The Australian reports the latest Newspoll has Labor with an two-party of 51-49, unchanged from the last poll three weeks ago, from primary votes of Labor 33% (up one), Coalition 38% (up two), Greens 13% (steady) and One Nation 6% (down one). Both leaders record improved personal ratings, with Anthony Albanese up two on approval to 44% and down two on disapproval to 51%, and Peter Dutton up three to 41% and down five to 49%. Albanese’s lead as preferred prime minister has narrowed slightly, from 46-38 to 46-39.
Respondents were also asked to pick favoured Labor and Coalition leaders out of lists of six contenders, with Anthony Albanese recording 28% as preferred Labor leader ahead of 13% for Tania Plibersek, 10% for Bill Shorten, 8% for Jim Chalmers, 4% for Richard Marles and 2% for Chris Bowen. Peter Dutton likewise scored 28%, with Jacinta Price on 14%, Sussan Ley on 6%, Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie on 5% apiece and Dan Tehan on 3%. The poll was conducted Monday to Friday from a sample of 1258.
Also out today is the monthly Freshwater Strategy poll from the Financial Review, which has the Coalition leading for the first time on two-party preferred at 51-49, after the previous results had it at 50-50. The primary votes are Labor 31% (down one), Coalition 40% (steady) and Greens 13% (steady). Anthony Albanese is steady on approval at 34% and up two on disapproval to 48%, while Peter Dutton is at up one to 36% and down one to 39%. Albanese’s lead as preferred prime minister is at 45-39, out from 43-41 last time. The poll was conducted Friday to Sunday from a sample of 1060.
Morning all. Thanks BK. I have been saying the same as this article below for some time. Building resources are finite after a decade of undertraining tradies.
“ Victoria’s major road and rail projects mean we are building fewer houses, at greater expense. The construction union’s grip is affecting costs, efficiency, quality and the availability of labour, writes Harley Dale.”
https://www.theage.com.au/national/can-t-get-a-tradie-the-cfmeu-s-stranglehold-on-major-projects-is-choking-all-of-us-20240722-p5jvhy.html
This is no time to bung on grandiose infrastructure projects.
Once again states and everyone else had no chance of building enough houses given the stupid amount of people that fed labor has chosen to bring into Australia.
Infrastructure needs to be built mind you the suburban rail via underground in VIC is a crazy waste of money in my humble opinion.
Fed gov can brag about two surpluses as they get the tax but it’s going down like a lead balloon though given inflation effects and homelessness and other negative side effects of too many people bought in.
Own goal yet again look at the polls!
Pied Piper
The opinion polls are showing likely 2nd term majority federal Labor government
#weatheronPB
Careful clouds collect,
at the edge of the pale sky.
Shy. Hesitant. Wisps.
Hmm opinion polls have a year to go most likely.
They were 57-43 labor now 50/50 ish.
Given the same hacks are in charge the trend is not your friend if you are federal labor.
Airbus Albo is grounded and Swiss Air Shorten wants his job.Both unpopular with public.
Pied piper says:
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 7:42 am
Given the same hacks are in charge the trend is not your friend if you are federal labor.
Airbus Albo is grounded and Swiss Air Shorten wants his job.Both unpopular with public.
—————
Dutton and Angus Taylor who could be leader of the federal liberal party come October this year are as equally unpopular
The big Problem which Peter Dutton leadership has
54% of lib/nats voters support him
Why did Bill Shorten visit Switzerland on taxpayers money?Had nothing to do with the NDIS or his portfolio what so ever.
Albo stopped flying overseas when he was exposed for his Airbus jaunts.
More revelations about Linda Reynolds ‘harassing’ of Brittany Higgins…
Senator Reynolds is also accused of repeatedly leaking confidential correspondence about Ms Higgins’ compensation payout to the media in the legal documents filed in the WA Supreme Court.
Her legal team argues this conduct is alleged to constitute an ongoing “campaign of harassment”.
The claims follows legal discovery of Senator Reynolds’ emails, texts and correspondence regarding the rape allegation.
The amended defence claims Senator Reynolds leaked confidential legal correspondence to The Australian’s columnist Janet Albrechtsen.
“In the circumstances, the plaintiff has engaged in a campaign of harassment against the defendant, including by providing confidential information to the media,’’ Ms Higgins’ defence alleges.
In response, Senator Reynolds’ legal team argued that the conduct described did not constitute harassing Ms Higgins.
“The information provided to Ms Albrechtsen by the plaintiff (Senator Reynolds) was information in the plaintiff’s own possession and the plaintiff was entitled to deal with it,’’ the response states.
“The plaintiff was entitled to question the circumstances of the defendant’s personal injury claim against the Commonwealth in circumstances where such a claim was founded on matters that were disputed by the plaintiff.”
https://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/senator-linda-reynolds-defends-calling-brittany-higgins-a-lying-cow/news-story/7e618ebd71ffdd2ff4ad359a19b3662e
Once again, for the hard of thinking:
“Labor’s immigration horde” is a right wing meme. In truth the intake over the past 2.5 years reflects the pre-existing settings. The biggest numbers are international students – not just new first year enrolments, but the return of 2-4th year students who were not allowed back into the country during Covid.
The coalition bobby-trapped the economy. It is dependent on working students and 457 visa holders to fill in the labour shortage voids caused by the combination of the deliberate destruction of vocational training in this country by successive LNP governments and the inability of governments more generally to grasp what is required to cater for an aging population.
The housing shortage didn’t happen because of migration movements over the past 30 months. The structural issues are intractable in the short term – regardless of what populists like max hyphen says – and in the medium term will actually require, inter alia, a degree of further skilled migration to address.
Labor is doing what it can – in both housing and migration – with what it has available at its disposal – and mindful of the constraints it inherited from near 30 years of uninterrupted LNP misrule (and which will take at least a decade to remedy).
But of course, ‘the politics’ is palpable. Which is why grubs like Piped Piper and PSH bang the drum and lie lie lie about it. It is also why grubs like The Greens political party and LNP triangulate against Labor as well. A pox on all of them.
Pied piper says:
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 7:54 am
Why did Bill Shorten visit Switzerland on taxpayers money?Had nothing to do with the NDIS or his portfolio what so ever.
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His other portfolio is minister for Government services
So what did Higgins ‘defamatory Instagram post’ say?
In response, Ms Higgins argues that her posts to Instagram and Twitter were justified — and will argue they were substantially true.
In July 2023, the former media adviser wrote on her Instagram account: “These are just headlines from today”.
“This is from a current Australian senator who continues to harass me through the media and in the parliament. My former boss who has publicly apologised for mishandling my rape allegation.
“Who has had to publicly apologise to me after defaming me in the workplace? This has been going on for years now. It is time to stop”.
No explanation yet on Shortens rort I see.
Labor brought the students in etc they have been in gov past two years plus not the coalition.Wrong choice a disaster socially for many Australians.
Keep acting as opposition in Government labor and your vote will continue to slide.
Higgins is now using taxpayers money to defend herself.A disgrace that she also brought onto herself.Should of kept her mouth shut regarding Reynolds comments.
Thanks for the dawn patrol work again BK. It’s fascinating how quickly issues dominate the media landscape for 2-3 days then whoosh, they disappear again. The CFMEU debacle was everywhere, some claiming it could be the undoing of the Albanese Goverment (Nadia88 on PB for example) and now it’s been replaced by other media attention herding around flavour of the day issues. The ABC did half a day on US politics after Joe withdrew, now, donuts. The old daily 6pm news cycle we got on TV and in newspapers we read over breakfast are long gone. The www and hand held phone are bombarding us with up to the minute information, but are we less ignorant when truth has become a commodity buried somewhere in a click bait polity. I’m not sure I’m any wiser
Money laundering made simple. BTW, Harris got $5m of that $100m.
The AFP can never find who leaked info but Higgin’s legal team suddenly has evidence?
Sure.
Andrew_Earlwood says:
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 7:59 am
Once again, for the hard of thinking: …..
This is why I return to PB regularly ( not as some would say, ‘like a dog to its vomit’ although the deluded ravings of the CAPITAL CLUB and assorted underlings make it seem like it at times), this précis by A_E is spot on.
If a political party has no interest in governing for the people who pay their salaries, what we have at the moment is a mess like this. Sadly, the general populace is , by dint of having to survive, are receptive to quick fixes and have no time for thought, and the Tories are naturals at using that to maintain a climate of fear and entitlement.
Discovery can be such a drag in the Liberal Slow Moving Train Wreck Show Trial.
The good faith, respect, trust and empathy deficit is total amongst the Liberals.
Go! Reynolds, Higgins, Cash, Joyce, Porter, Tudge, He Who Shall not be Named, Lehrmann, Morrison, Albrechtson, and Dutton.
Reynolds will find her fascinator right next to Lehrmann’s hat.
Shhhhhhhhh do not mention the voice!
Andrew_Earlwood @ #410 Wednesday, July 24th, 2024 – 7:59 am
Once again, for the hard of understanding:
The thing the Sandbaggers from both sides here don’t get is that some of us understand the problem but don’t care whose fault it was. The issue is how to fix it.
Both Liberal and Labor have in the past advocated a “Big Australia” (does no-one here other than me remember KRudd?) and spent years pushing it because it was an easy way to hide their economic mismanagement.
And, just like Fossil Fuels, the problems associated with Big Australia have now come back to bite those who did nothing about them except kick the can further down the road. For decades.
And it is not just Housing, by the way – Australia is suffering a massive and persistent under funding of basic infrastructure of many types. We pissed our wealth up against the wall (or rather, into the pockets of the 0.01%) and as a result we now look like complete idiots. The type of idiots who think the way to fix past bad policies is to implement the same policies again.
So you can attribute blame to both sides. And yes, you can rail against past governments if that is what gets you off.
But some of us would rather look at fixing the issues, and for that we have to look to either the current government, or – more likely, given how glued to previous poor policies the current lot seem to be – the next government.
And your solution is Adam Bandt and his “Robin Hood policy platform” P1 ?
Sir Kid Starver true to form in Charles’ Kingdom, I see.
“CONFIRMED: The 7 Labour MPs who supported lifting the two-child benefit cap have been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Keir Starmer will allow Labour MPs to make transphobic remarks and call them ‘an important voice’ but draws the line at opposing child poverty.”
The housing problem goes back to the Howard-era policies. Negative Gearing, 50% GST, Franking Credits and allowing residential property to be included in Superation Investment. Reform in all these policies is needed. Voters did get it wrong in 2019 as it was ALP policies to reform those policies. Now it is almost impossible to fix those policies.
GST should revert to 100%
Negative Gearing should be reformed to deductions only allowed on each individual property, not a person’s normal income.
Franking Credits should revert to the way they were under the Keating government, that is if a person has paid no tax then they should not receive those Franking Credits.
Residential Houses should not be allowed as part of a Superannuation Fund. While a house is part of a superannuation fund, it does not matter if it is not rented out as the capital growth over twenty years is still quite a good return.
https://www.pollbludger.net/2024/07/21/newspoll-51-49-to-labor-freshwater-strategy-51-49-to-coalition-open-thread/comment-page-9/#comment-4334577
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/latenightlive/richard-ackland-reynolds-higgins-defamation/
Peter Dutton’s Big Nuclear Tax proposal has dropped out of the news cycle, although he did make a visit to Biloela in QLD to stand in an empty dirt yard.
And the so-called Small Modular Reactor concept evokes the idea of a few containers of kit being assembled offsite and trucked to the eventual location.
Unpack, plug into the grid, start it up and off you go – Dutton is pinning his political future on these as yet to be developed SMRs.
There is one SMR being built in China – doesn’t quite fit the image..
A new report from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) has found the nascent state of small modular nuclear reactors (SMR) globally means that a mature market for the technology may emerge in the late 2040s.
SMRs could potentially form part of Australia’s future low-carbon energy mix, utilising existing transmission infrastructure and contributing to baseload power, or providing dispatchable power in a high-renewables grid. As an emerging technology, in 2024 the cost and operational performance of this technology has not yet been demonstrated.
https://www.atse.org.au/what-we-do/strategic-advice/small-modular-reactors-the-technology-and-australian-context-explained/
There is no way known that Trump will debate Harris where structured argumentation is allowed. He is a coward and a flake.
When posters resort to pathetic jibes like “Max hyphen” and “Greens political party” like these are pejoratives it just shows how blinkered they are and it’s hard to take the rest of their points seriously.
Sure Labor has inherited the hand it’s got but it is currently doing nothing substantive to address or reverse growing housing and cost of living costs. It’s allowing problems to turn into crises and then doing too little, too late to address them.
https://www.pollbludger.net/2024/07/21/newspoll-51-49-to-labor-freshwater-strategy-51-49-to-coalition-open-thread/comment-page-9/#comment-4334604
Perhaps more like Thatcher/ Reagan.
Even beer skuller, contribution-based superannuation/ recession we had to have. Taking public assets and making them semi- or all private.
Not that the Rodent HoWARd …
Anyway KRudd24x7 didn’t do himself much good in terms of credibility/ relevance by the whole ‘greatest moral challenge of our time’, let alone not putting Nbnco through Infra Aus.
Subsequently RGR.
And then Tonicchio, Fizza, PM+.
So in some respects ‘… Albo’ seems to be mainly low drama, and 2022 may have featured a small target strategy (I think he’s underwhelming on climate, powershift, health, inequality, governance, wouldn’t vote for him but would put him before the opp), it’ll be interesting what the 2025 promises, policies … team look like.
So far 2PP seems to say scraping in again, or needing to do a Juliar with independents/ minor parties.
Ausminster/ Washminster, for two thirds major parties doesn’t seem focused on have nots, progressing/ advancing Australia, fair, just lobbyists for haves.
I love how critics point the bone at the incumbent but have little or nothing to say about what they would do differently to address cost of living issues etc, not. Pointing the bone and saying x have failed is easy,-any mug can do that MJ.
Andrew_Earlwoodsays:
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 7:59 am
Once again, for the hard of thinking:
_____________________
Not much thinking involved when all you can do is blame the previous govt. That is lazy thinking.
Sandman @ #422 Wednesday, July 24th, 2024 – 9:22 am
Are you confusing me with a Green?
Sandman I’ve already explained what the government to do – it could invest in more public housing, implement policies to encourage houses more generally to be built, place proper taxes on our natural resources. The small measures the govt has proposed on housing is to give the appearance they are doing something when the actual positive effect of these policies is negligible. Not properly addressing this will lead to significant social, economic and political problems in the future and its bad enough now. A supposed social democratic Labor party should be doing more.
sprocket_ @ #426 Wednesday, July 24th, 2024 – 9:36 am
Why not just wait a few more years and surely Nuclear Fusion will be along. Problem solved! 🙂
EDIT: Fusion, not Fission, of course!
I think tax incentives to builders and skilled migrants to prioritise ‘urgent’ housing projects is a good idea. New housing is more important than renovations on the rich dudes coastal mansion.
And Socrates, there’s nothing ‘grandiose’ about the urgent road and rail projects in VIC. Desperately needed to get ease the traffic.
Although written in the 1980s, Charles Perrow’s “Normal Accidents” provides a unique perspective on the Nuclear industry amongst others. Certainly food for thought.
The housing problem must have been exacerbated when those in social housing could buy (thinking my In Laws) their house and no-one thought to replace these with new social housing?
“Greens political party” is not a pejorative, it’s just being precise, and is useful to draw a distinction between what MPs/party reps are doing vs what Greens voters support. As with other political parties, the voters will not be 100% behind the parliamentary/political machinations of their preferred party and the distinction can be important. It may make some Greens supporters a little uncomfortable due to their long-standing portrayal of the Greens political party as being somehow above politics, but it’s just reality.
Feel free to refer to the Liberal political party and the Labor political party – I’m fairly confident no one would blink an eye at that.
Jackol it was clearly being used in a negative way, similar to how Albo uses it. It’s just a way to avoid any valid arguments being raised and resort to mudslinging. If you’ve got an argument make it there’s no need to remind us that that no shit the Greens are a political party. So is Labor, so is LNP there is no point being made.
Holdenhillbillysays:
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 6:43 am
Kamala Harris made the first public speech of her presidential campaign, promising to unite Democrats during a visit to the vital swing state of Wisconsin, and comparing Donald Trump to the sorts of criminals she used to prosecute in California.
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I made the same mistake too. I posted something on Australian politics in the dedicated USA politics thread. While i have no real problem with people posting USA politics here. Just a warning that TM gets very narky over it. As he is extremely pedantic over using of the right thread for a topic.
UK cartoons and other miscellany
Patrick Blower
Martin Rowson
Morten Morland
Guy Venables
Jonsey
Stokoe
Banx
Matt
De An
Ellis Rosen
Jeremy Nguyễn
Garthtoons
Mark Parisi
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Stolen from the internet
FUBARsays:
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 8:45 am
The AFP can never find who leaked info but Higgin’s legal team suddenly has evidence?
Sure.
===================================================
Just shows what you can find if your trying it seems. Though Higgins legal team had a little thing called discovery. Which gave them access to Reynolds phone records. Which would tell them for instance if and when she was in contact with someone like Janet Albrechtsen. The when would give a fair idea of the potential topics. As one can then see what article Albrechtsen published soon afterwards.
Even though the AFP never charged anyone for illegally leaking Higgins phone records from her criminal court case. We know from the defamation case that Lehrmann illegally obtained (presumably from his lawyers in the criminal trial?) those records. Which he then passed on with other illegally obtained material from that trial to Channel 7 (Spotlight producer). He also met with Albrechtsen around that time too. Which is presumably where she obtained the illegal acquired phone transcripts too?
It must always be remembered and emphasised that the Howard Government left us with a structural deficit that successive ALP governments have been unable to change because fixing those policies upsets voters who are now used to them. They scream blue murder if a government tries to take them away. The Howard government is one of Australia’s worst governments ever.
The Howard Govt ended 17 yrs ago Muskie. The Labor party has been in office for just on half of that time.
When do u think these problems from 17 yrs ago will or can be fixed ?
Has Peter Dutton come out of hiding and provided full details and costing of his nuclear thought bubble
Rex
“And Socrates, there’s nothing ‘grandiose’ about the urgent road and rail projects in VIC. Desperately needed to get ease the traffic.”
———————————————————-
How many travel demand models have you calibrated in your career Rex?
I didn’t say do nothing. But a combination of smaller upgrades at bottlenecks, demand management and better public transport, especially more bus services in outer suburban Melbourne, would serve most Victorians far better at a fraction of the cost.
Lars Von Trier.
The ALP tried to fix it when they took those policies to the 2019 election. Unfortunately, they were defeated, so it makes it much harder to rectify.
muskie, deff agree theres going to be a political price to pay as demonstrated by 2019.
My issue is that when I or someone else point out something like “if you want affordable housing then housing prices need to go down” like mr hyphen himself did this week, you get a certain group of Labor supporters coming in and mocking it as robin hood thinking and pie in the sky dreams. Then the same group turns around and claims Labor is the only “Sensible” party, while Labor… claims to be trying to make housing more affordable, but is doing so in such a way to be infective.
I guess I for one am sick to death of polies saying you can have your cake and eat it too, and for the party saying “no you actually cant” to be referred too as idealistic robin hood fae/fairy fools (you havnt said any of that, just noting comments made this 48 hours alone)
Socrates
Incorporating new housing into new rail projects (eg. SRL)is efficient and sensible.
Rex Douglas @ #448 Wednesday, July 24th, 2024 – 11:14 am
Sure it is. Now all you have to do is convince the Fossil Fools.
Rex
I’m not arguing the rail projects. I was thinking of projects more like the Westlink/Monash upgrade in the city, or the scope of North East Link. Others here have convinced me the latter is needed but it could probably be halved in scope and still do the job.
Rozelle interchange would be the paradigm grandiose project in current times.
There is a pressing need to reorganise traffic management in Australian cities to reflect changes to travel patterns with more working from home since Covid. Sounds unexciting, with no ribbon cutting, but would reduce congestion a lot. Those sorts of fixes are not being done sufficiently. Some PS transport agencies no longer have sufficient internal skills to do them.