The Australian reports Labor’s lead in the latest fortnightly Newspoll is up from 56-44 to 58-42. Kevin Rudd’s preferred prime minister rating is up two points to 67 per cent, and Malcolm Turnbull’s is down two to 18 per cent. More to follow.
UPDATE: Graphic here. Rudd has exchanged five points of disapproval (down to 21 per cent) for five of approval (up to 68 per cent), while Turnbull’s disapproval exceeds his approval for the first time (42 per cent to 39 per cent). Also featured are questions on foreign ownership of Australian mineral companies (it’s bad).
Elsewhere:
• The weekly Essential Research survey has Labor’s lead steady at 63-37. The other questions relate to Australia’s international relations, in particular Kevin Rudd’s handling thereof (67 per cent approve), the state of our relations with China and the United States, and the countries respondents feel “are most like Australians in their attitudes and the way they see the world”.
• Perth’s ABC TV news yesterday reported that litigious Queensland mining billionaire Clive Palmer plans to bankroll a campaign by the WA Nationals to win a Senate seat at the next federal election – something they haven’t succeeded in doing since 1975. No word on who the candidate might be. Former Deputy Premier Hendy Cowan didn’t have any luck in 2001, but he did have Graeme Campbell/One Nation to contend with on that occasion. Their subsequent efforts have been half-hearted.
• The ABC reports the WA Nationals are insisting on a precisely fixed date for the state’s elections, contrary to Premier Colin Barnett’s policy of allowing flexibility in the timing of elections in February or March “in case of natural disasters”.
• In yet more Western Australian news, Antony Green has a page up on the state’s May 16 daylight savings referendum. The Poll Bludger’s page on the concurrent Fremantle by-election is in business here.
• The Victorian Parliament’s Electoral Matters Committee will conduct an inquiry into whether the Electoral Act should be amended to expand the scope of the provision prohibiting misleading electoral material. At present this refers expressly to material “likely to mislead or deceive an elector in relation to the casting of the vote”, and is thus narrowly concerned with matters such as how-to-vote cards that deceive voters into backing the wrong party. The Victorian Electoral Commission rejected a complaint from independent Kororoit by-election candidate Les Twentyman about a Labor pamphlet stating that “a vote for Les Twentyman is a vote for the Liberals”, but its report on the by-election suggested parliament consider addressing “an undesirable trend for candidates to take advantage or build on community misunderstandings of preferential voting with confusing statements”.
• Ben Raue at the Tally Room has started an election wiki.
1,460 Comments
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and aren’t parents with kids using Distance Education already provided with either Wireless or Satellite Technology ?
I guess The Age will be trying to find some other non-white Australians who are friends with some Ministers to drag through the mud, especially if they know a Defence Minister. Maybe they will suggest a non-Caucasian friends register for Labor MPs.
So has Helen gone back to her sarcophagus?
Yes, and she took Ruddock with her.
She was a poor minister and I don’t fancy here too much as a Shadow. Surely they have some new blood they can start grooming?
Yes he did, did you notice bree that he said we should face up to global warming, and set up the economy accordingly and make sure there is real progress on aboriginal welfare, basically that he isn’t a right wing twit. A pre Howard liberal.
The other thing about wireless technology is that it will improve over time like all such things. I for one will probably be using wireless in a few months because of its convenience. To use to the 100x uber-pipe you will be bound to home or office.
I hope Melbourne Zoo officials don’t get this Gorilla mixed up with the Member for North Sydney
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/09/2540418.htm?section=justin
Arrr, bullshit. We are on 256k at the moment 8Mbit is 32 times faster, and I’m not so stupid as to think the government should lay fibre to my door at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars.
And what about that twit going on about wireless being better than fibre, what a moron. Could someone tell these twits that what you put down fibre depends on what you put on the end, the fibre doesn’t have to relaid. So much dam ignorance.
And what about the questioner going on about Austrian economic, dam long non question.
What i’m going to get 12mbit, heck that is 46 times faster.
Well perhaps 48 times faster
fredn [Well perhaps 48 times faster]
That’s if no-one else is online in your district.
These words of Conroy’s, spoken in December when bagging Telstra’s wireless proposal, may be used against him:
“The great difference between a fibre optic network and a wireless network is that a wireless network is a shared network,” said Conroy.
“The more people using the same wireless tower, the slower the speeds. You can claim to deliver 14… 21 or LTE in a few years can deliver 50Mbps, but that’s providing you are standing underneath the tower at midnight, and you’re the only person using the network.”
Not the technical reality our country cousins want to hear now, I would suggest …
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/91263,conroy-cans-telstra-wireless-broadband-threats.aspx
That’s probably why 12Mbps is a more realistic goal
Even Big Ted agrees with Rudd
VICTORIAN Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu has joined other state Liberal leaders in expressing support for the Rudd Government’s high-speed broadband plan, undercutting Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull’s attack on the $43 billion project.
“High-speed broadband, infrastructure and jobs are critical to Victoria’s future and we support the fast-tracking of infrastructure initiatives,” Mr Baillieu said yesterday.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/baillieu-undercuts-turnbull-on-broadband-plan-20090409-a251.html
I felt like reaching thru the telly and slapping him. Don’t they vet the questions?
RIP Malcolm
jaundiced view
It all comes down to how much bandwidth is allocated to it and how many channels are available for the hopping. You will note that it is intended for country areas where the population density is low. We will see.
It’s good to see you not in the camp running around saying that some wonder wireless technology will replace cable.
I really can’t fathom the idea that anyone would believe several hundred thousand should be spent getting my little shack connected to optical fibre.
Dario [12Mbps is a more realistic goal]
Anyway, surely it’s fast enough for them slow talkin’, slow typin’ country bumpkins.
Yeeeaaahhh riiiigghhttttttt….hahahahahahaha
LIBERAL powerbroker Michael Kroger was mistakenly recorded betting on the Labor Party by banned bookie Simon Beasley.
Beasley confirmed Mr Kroger’s name appeared alongside a $1500 bet on Kevin Rudd at the juicy odds of $2.60 eight months before the 2007 federal election.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25315467-661,00.html
Darn tootin’!
fredn
That’s right, and the politics of it – limiting the potential for the LNP to bang the bush drum -will ensure that the RuddNet scheme does everything it can technically for those beyond the reasonable reach of the fibres.
Whatever, Malcolm is in the middle of, it ain’t mainstream political thimking.
But they need ibre so they can watch those Beastiality Videos which they class as educational as it it gives them tips on Animal Husbandry
How many times has Turnbull opposed for opposition’s sake now?
Looks like we have the jump on the US, they might get a few tips from Ruddnett.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/us-drawing-up-national-broadband-plan-20090410-a2bj.html
“Under the last administration’s wait-and-see approach, competition disappeared, speeds stagnated, prices went through the roof, and the open Internet was placed in jeopardy.”
hmm sounds familiar. especially the “wait and see approach”
Frank,
Under Ruddnet, your posts will be on PB before you think of them.
A bit sexist Frank, only including the animal husbands
vera
RuddNet must have been a topic of conversation between Kevin and Barack during the recent visit?
Interesting that the Aust plan was described in the release as a “government-controlled national broadband network” .
It would be a first for the US if they also do it as a ‘government controlled’ exercise. They’ll more likely do it under a smokescreen by ‘bailing out’ a struggling telco with enough billions to set up the network. Less chance of being accused of imposing socialism then, even though it amounts to the same thing.
1362′
I havn’t read anything about it since, but on the day the broadband plan was announced someone talking on ABC radio mentioned that the wireless service involves two new dedicated satellites. Dont tell our ‘country cousins’ that though or they’ll want to name them Billy Bob Raingauge and Peggy Sue Backpaddock or something
With all due respect to the posters wrt wireless as a labor supporter I must point out that wireless does not extend much beyond ANY population centre (that does have a mobile tower and not all do) except on the major highways. If you’re any more than a couple of km’s outside a small country town – forget it. Current satellite costs are prohibitive with e.g. an Optus 10GB 512 plan costing $180 a month. If they are going to supply 12 Mb to all who wish it it is going to have to be heavily subsidised.
PAAPTSEF
Yes, I remember satellites being mentioned, but I think it is for areas outside wireless range, as discussed in the article below, such as in Tasmania. Wonder what the costs of satellite will be – they were quite a bit higher than wireless last time I looked.
http://www.crn.com.au/News/100690,conroy-said-regional-areas-to-benefit-from-nbn.aspx
Given the remote Tassie mountain country that would be covered by the two satellites I’d suggest thay be named The Duelling Banjos.
Hewson portrayed Malcom as something of an expert because he set up Ozemail, yet yesterday morning, when talking to Frank Kelly, he referred to 10 meba BYTES and 100 mega BYTES per second.
And did anyone else find Leigh Sayles’ particularly offensive tonight? When will these interviewers begin to realise that their job is not just to ‘trip up’ or embarrass the person they are interviewing. And since when do we as a community, tolerate rudeness and disrespect to our elected officials, just because they are available for interview?
And they’ve already organised the theme music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzae_SqbmDE
1314,
EXACTLY ….. people who live in the bush don’t move there with blinkers on their eyes, they know full well what they are getting into. The government in this instance has agreed to improve their service(s) {as I understand it} and has NOT guaranteed them the same thing that Bill Smith gets in Parramatta. IF they want what Bill Smith has in Parramatta, they can go live in Parramatta already.
Except if they’re National Party Members
William & GG,
that will make William’s spam filter obsolete
……
Showson the question country people will be asking asking is “will I be able to get 12Mbps?”. Despite assurances in the past of improved internet access for country people in the past there has been little and in many cases no improvements. Many are still havinmg to rely on 56kbps dial up.
1386,
Frank, same thing applies. No one forces them to vote Liberal or National (or in my instance, Labor). I know full well what I am getting myself into and have made that choice. If they want something that the Nationals can’t or won’t deliver they ought to vote for the party(ies) who can deliver what they want
Re 1388, sorry was referencing Frank’s post in 1385, not my unrelated post in 1386 …
Frank @ 1381 – great old clip – you can see a poor pathetic fellow in the background dancing loose and wild, just like M Turnbull does these days to the music played to him by his party’s right wing.
Is Turnbull playing to keep the right happy? Do we know his views? I assumed that he was naturally more moderate than the rest and on that basis would be a good thing for the Liberals.
But if the right make it impossible for him to be an acceptable candidate then he is better off quitting the job and letting someone else try their hand. Let the Liberals see how shallow their gene pool is. But I guess it won’t work, some of those guys would self destruct rather than give up their views.
The Financial Review was pretty scathing of the broadband plan in its 8th April editorial and other commentary.
I’m in two minds about it, but leaning toward cautious support. On the other hand, the Government is building Telstra 2.0 which really doesn’t make much sense given that you could renationalise Telstra for much less since it already holds 16%.
TP –
Yes, just like his predecessor IMO. And yes, the Alex Hawkes would “self destruct rather than give up their views”. Heard of David Clark in NSW? Read about his performance at a Vietnamese art exhibition in W Sydney recently?
I’ll sign off with the SMH following up strongly on the Dobell electorate Thompson/ health Services Union allegations:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/how-a-union-boss-won-the-dobell-prize-20090409-a27o.html
It’s going to get hot for Thompson, with three main elements the allegations. Any breach of union rules probably won’t matter much. However, a breach of the electoral laws would be a real problem. Thirdly, if he paid prostitutes with his credit card, well it sure beats a trip to a strip club in the pantheon of ‘imperfect but humanising behaviour’. If Kevin threatens to sack him Thompson can just quote Rudd’s words from 2007 after the strip club story, anf he should be OK:
A serious electoral breach is potentially the worst as an adverse finding may disqualify him, as I understand it, although I’ll have to look it up.
No 1391
TP, Turnbull has run an internet business so it’s fair to assume that he has some idea of the costs involved in running such a business.
Frankly, the Government would be much better off by just being honest about the fact that no commercial return could ever be attained.
Well that may end up being part of the solution and part of the plan. If they get it through the Senate then the Govt will have the whip hand over Telstra. The message is loud and clear from the Govt toward Telstra now, don’t play games with us or else.
Sol is probably happy he got his squillions and is gone.
No 1395
The thing is – the ALP never supported the sell-off of the telecommunications behemoth (more for political reasons than anything else, given Keating’s history of selling Government assets), and are now planning to recreate a government telco behemoth in the form of the NBN.
There’s a lot of irony in all of this, to be frank. And a lot of money is going to be spent. I think people have lost all capacity to fathom what $1 billion is anymore, given how many tens of billions Rudd is spending.
1392 Telstra will offer it’s existing fibe optic network to become a partner in the new network, the same as Optus has. Otherwise they’ll just see themselves become irrelevent.
SNIP: Defamatory comment deleted. The member is warned. – The Management.
It is difficult to say on commercial returns. 100mbs and above is transformational. It enables and probably will lead to much greater usage as people take it for the solution to all things and create new things for it to be used for. It will certainly lead to a market for new consumer toys.
Like I said earlier the multiplier affect of something like this is hard to predict. We can compare it to dial-up and broadband, dirt roads and concrete highways.
I suspect that in the end home consumer take up will be very high simply because the gee whiz things that will evolve from it.
No 1399
Perhaps – and I’m a person that loves all things technological, but one must recognise that this is an enormous $43 BILLION hunch. There is no transparency from the government at all on how it is justifying the costs and on what basis it is predicting a commercial return.
The SMH is now reporting that Conroy wants a sell-down provision mandated by legislation.
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