Matters related thereto
Roy Morgan has spared the government a new set of poll results this week, presumably holding over last weekend’s face-to-face results for a combined two weeks’ result to be published next week. So here’s some stuff that has accumulated during my recent period of indolence:
• The federal parliament’s Joint Standing Committee of Electoral Matters brought down its report into the 2010 federal election a fortnight ago. One noteworthy innovation is a less pompous report title, “The 2010 Federal Election: Report on the conduct of the election and related matters” replacing the traditional formulation of “Report on the conduct of the (insert year) federal election and matters related thereto”. Antony Green summarises its recommendations here; now that my holidays are over I’ll shortly get around to reviewing it and will have more to say after I’ve fully absorbed it.
• One of the majority report’s recommendations was that the federal government follow the example of New South Wales and Victoria in allowing government records such as drivers licences, vehicle registration and Year 12 school enrolments to be used to automatically update the electoral roll. However, this is opposed in the dissenting JSCEM report from the committee’s Coalition members, for reasons I do not find persuasive. Antony Green has reviewed the impact of such measures in New South Wales since their introduction last year, observing that only 12 per cent of the 70,000 people whose enrolments have been added or updated have taken the trouble to enrol the old-fashioned way for the federal electoral roll. His conclusion: “On the evidence so far, by the time of the next commonwealth election in the second half of 2013, there could be as many as 200,000 voters enrolled for NSW elections and eligible to vote at commonwealth elections who will be missing from the commonwealth roll or be enrolled at the wrong address.”
• Draft electoral redistribution boundaries have recently been published for both our nation’s territory parliaments. Antony Green surveys the results for the Northern Territory here and the Australian Capital Territory here. An ACT redistribution would normally be of minor interest, as the territory is only divided into three electorates for purposes of a regionally based system of proportional representation, but Antony asserts that in this case the changes are radical enough to be of substantial interest, and in particular to put at risk the fourth seat the Greens won at the 2008 election. For the Northern Territory, Antony has calculated new margins for each of the 25 seats, with the caveat that the enormous sitting member factors which result from pocket-sized electorates of 4000 to 5000 voters make party-based margins less reliable than usual.
• There has been much talk lately about the possibility of an incoming Coalition government calling an early double dissolution election should it meet Senate resistance from its efforts to abolish a carbon tax. Tony Abbott’s argument to those concerned about the resulting uncertainty and expense is that opposing its repeal in the Senate would be politically suicidal for a defeated Labor Party, a case pursued by Queensland legal academic James Allan in The Australian.
There was a fair bit of material I had been compiling on Western Australian matters to coincide with a looming quarterly state Newspoll, but I was caught on the hop when it was published a month earlier than I’d anticipated.
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Categories: Federal Politics 2010-, Western Australian Politics
Fulvio,
He went quietly.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:14 am
Like a coward. I call that doing a bolt.
by Fulvio Sammut on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:15 am
tlbd,
Actually the French press isn’t chauvinistic in that regard. There is, of course, support for the French riders with the running questions being will a French rider win a stage and how long will Thomas Voeckler be able to stay in yellow. Cadel Evans is popular here as are the Schlecks for example. People love the Tour for the spectacle.
by Scarpat on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:16 am
85 dead, SO FAR, on Utøya.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:17 am
Scarpat,
I wasn’t suggesting jingoism. I just thought that there were two or three French young’uns who did really well.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:18 am
Norwegian PM knew some victims personally. S’pose so, it was a Young Labour event.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:19 am
An automatic rifle. Must have run out of rounds.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:20 am
There may be more than one culprit. BBC
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:21 am
tlbd,
Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that were suggesting jingoism. Pierre Rolland was highlighted for the work he did for Thomas Voeckler even before he won the Alpe d’Huez stage. There were others as well who made long breakaways.
by Scarpat on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:24 am
Amy Winehouse found dead. Will she be missed?
by Dario on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:26 am
Scarpat,
I hope a French rider, the first since Hinault (?), will do what Evans is about to do for us.
It must be the one country where cycling is more of a passion than football.
Back in Denmark, I used to go and watch the 6-day races. Are they still going in Europe?
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:27 am
Dario,
Felo de se?
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:28 am
Re frogs and snails
________________
I heard a french chef say on a TV program that snails and frogs were only eaten in earlier times by peasants in times of great famine and hunger
Oddly in modern times they have come to be seen as “French” but are not really popular at all.
I have eaten frogs legs.which taste like chicken,bland and…why bother?
..snails I think are like bits of gristle…awful…
Stick to real french things like “Coq au Vin” or “Tripe a
la mode de Caen” tripe cooked in apple brandy
by deblonay on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:28 am
Now, ABC95 turns to NSW 7.5. Losers!
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:29 am
Her Record Company will be rubbing their hands with glee
expect a few of her singles re-entering the charts.
by Frank Calabrese on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:29 am
Mark Colvin has no clue re Blues Voices:
by Frank Calabrese on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:31 am
tlbd,
The Amstel Gold race is still going and I think one of the races in France preceding the Tour de France is a 6 dayer.
by Scarpat on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:32 am
Hahahaha
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/747869-Stage-20-Saturday-July-23-43-km-Grenoble?p=12974236&viewfull=1#post12974236
by Dario on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:35 am
Que?
by Dario on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:37 am
BBC thinks today’s TT has not taken place yet.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:38 am
Dario,
Lierally, “fall by self”
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:39 am
Dario,
Funny how they’re saying Andy failed. He bloody well didn’t; he tried his best.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:41 am
Er ok. Well off to bed now… WD CADEL!
by Dario on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:42 am
http://www.news.com.au/national/julias-locals-revolt-after-carbon-tax/story-e6frfkvr-1226100559206
by James J on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:43 am
Did Amy do herself in?
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:44 am
Let’s face it, if the Murdoch Press could twist the Oslo story into their own political meme they would not hesitate… and the Sun (UK) did jump the gun on the presumption of Islamic terrorism.
It now appears that Oslo has suffered under the hand of a far right nutter… the kind of fool who would probably enjoy reading the Murdoch press and listening to the likes of Alan Jones to fill their hearts with hate.
It really is time for Murdoch to go away…
by Tobe on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:48 am
Blues? Winehouse will forever be remembered as someone who used melisma to a nauseating degrees and who ripped off Motown beats.
Back to Black is one of the most over rated albums I’ve ever heard (and the engineering itself is terrible, it is one of those modern CDs that is just fatiguing to listen to).
by ShowsOn on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:52 am
Tobe,
The Norwegian police is saying he may not have acted alone.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:52 am
Tobe,
Agree. The headline the French newspaper, Le Figaro, reads “Norway : the alleged killer detests multiculturalism”.
by Scarpat on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:54 am
The Norwegians are a non-aggro people. They speak softly, they have a burgeoning economy, they do well at sports, They are respected internationally.
Bit like Oz.
Their press does not try to suborn their government.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:57 am
TLBD… then replace “nutter” with “bunch of nutters”
by Tobe on Jul 24, 2011 at 2:59 am
Great Music for a Paris celebration
_________________________
http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/39335905
by deblonay on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:01 am
How would you explain it then?
by Tobe on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:04 am
Tobe,
I do not know how the Norwegian press works. Their top paper, Aftenbladet, does not seem to be a political would-be.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:07 am
deblonay,
http://tinyurl.com/cw9ybp
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:09 am
Hey black duck, I am not making a direct comparison… but the danger is there, and the shock jocks and Murdock press have no compulsion about treading on the hate nerve…
by Tobe on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:10 am
In Norway? No, it won’t happen there.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:11 am
They’re so unsubtle about manufacturing ‘news’!
by rishane on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:13 am
If the Norwegian labour party has a record of who registered for the “retreat” they will get an accurate count of how many were murdered.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:16 am
I am talking about the danger of it happening here. The right wing freak out HAS happened there.
by Tobe on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:17 am
rishane,
In Chrome, I blocked news.com.au and Rupe’s other bits. Happy days. “Murdoch Block”
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:17 am
Tobe,
Here? Who knows! If it does, Tony Abbott and his crowd in the media are going down big-time.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:19 am
Ethics committee found FIFA bloke guilty of bribery. Banned for life.
Who will ban the the rest of them for life?
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:28 am
England cricket on top in Test 1 v India is more news worthy than Cadel.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:29 am
This little black duck @ 1687
Yes, after she saw the polls for Lalor.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/julias-locals-revolt-after-carbon-tax/story-e6frf7jo-1226100460630
by Frankie V. on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:30 am
What Comedy – NOT.
by Frank Calabrese on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:31 am
Frank,
Frankie V is a known regular. Round file.
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:33 am
The standings are out tdF http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/2000/classement/index.html
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:35 am
It’s “Balance” according to our host.
Go Figure.
by Frank Calabrese on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:35 am
83 hours 45 minutes 20 seconds. Time trials, Pyrenees, Alps. Well done!
by This little black duck on Jul 24, 2011 at 3:36 am