’t exist until 1871 though. So they weren’t Germans as such but Germanic people.
__________
Which is a distinction without a difference. All designed to show you know the date of German unification.
=====================================================
One of the regions that became Germany was the Kingdom of Hanover. The ruler of house Hanover at the time of Battle of Waterloo was George III. Some of Wellingtons troop weren’t English but they had the same ruler. So the German troops under Wellington had the same King as the British troops is my point. It was the one Kingdom all ruled by the house of Hanover.
Note it was Hanover King that was made ruler of Britain (German George). Not a British king made ruler of the Kingdom of Hanover.
》Pentagon says most UFOs are misidentified ordinary objects
I have seen what looked to be a flying saucer. (It was night and a plane at a very odd angle {which I am still not sure about})
It was the one Kingdom all ruled by the house of Hanover.
____________
No, they were under a ‘personal union’ by the King of Britain, but were administered separately and distinctly. Hanover was a member of the Holy Roman Empire and later the German Confederacy.
Note it was Hanover King that was made ruler of Britain (German George). Not a British king made ruler of the Kingdom of Hanover.
________________
So what? Before that William of Orange was made King of the UK. And before that a Scottish King was made King of the UK. And before that a Welsh lord was made King, and before that a French Duke was made King of the UK.
nathsays:
Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 10:46 pm
Note it was Hanover King that was made ruler of Britain (German George). Not a British king made ruler of the Kingdom of Hanover.
________________
So what? Before that William of Orange was made King of the UK. And before that a Scottish King was made King of the UK. And before that a Welsh lord was made King, and before that a French Duke was made King of the UK.
=================================================
The point is it shouldn’t be considered strange that George III’s General had Germans under him. Considering George III ruled over German territories too.
If only for his sake that Napoleon had read the horoscope as applied to him as a Leo as published on that day;
(with credit to Graeme Garden as quoted on I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue)
It’s ok. We are at cross purposes I think. Good night.
Ven
“ But India already has 20+ nuclear reactors and more are coming up, and all of them together don’t still account for more than 4-5% of India’s power generation. So why is the switching on of one more nuclear reactor so significant?”
Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR) can often be used to make a lot of plutonium which can in turn make a lot of atomic bombs. FBRs are not that reliable and not used much for power generation.
You can either make an atomic bomb out of highly enriched uranium (90%+ U238) or make it out of plutonium. Enriching uranium to 90%+ U238 take a lot of time.
A normal reactor produces some plutonium but consumes U238 at a similar or faster rate so doesn’t help much create bomb-making material. Whereas an FBR can be tuned to make a lot of plutonium by-product to its operation.
Meanwhile in the UK, Rishi Sunak’s strategy to win the next election? “Slash benefits for the sick and disabled.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD9Xp2RBgUQ
My how noble modern Conservatism is. Heck at this rate why not go full Sparta? Put every toddler out there in the wild and only those that return alive after the age of 5 can be accepted into society?
And then do another test like that for those that live beyond the age of 60?
Fubar
“ Voters in the Republic of Ireland have overwhelmingly voted against amending the Irish Constitution.
Proposals to alter wording in the constitution to include families which are not based on marriage were defeated with 67.7% voting ‘no’.
A second proposed change on the wording around the role of women in the home was defeated by a higher margin with 73.9% of voters rejecting it.
It was the highest ever no vote percentage in an Irish referendum.”
BBC
Another example of the left just assuming that their opinion will be accepted by the electorate and getting absolutely pantsed.”
There is just one problem with this otherwise brilliant analysis. The government that proposed the amendments is decidedly centre right. The two key parties sit with conservative alliances in the European Parliament.
In the end Sinn Féin and the other Left parties except Aontú also supported the amendments but today they are having great fun blaming the government.
The opposition seems to have come from a combination of the church, some radical left and some of the many rural conservative independents who sit in the Dáil.
SMH at Pope Francis:
“Pope Francis has been criticised after saying Ukraine should have the courage of the “white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.
Some politicians and commentators in Europe reacted with anger after the pontiff appeared to stay silent on Russia’s crimes as aggressor in the invasion, which has killed tens of thousands, and placed the onus on Ukraine to make peace.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/10/pope-francis-criticised-for-saying-ukraine-should-raise-white-flag-and-end-war-with-russia
Someone with a Kremlin agenda has clearly gotten to the Pope, or at least gotten to enough of his key advisers. I also say this is all of a piece with the Catholic Church’s centuries-old tradition of blaming victims. How long must we endure this decrepit institution’s pontificatory pandering to perpetrators?
“The opposition seems to have come from a combination of the church, some radical left and some of the many rural conservative independents who sit in the Dáil.”
Also some far right groups pushing propaganda that these changes would mean muslim refugees would suddenly be able to get dozens of relatives and neighbours from back home allowed into the country because the courts wouldn’t be able to block them due to “calling them family all of a sudden”, and that they’d all be given millions in free benefits for being ‘carers’ of each other.
Tricot says:
Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 9:52 pm
“Noted somewhere that the turn out was below 40% in the Irish vote.”
Wrong.
“There was a turnout of 44.4% in the referendums,”
It’s voluntary voting – if you choose not to vote then you don’t get to complain about the result.
New thread.
BK @ 9.19am
Peter Hartcher is usually a voice of reason on most topics.
He is calm, considered and considerate, doesn’t bluster and listens and respects the opinions of others, whether he agrees or disagrees with that opinion.
He is the first journalist in the Age/Herald who I’ll read and will consider his point of view, and reasons for that point of view, whether I agree or disagree with the premise of his opinion.
We need more journalists and commentators with his manner in the public sphere.
PB after dark summed up so well by this comment.
Meha Barber @ 4.58pm
As a Sydney boy who enjoys AFL, I hope that you support the real Sydney team which smashed Collingwood on saturday night.
It was a great night at Mason’s Petting Zoo.
As they say: “once a cox, always a cox”.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
Anthony Albanese’s personal standing has begun to recover, and he is more trusted than Peter Dutton despite his broken promise on tax cuts, according to a new poll which suggests the government has arrested its declining fortunes, writes Phil Coorey about the latest AFR/Resolve poll.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/pm-shows-signs-of-recovery-as-labor-stops-the-rot-20240310-p5fb6x
According to Ross Gittins, it’s the RBA who will decide how long the economy’s slump lasts.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/rba-will-decide-how-long-the-economy-s-slump-lasts-20240310-p5fb7t.html
Australia is having a family-sized recession, says Alan Kohler who gives us the story in a series of charts.
https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2024/03/11/kohler-family-sized-recession
Matthew Knott and Rachel write that top energy policy experts are saying they are highly dubious about Coalition claims the nation could have a nuclear power plant running within 10 years as the opposition prepares to ignite a major debate on energy policy by nominating possible sites for Australian nuclear reactors. And yesterday Chris Bowen poured scorn and ridicule on the Coalition’s “plan” for large-scale nuclear power within a decade.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tell-him-he-s-dreaming-labor-blasts-coalition-plan-for-nuclear-power-in-a-decade-20240310-p5fb6i.html
This interview of an energy expert by Peter Fitzsimons is a “must read” as it has so many questions about the nuclear push asked and effectively answered.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/will-dutton-s-nuclear-power-play-work-i-asked-a-very-bright-spark-20240308-p5fau6.html
Peter Dutton is nailing nuclear energy for Australia to his economic renaissance mast. His earlier thought was that the electricity generating transition should be confined to SMRs (small modular reactors) conveniently placed in the basements of factories around Australia. He then expanded his concept to include the construction of large industrial reactors of 600 MW capacity and more built on sites occupied by former coal-fired generators, writes Richard Broinowski who lays out three realities that make Dutton’s SMR proposal unrealistic.
https://johnmenadue.com/peter-dutton-sprinkles-nuclear-stardust-into-the-climate-policy-vacuum/
It is 13 years since the world held our breath, crossed our fingers and learned of a place called Fukushima, which Peter Dutton and the Coalition seem to have forgotten, writes Dave Sweeney.
https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/memo-to-dutton-fukushimas-lessons-must-be-learned-not-forgotten,18406
New South Wales has the largest gap between its 2030 emissions reduction goals and the present pace of renewables rollout among the states, a performance that will make it harder for Australia to meet national goals unless addressed, a new report argues.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/11/nsw-lagging-on-rollout-of-renewables-meaning-australia-could-miss-2030-clean-energy-target
The rising cost of living is a grim reality and a growing political issue, but the disparity between incomes is turning Sydney into a tale of two cities. Top earners are more concentrated in the eastern suburbs, the inner city and the inner west, while western suburbs workers languish in relative poverty, says the SMH editorial.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/income-inequality-a-sleeper-issue-that-threatens-our-egalitarian-ethos-20240310-p5fb6m.html
Nearly 500 tariffs on items including toothbrushes and toasters will be scrapped to cut business red tape and ease cost-of-living pressures in the largest reform of the system in at least 20 years, explains Rachel Clun.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/toothbrushes-to-dodgem-cars-cheaper-with-tariffs-on-chopping-block-20240308-p5faz5.html
The factional wars in the NSW Liberal party are still going along nicely. He says that it is the RBA that is facing a “test”, as the media love to describe things, rather than the political parties.
https://www.smh.com.au/cbd/don-harwin-elected-nsw-liberal-president-by-single-vote-20240310-p5fb9j.html
The sense of crisis surrounding the Victorian Liberal leadership is likely to soon deepen, with two self-described gender-critical feminists expected to issue separate defamation writs against John Pesutto in the Federal Court, writes Chip Le Grand.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/disunity-but-not-deterred-why-pesutto-still-wants-to-lead-20240309-p5fb32.html
Australia needs a war time government but instead we’re collectively sleepwalking through parochial denial about the growing rise of multipolarity and its consequences, writes Jemma Nott.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/australia-needs-war-time-government-to-confront-global-crises,18407
Mark Kenny despairs that the US the electorate is descending into aggressive macrosocial identity politics in which there are few shared truths and agreement across the middle appears unattainable. Can American democracy survive this debasement? Historical lessons are not encouraging, he says, Kenny looks at how such behaviour might occur in Australia.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8549814/paid-parental-leave-imaginative-policy-to-frame-2025-election/?cs=14329
Dear old Gerard is still banging on about the ABC’s Israel/Gaza coverage,
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/media-watch-dog-abc-covered-the-israelhamas-war-without-fear-or-favour-or-so-they-say/news-story/3846a01927843a14d88cd1d4a79c8d86?amp=
Defence Minister Richard Marles has a proven, through AUKUS, he’s a naïve and incompetent buyer. He’s also proven, through a failed sale of Bushmaster military vehicles to Indonesia, he’s no better at sales. Rex Patrick and Philip Dorling provide an update in his wheelings and dealings with Indonesia.
https://michaelwest.com.au/indonesia-no-thanks-to-marles-bushmasters/
Cartoon Corner
Alan Moir
David Rowe
Mark David
Peter Broelman
Badiucao
Matt Golding
A John Shakespeare gif
https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.4262%2C$multiply_3.8519%2C$ratio_1%2C$width_378%2C$x_0%2C$y_0/t_crop_custom/q_62%2Cf_auto/028d0ab617fbb37f86f3d44dc8c9c2bfde6f24af
Jim Pavlidis
Glen Le Lievre with a gif
https://twitter.com/i/status/1766236092926513608
Leak
From the US
William Bowe @ #873 Monday, March 11th, 2024 – 5:05 am