Newspoll: 57-43 to Coalition
A bad result for the government in the latest fortnightly Newspoll, with the Coalition’s two-party lead out from 54-46 to 57-43. The primary votes are 28 per cent for Labor (down three) and 47 per cent for the Coalition (up four). Julia Gillard at least has the consolation that her personal ratings have improved from the previous fortnight’s dismal result, with her approval up three to 31 per cent and disapproval down four to 58 per cent. Tony Abbott’s ratings are unchanged at 32 per cent approval and 58 per cent disapproval, and there is likewise essentially no change on preferred prime minister (Gillard leads 40-37, up from 39-37).
Another consolation for Labor is the possibility that a bit of static might be expected from a poll conducted over the same weekend as a state election such as the one in Queensland. They can be fortified in this view by the fact that their standing improved in this week’s Essential Research poll, the most recent weekly component of which was conducted over a longer period than Newspoll (Wednesday to Sunday rather than Friday to Sunday). Very unusually, given that Essential is a two-week rolling average, this showed a two-point shift on two-party preferred, with the Coalition lead shrinking from 56-44 to 54-46. Given that Essential spiked to 57-43 a fortnight ago, and the sample which sent it there has now washed out of the rolling average, this is not entirely surprising. Labor’s primary vote is up two to 34 per cent, and the Coalition’s is down one to 47 per cent. Further questions featured in the poll cover the economy, its prospects, best party to handle it and personal financial situation (slightly more optimism than six months ago, and Labor up in line with its overall improvement since then), job security, Kony 2012, taking sickies and the impact of the high dollar.
Categories: Federal Politics 2010-
OPT @1394: absolutely re Downfall version . Anyone here know how to make one?
by Marrickville Mauler on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:28 am
Boerwar
I suspect Stutchbury jumped ship because he knew what was coming!
by victoria on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:29 am
OO and Aunty are joined at the hip, Boerwar.
by joe2 on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:29 am
The richest irony about all this News Ltd Piracy story from the AFR today is that one James Murdoch once said this;
http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s2718294.htm
But hacking a competitor then putting the hacking details on-line so punters can pirate one’s competitors product for free? Well that’s OK apparently? Fine and dandy in Murdoch-land?
In fact you then ride in over the former destroyed competitors share holders detritus and then buy the destroyed competitor for SFA apparently. As Smithe said before – even the Mafia/Cosa Nostra could learn from this lot if this all stacks up.
Hypocrisy thy name is Murdoch? They are an ethics free zone? Totally morally bankrupt?
by grantplant on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:31 am
Murdoch/News Ltd piracy story is the lead i]at the SMH web site at the moment;
http://www.smh.com.au/business/pay-tv-piracy-hits-murdoch-20120328-1vxfw.html
by grantplant on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:33 am
Grantplant,
Goes with the right-wingedness.
by Cuppa on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:33 am
Good Morning, Bludgers!
Newman is busy decapitating Public Service deparment heads and cutting back services. Just another day in paradise!
Can’t wait till he starts getting serious.
by Space Kidette on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:34 am
what would it take for the govt to announce a Royal Commission?
by victoria on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:34 am
smith @ 1367
I know – I’m just having a bit of fun playing devil’s advocate. Give someone nothing to lose and they might end up biting you.
No doubt Bligh’s husband (who I know nothing about btw) is too honest and diligent to consider what I suggested but it’s probably what can-do deserves.
by Think Big on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:36 am
The Australian continues its recent run of reporting climate change stuff more or less reasonably.
The latest article in ‘Bleak city reputation to go as rain dries up.’ It is a report on the report of the Victorian state government on what is going to happen in Victoria as emissions go up. Straight down the line, although the subbie is apparently supping from the glass half full.
But, ‘The Australian’ still feels it is necessary to give the Greens a passing and rather unfair kick in the pants.
I believe that makes five, maybe six articles by The Australian in a row which does not attack AGW climate science. I checked the Deltoid site and there have been no new entries there, either.
This can’t be an accident. It just has to reflect a change in editorial policy on AGW reporting. IMHO, The Australian owes its readers an explanation for this sea change. Why has it stopped supporting deniers? Why has it stopped undermining global scientific orthodoxy by cherry picking, snarking, and giving space to AGW science kook fringsters?
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:36 am
In conjunction with the Lizard People at News Ltd. newspapers, and the shock jocks (particularly at 2GB), they have created a Frankenstein’s Monster.
Some highlights…
* Abbott started the ball rolling during the Republic Referendum campaign by telling the punters that they couldn’t trust a politician to appoint a President (although, concerning Governors-General, this was exactly what has always happened since Federation).
* An obscure but recent article in the DT attacking police men and women in NSW who were on permanent sick and stress leave due to workplace incidents (shootings, stabbings, bashings, emotional distress after viewing horrendous crime scenes etc.). They were going to cost Barry O’Farrell $900 million in compensation to get rid of. The Rent-a-Whinge comment crowd went to town on the boys in blue, with one of them advising coppers to “get a real job, running a small business {like she did} and then see what stress was really like…”. I’ve always been convinced this was a barometer article, to see whether the usually police-friendly mob that comments at the DT could be turned against anything, even their heroes. It worked. However, police stories are ‘back on the beat’ now, but it was an interesting experiment.
* Numerous “Peter ‘The Rat’ Slipper” articles and illustrations, complete with wig, gown, whiskers, pointy ears and long rat’s tail… front page. Another nasty Slipper story today.
* Constant, relentless, unceasingly vicious references to “clowns”, “bozos”, “ratbags” in the government, and anyone who is seen to support them e.g. Tim Flannery, Peter Slipper, Oakeshotte, Windsor, on 2GB, righ down to the minutae.
* Anything to do with Craig Thomson, whether or not it involves trashing the reputations of the FWA or the AFP. Similar trashings of Treasury, Environment and other government departments are par for the course.
News Ltd., 2GB (and syndicated stations) and the Coalition did this, in my opinion, in order to “soften up” the government for an early 2011 election, which has not occurred.
To keep up the pressure they have continued the onslaught. The result has been a general loss of confidence and optimism in the minds of many voters and citizens. Like Boerwar I agree that it’s a two-edged sword and can be just as easily used against the Tories as it is against Labor.
The only winners in any of this are the shock-jock stations, and to a much more significant degree, News Ltd.
News Ltd. is destroying Australia so that it can be rebuilt in the image that Murdoch has for it. They are white-anting governance itself, with a view to substitution their particularly malignant form of corporatism. It’s a take over bid, pure and simple.
VERY much like what they have done to their Pay TV competitors: trash the brand and the cashflow with dirty tricks, then move in for the kill.
by Bushfire Bill on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:36 am
Significant additional long term debt perhaps?
Oh, but that’s bad!
by BK on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:37 am
DavidWH,
“Newman on the ABC this morning sent a pretty clear message that electricity prices won’t be going up 50pc regardless of what the interim report recommends.”
I made exactly the same point as you yesterday and I am diagonally opposite you politically. Yet I got accused of being all sorts of low life conservative. Oh dear! And it got me banned from Frank’s even though I didn’t – and don’t – post anything there. Think I’m in pretty good company on that one. While I would be over the moon if someone like Newman would be stupid enough to raise costs by 50% in one hit – ever, it was never a possibility. Making wild, unsubstantiated claims followed up by the sort of abuse Ruawake is capable of (although he would need to be very, very careful doing that to my face) doesn’t achieve anything.
While I don’t think the cretinous Ruawake is likely to be cranking back on this ridiculous 50% claim, I think the first Newman meltdown can’t be that far off. While the allegations against him didn’t get very far, you can bet your bottom dollar there was some substance somewhere and it will find it’s way to the surface at some point.
by Roy Orbison on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:37 am
‘The Australian’ still does not have the story. What are they afraid of?
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:38 am
Well its great timing by state libs. The following is Kohlers take of developments around the world on climate change action and how Australia fits in.
Sorry for the long article but it requires (free) registration to access otherwise.
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/carbon-tax-climate-change-greenhouse-gas-reduction-pd20120328-SSRLW?OpenDocument&src=mp
by dave on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:38 am
Poroti over what period is the NBN infrastructure cost being recovered? I dont think the capital cost is being recovered in proposed pricing models.
It’s worth reading the QCA web site from the link I provided yesterday. The Bligh government set this situation up and I agree it will be a real test for Newman how he handles the situation. He may end up surprising you.
by DavidWH on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:39 am
BB @ 1410
I would add the trashing of government insitutions such as Treasury as being a serious component of trashing brand government.
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:40 am
Someone quite senior in the Fin this morning wrote that the US may get around to imposing a carbon tax to balance the increasingly parlous state of their books. The carbon abatement would be incidental!
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:42 am
Roy I appreciated your comments yesterday. Newman will have his good days and bad days however it’s what he achieves overall that counts in the end.
by DavidWH on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:42 am
dave
Somewhere amongst Mr Abbott’s many and varied statements on Opposition climate policy are wtte that the cost of the DAP will not be increased. In other words the target is no 5%/2020 but to spend the DAP allocation!
So Mr Kohler’s assertion is based on the false premise that the Coalition is serious about 5% by 2020.
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:44 am
Sooner or later, prob (based on ‘previous’) the former, he’ll be sent back to his tinnie & try to return with another ID.
by OzPol Tragic on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:45 am
Boerwar @ 1413;
The truth?
by grantplant on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:46 am
Well, ‘The Australian’ must be on the move. It has added a story on ‘Father sues school over child’s Afro’ to its list of breaking news.
Still not that other stuff, but.
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:46 am
I confidently expect all the shock jocks, smart-arse commentariat, SkyNews ‘journos’ and political hucksters to get themselves into a rightieous froth over the lack of any process for Mr Newman to appoint his cronies.
Remember all the lather when Ms Gillard appointed Mr Gonski.
How about some goose/gander?
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:51 am
Newman may be tempted to do a Labor payback. After all when Goss came in ALL the senior staff were put in a tin shed and told to cut out newspaper clippings until they go fed up and resigned – at least that is the story.
Sound like he trying NOT to be seen to do that – mind you they are all on contracts now.- Easy to remove over time.
by daretotread on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:52 am
@DavidWH
I don’t think there is a set term being recovered, but the expected return rate is 7%.
&
The Construction is for 10 Years
The Telstra Deal is for 30 Years
by zoidlord on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:52 am
SK
The people of Qld have spoken. good luck!
by victoria on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:53 am
dave
re Bongiornos tweet:
The excuse of Baillieu (and possibly the others?) is that if the Feds are looking after climate, no need for the states to do anything.
Apart from the whacky logic of this, if Tone abandons pricing carbon federally, we’ve bombed.
by lizzie on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:53 am
My bet is I will get no response..
by joe2 on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:54 am
Welcome to the Frankly Banned Club, Roy. I was also banned for something written here. There’s a real early-Bolshevik atmosphere at A Frank View, which is disappointing… what with secret committees of faceless invigilators, cyber death warrants being issued in absentia, firing squads lining traitors up against the wall come the Revolution, and all the sloganeering and hectoring.
They don’t seem to realise that hackery of the sort they practice turns people off to their cause, not on to it, especially if the target is only loosely attached in the first place. I’m pretty rusted on, so I’m immune to it, but others may not be so.
I’m sure their counter to this would be that doubters such as yourself, myself and the rest of The Banned would only pollute the purity of Frankenism anyway, so we’re no loss at all. Our crime? Criticising a Glorious Commissar. Only True Revolutionaries, indoctrinated in the ways of the latest encyclical from Party Central are wanted at Frank’s (making “Bilbo” and “Man-Boy” snarks is always looked on favourably too).
You end up with half a dozen cowering Commentchiks too scared to say anything for fear of being taken out into the yard and put down like the running dogs they are.
It’s a hell of a business model. YThe Survivors comprise a pure, undiluted kernel, true, but too tiny to have any effect on anything. Quite cultist, actually.
by Bushfire Bill on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:55 am
http://stephenkoukoulas.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/rba-to-deliver-february-interest-rate.html
by victoria on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:55 am
That was in there somewhere between the FWA and the Dept. of Environment, I think.
by Bushfire Bill on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:57 am
This stuff makes an absolute mockery of the internal investigation carried out in Australia. The reaonsable conclusion was that it was a white-wash effort. Time for a real, independent, robust investigation covered by Royal Commission powers.
After all, if the allegations are true, we have an illegal organisation aimed at removing democratically governments.
The issues here are not simply commerical issues. They go to the heart of our democracy.
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 11:59 am
Boerwar 1423 this may make you feel better
Newman’s LNP pals named for plum posts
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/lnp-pals-named-for-plum-posts/story-fnbt5t29-1226311869898
Also you may find this interesting
.State Election 2012
Former Queensland premier Anna Bligh ups anchor to maintain her wage
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/bligh-ups-anchor-to-maintain-her-wage/story-fnbt5t29-1226311853282
These things cut both ways.
by DavidWH on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:00 pm
BB
The Coalition have behaved in the manner you’d expect them to in regard to Craig Thomson – badly. They could have kept questioning the time taken without the individual attacks but then I guess with Brandis and EricA at it you get what you get.
When the matters finished I’d expect the FWA would be expecting the broom to be put through them whatever party is in government – the time this has taken to be finalised is just not good enough by a long shot.
by CTar1 on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Yes. It’s this classic 19th century master-Servant stuff the Tories like getting their rocks-off on. “Me-master…you-servant. When I say jump. You say how high. Savvy?”
All well and good in Dickens’ time but times have moved-on a bit.
Courts and IR quasi-judicial bodies now also look at things from the Servant’s side as well. Actually, they’ve been doing so for quite a while now and the poor old Tories just haven’t been able to get their tiny heads around it.
Many an unreasonable employer will want to get rid of someone they regard as a ‘difficult employee’. These are often just people who stand up for their rights in the workplace. We all know examples. They could be anyone from a person who asks why he of she has to jump at all in order to fulfull the duties attached to their job description (which says nothing about acrobatics, but quite a lot about competent and efficient Engineering Drafting); Or why he or she can’t join a union at that workplace; Or why the Bosses’ boots need to be licked each and every morning-rather than just every second morning; Or why she has to perform demeaning duties like clean the bosses’ sink and toilet daily when she’s employed as an Engineer and not an office cleaner and she’s the only female engineer in the office to boot.
What many such Neanderthal employers fail to take into account is that what they might see as perfectly reasonable conduct will often be seen as bullying or victimisation of a pretty awful kind by a Court or Commission.
And when their cruddy conduct finally breaks the employee and forces him or her to resign in disgust, they’re amazed when Courts have no trouble at all in seeing things for what they really are: A constructive dismissal, a worker being forced out by the conduct of an Employer.
It’s a right head-spinner for a Tory.
by smithe on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:02 pm
zoidlord I understand that but the government has the final say on over what timeframe they recover capital costs. This is basically what Newman has promised to do with water infrastructure cost recovery to lessen the pain for consumers. It looks like he will have to do something similar with the power infrastructure.
by DavidWH on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Scott’s ABC website http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/ should be renamed http://www.abc.net.au/news/justignored/
by BK on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Boerwar
Hartigan did an internal investigation. Announced that News in Australia was squeaky clean and then he was given his marching orders
by victoria on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:03 pm
BK
Touche
by victoria on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Now if SeweRoo (glad you people are taking to the nick i gave him) knew in advance that his chickens were about to return home, and they would be the size of emus and were about to kick his shithouse down, then he would probably have got rid of Mr (we’re cleanskins) Hartigan.
Especially after he had just delivered a huge verbal spray to the Mr Finkelstein.
But then maybe Mr Hartigan was not aware that SeweRoo was busy undermining his competitors here in Oz.
I wonder what Mr Hartigan would have to say now in light of the AFR revelations about his master.
I guess nothing as myrmidons are always Myrmidons and they usually receive a severance payment that entitles them to shut their gobs.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-18/holmes-winners-all-round-as-news-ltd-face-media-inquiry/3678792
by Gaffhook on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:05 pm
Do people get banned elsewhere for what they write here? Classic
No point me trying to join up.
by DavidWH on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Joe2
Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 11:54 am | Permalink
My bet is I will get no response..
Mark Scott @abcmarkscott · Open
Huge AFR coverage of News Corp/payTV piracy story, including the release of thousands of emails for crowd sourcing http://bit.ly/Hg5vyf
Joe2 @eatatjoe2 Close
@abcmarkscott why then is ABC News totally neglecting coverage of this enormously important local matter, sir?]
I know I am not Mark Scott(thank heavens) but I replied to you Joe
by mari on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Gasp!
In breaking national news on The Australian’s web site there is an important breaking story. About a bloke who secretly filmed his female co-workers.
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:08 pm
On the basis that QLD Labor needs all the support it can get at the moment, I have just posted my application for membership of the South Brisbane branch. I do hope I can offer some assistance to what may be a long and difficult rebuilding process. And on the other hand if Campbell very quickly blows his own feet off (as I suspect he is utterley capable of) I would like a front row seat at the hanging.
by Boinzo on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:08 pm
v
It is all good.
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:09 pm
I suspect some severe introspection is occurring at the OO at the moment.
by BK on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:09 pm
DavidWH
The plan with the NBN is to funnel expected returns back into the extension of the network – which effectively means that it will fund itself.
Haven’t had the time to look for you, but the NBN site answers questions like that and is fairly easy to navigate.
by zoomster on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Boinzo
Well done.
by victoria on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:11 pm
SkyNews still agog at the drones story. What about the internal hunter killer drones firing hellfire missiles at commercial integrity and political processes?
De nada.
by Boerwar on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:12 pm