Comments on: Newspoll: 54-46 to Labor in SA

By: bob1234

bob1234 — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:05:07 +0000

Regarding the whole green vote thingy…

There was a 5 point drop in the Libs primary vote and a corresponding 5 point rise in the Greens, which means there was about a 4 point shift from Liberal to Labor and then again from Labor to Green with maybe a point going straight from blue to green if these numbers followed the actual voting shift pattern that we have historically seen around the country over the last 6 years or so.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/2008/12/20/sa-state-newspoll-%e2%80%93-weird-numbers/

By: bob1234

bob1234 — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:24:50 +0000

THE former Howard government does not owe one-time terror suspect Dr Mohamed Haneef an apology, despite an inquiry finding he was wrongfully arrested and detained, the opposition says.

–

Instead, Mr Rudd should say sorry to Mr Andrews for criticising his handling of the case.

–

Opposition attorney-general spokesman George Brandis said the report proved the former government had done nothing wrong and “comprehensively exonerated” Mr Andrews.

–

And, he added, any move to extend an apology to Dr Haneef was a matter for the current government.

–

Wow. Just wow. I didn’t realise before today that a fence could have more than two sides to it!

But yes, rather off-topic.

By: Judith Barnes

Judith Barnes — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:19:30 +0000

i hope this isnt too far off topic –but am i the only one gobsmacked by Brandis’s effontry here?

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24837268-5005962,00.html

By: Judith Barnes

Judith Barnes — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:10:08 +0000

Robert Sykes–just what has Chris Sumner got to do with it????? Bob i agree with you, when you compare the Rann government to the previous government it’s no contest, i’ve had dealings with and friends in both sides of politics and i know which one i prefer to deal with, sigh, i used to be a swinging voter once upon a time.

By: feral sparrowhawk

feral sparrowhawk — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:13:22 +0000

Brian Walters, if you see left-right as about labour versus capital then yes the Greens don’t fit. But I’m not sure that’s really what it has ever been about. After all the terms evolved around the time of the French Revolution, well before Marx.

I’d say Left represents people who think that power (including wealth) is too unevenly distributed and action needs to be taken to even up the balance. Right means people who think either that the inequalities of power are actually desirable, or more often that they’re not but that the unintended negative consequences of actions generally outweigh the benefits.

Of course on this basis very few people are always Left or Right, most vary by the issue, but I’d say if you do use that definition then the Greens sit pretty clearly on the Left. Which explains why the bulk of the voters the Greens collect are either past Labor voters, or people who would have voted Labor if the Greens did not exist when they first voted.

Bringing this back to the thread topic, if the Green vote has jumped 5%, some of that will be people who would have backed the Liberals in the last poll, but I’d be very surprised if it was outside the range that usually happens – ie 15-35%.

By: fredex

fredex — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:55:59 +0000

He gets better the older we get.

And I mean that in more than one sense.

By: Peter Fuller

Peter Fuller — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:05:23 +0000

I miss Donny D.

Don’t we all TPS!

By: The Piping Shrike

The Piping Shrike — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:20:26 +0000

A time when the southern beachside suburbs swung to the most progressive government the country’s ever seen. Sigh.

By: The Piping Shrike

The Piping Shrike — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:12:52 +0000

I miss Donny D.

By: bob1234

bob1234 — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 22:38:57 +0000

I said competent, not inspiring. And whilst I agree with you, we’re not exactly in the 1970s anymore where social progressiveness is desperately needed. But it would be good.