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-
Spacey,
On this particular issue it is père and not fils who is to go down. Leveson and the Culture Committee will drown fils.
by This little black duck on Mar 29, 2012 at 12:50 am
pursuing, doh
by Fulvio Sammut on Mar 29, 2012 at 12:50 am
Goodnight all, sweet dreams.
by Space Kidette on Mar 29, 2012 at 1:03 am
So, how does this work?
The Headline:
In the actual story:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/slash-and-burn-budget-on-the-way-says-swan/story-fn7x8me2-1226312891682
WTF??
by imacca on Mar 29, 2012 at 1:50 am
bob carr writes a lot (still cant get used to bob carr FM – and not stephen smith – BC is a prima donna) – anyway, somewhere i am sure he said something like main aim of getting into politics and being there was to stop the left wing or socialists or something. so another dlp type.
by geoffrey on Mar 29, 2012 at 1:51 am
Mod Lib,
Santorum will be caught in bed with a rent boy
by cud chewer on Mar 29, 2012 at 2:22 am
imacca: that sounds like grounds for complaint to ACMA to me.
by Danny Lewis on Mar 29, 2012 at 6:21 am
Barry Cassidy on ABC Breakfast now discussing Pay TV hacking now…
“Why does it matter? Foxtel wants to take over Austar, potential police investigation, and just more bad news.”
by Bushfire Bill on Mar 29, 2012 at 6:48 am
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
David Rowe poignantly looks at the difficulties of the UN.
http://www.afr.com/p/home/cartoon_gallery_david_rowe_1g8WHy9urgOIQrWQ0IrkdO
And here’s george’s latest efforts on Murdoch.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64041833@N04/6877053670/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64041833@N04/6877154872/in/photostream
Can’t do too much this morning as I’m off to do a full day’s work on the flatlands.
by BK on Mar 29, 2012 at 6:55 am
So Cassidy can’t see how it matters eh?
It’s the “Well, he’s buying the place, so so what?” Defence.
Hmmmm. Well, Barry, to put it as simply as possible so that you can understand, suppose we try a little parable, just like the Big Guy used to:
You own a nice car. And suppose the bloke down the street, an automobile painter by trade, wants to buy it. He offers you $30,000 for the car, but you don’t what to sell.
Then one night, while you’re asleep, some vandal comes along and utterly ruins the paintwork on the car. It’s going to cost you about $7000 to fix and you don’t have the money.
The keen neighbour is still interested in buying, but has reduced his offer to $25,000 in view of the damage.
You sell.
The neighbour pays yu the money, takes the car and fixes it in his own paint shop cheaply.
Later you discover that the vandal who wrecked the paintwork was the auto-painter who bought your car, not some pimply-faced kid with angst issues.
What do you do? Report him to the police; Go over and knock his block off; Or just say to yourself: “It doesn’t matter, he bought it anyway.”
Who’s lost their dosh here Bazza? You or the crook?
Sheesh….And this tool is a journalist?
by smithe on Mar 29, 2012 at 7:15 am
Just some thoughts on why this story hasn’t gone as feral as some here (including myself) would like…
I think that part of the reason for the lack of coverage of the hacking story other than in the AFR (and by proxy in Fairfax newspapers) is that the story is based on a specific set of facts – the 14,000 emails – that only the AFR has in its possession.
To expect other news sources to do their own investigations in the space of a few hours, when the AFR took 4 years, is ridiculous.
So, all they are left with is parroting what the AFR said, or asking dumb gotcha questions of News Ltd. sources… and we all know what the answers are going to be: “The charges are false.”
However, having to rely on another news source’s story has never been a problem before, when it comes to bashing the government, for example. They all cheerfully swap their pieces – even opinion pieces – to build up to a bootstrapped crescendo within a day.
So why not this story?
Maybe because News have deep pockets are are prepared to sue, when politicians can’t really do that, except where outright defamation occurs. Legal “Stop Orders” are not really an option for politicians (although Gillard did arrange one when the Old Boyfriend story waa threatened by Bolt and this wacky mate at 2UE… but that was an exception).
Cardgate is also a fact rich story, with (apparently) alternative interpretations being possible on those very complex and extensive facts. If you’re writing it you’d better be careful you get ALL those facts right.
By contrast, most stories about politicians that spread like wildfire are based on opinion, groupthink, or on one, single, tiny kernel of fact that is blown up into a “test of character” (e.g. Gillard’s press officer phoned the Aboriginal Embassy therefore “Gillard’s office culture is toxic”).
MY point is that it’s easier for the press herd to spread an idea about politics, copying and amplifying each others opinions, than it is to copy an in-depth, massively researched investigation into a company that likes to throw its legal weight around.
In the case of Cardgate, at this very early stage the other news outlets have little else to do except report that the story has been reported somewhere else. This has some use in itself, as the AFR would have a pretty low readership out there in Supermarket Land.
Hopefully this will change as some other “investigative” journalists (primary qualification: that they have a financial nest egg safely tucked away, because they’re never going to work again in Australia if they ever lose their current jobs) start digging.
Lastly, you can hardly blame News newspapers for not running a story about their parent company, when their parent company adamantly denies it.
by Bushfire Bill on Mar 29, 2012 at 7:23 am
Sorry, Smithe, you got my jist wrong (my bad).
Cassidy DOES think it matters, because it could ruin the Austar takeover, the police are now involved and because it’s more bad news for News when they need it the least.
He did an OK job discussing it, even though it was just the “Headlines” section of ABC Breakfast.
by Bushfire Bill on Mar 29, 2012 at 7:26 am
BB – Yep. He was saying it does matter … and, I think, inferring that as he’s said before things are accumulating against News.
The AFR story got a 2 minute run on AJ earlier.
by CTar1 on Mar 29, 2012 at 7:35 am
by Space Kidette on Mar 29, 2012 at 7:42 am
Murdoch is running as the first news item on ABC NewsRadio this morning albeit via the long route of the ABC reporting on BBC’s report on the AFR allegations against News.
by shellbell on Mar 29, 2012 at 7:47 am
From ABC News reporting on the surf lifesaving tragedy on the Gold Coast quoting a lawyer and earlier tragedies:
by shellbell on Mar 29, 2012 at 7:56 am
Rupert is way out there!
On the ‘stealing’ bit it seems he cares if you ‘steal’ from him. That one of his companies actively facilitated theft from his competitors doesn’t seem to worry him quite as much – particularly as he was then able to scoop up some of the competitors …
by CTar1 on Mar 29, 2012 at 7:58 am
Many of the matters you raise, especialy the sheer numbers of documents involved and their exclusive provinenance, suggest that this may indeed be a ‘slow fuse’ sort of explosion, rather than one big blast BB.
It could, unfortunately for Rupe, be another of those gifts of his to the world that just keeps on giving.
Consider that it took years for the whole NOTW phone hacking thing to be exposed, despite the fact that some parts of the story were all over the public arena years ago. All it took was one or two persistent nosey parkers at the Guardian to expose the particular rats’ nest. A
s you say, the stuff is out there now, and someone gunning for a Walkley and a grog-fuelled rant from Glenn Milne, hell, even a Newspaper or TV outfit wanting to lift it’s ratings a bit, will probably re-visit the steaming manure pile of data and give it a bit of a nudge with the boot every now and again, just to see what fresh crud dribbles out.
There’s plenty to trawl through and it sure sounds as if the Fin will keep at-it. Plus, I’d expect scandal-sheets like Vexnews to be rolling in it. Not exactly top shelf, maybe, but Vex still gets the good stuff out there, that’s for sure. Defamation…….schmefamation, they don’t seem to give a toss.
And yes, with our ridiculous concentration of print and electronic media ownership, there will be some poor souls who won’t have the guts for the job and will back-off. And there will always be ‘doesn’t everyone cheat?’ people like Barry, don’t see a problem in the first place.
I hope you’re right BB.
I’m going to be optimistic about it.
by smithe on Mar 29, 2012 at 7:59 am
Aarrgh. Oooops……..
I think we’ve just demonstrated much of the problem right here BB. Second hand sources….
D’ya reckon we’ve just bootstrapped poor old Barry?
Easily done, and we’re not even trying.
The MSM would have played and repeated this error for a week, at least (and that’s all of them, too) before someone woke-up.
by smithe on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:04 am
Sorry Bazza, respect comrade.
by smithe on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:04 am
I think the key fact from watching the Panorama story yesterday was that, even though NDS may have started out as a genuine security company, peddling an encryption system, a rogue element within it (which may have been its top management) saw the potential for profit.
They did this two ways:
1. Sending their competitors broke
Result: Murdoch gets to achieve Pay TV monopolies in various countries (e.g. UK, Australia, Italy)
2. Moving in afterwards to achieve a world encryption monopoly
Result: company sold for $5 billion to Cisco.
“Win-win”.
At one stage, according to the Cockney hacker, his work was used only to combat attacks on NDS’s own technology and the Pay TV operations it supported, by setting up “hack” sites and running sting operations.
Later on, he became aware it was being used for “other” purposes, and was told to make himself scarce after his involvement with NDS was exposed. Other hackers told similar stories of NDS’s change in strategy.
In other words, the allegation is that NDS – ostensibly a technology company – became a front for industrial sabotage when its managers realised how fruitful its expertise could be if applied to their nefarious purposes.
Talk about a “toxic culture” in Julia Gillard’s office! A phone call to the Aboriginal Embassy about Tony Abbott has NOTHING on what these NDS types seem to have been up to.
The upshot is that the malignant business practices within News Corporation are being talked about yet again, which was one of Cassidy’s points.
It’s pretty clear that News is a shifty player. How many examples does anyone need? Below are few random ones that stick in my mind (although youse will al lhave your own favourites)…
* They dealt with the NSW Rugby League while secretly setting up the Super League (eventually to become the NRL). Later they breached the salary cap at the Melbourne Storm.
* Just about anything the Daily Telegraph, Herald-Sun and The Australian write about the government, Peter Slipper or the Independents. They fake stories shamelessly, mixing facts, opinion, gossip and water-cooler speculation freely. When something doesn’t fit the picture, they draw a new picture (literally, in some cases, e.g. the Slipper “Rat” and the “Godwin-Grant” illustrations).
* They employ and protect established racial bigot, the Daddy Of All Sooks, Andrew Bolt, the man who can dish it out, but can’t take it.
* Fox News, which has been found to be best at dis-informing its viewers. The Comedy Channel is better at reportage.
* Phone hacking in the UK, with all its attendant police and political corruption.
* And now, nasty business with Pay TV encryption smartcards. Their plan was always to make Pay TV their prime business, and haven’t they succeeded?
* Their general right-wing anarchist policy of wrecking everything – seemingly to satisfy Murdoch’s personal obsession with dismantling “elites” because they once hurt his father – in order to build it up again in their own image, to their own purposes. They’re setting up their own elites instead. Whole governments work for Murdoch, not the other way around.
And that’s just a few examples.
The pattern is that more and more divisions of this company are being shown to be the same in nature: nasty, greedy and malignant.
How long can it be before they are finally treated as a whole, and are put through the wringer, as they so richly deserve?
by Bushfire Bill on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:05 am
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:06 am
Not sure if AFR story today alreay linked re police probe on Murdoch. Here it is
http://afr.com/p/business/marketing_media/federal_police_join_news_probe_s0h2FfmrnzYD7dIbq8s04L
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:06 am
Phil Coorey reports in the Age today
http://www.theage.com.au/national/swan-sets-up-cuts-to-protect-surplus-20120328-1vysl.html
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:09 am
I was on the phone a couple of hours ago talking to some people in the UK. The subject of the ‘Dirty Digger’ came up in passing at the wind-up and they were saying that ITN (understandably) are giving this story a push but that as News is in the papers every day as a result of the 3 existing inquiry ‘lines’ that this is sort of overload.
The AFR has published scads of the e-mails. I had a quick flick through some – doesn’t seem to be much doubt about what they were up to.
As smithe says lots more to come out when people start to connect the ‘dots’.
Would former shareholders of the undermined companies hav a viable claim against News? Who knows!
by CTar1 on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:10 am
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:12 am
Where is Mr Brandis SC screaming from the rooftops for justice to be served?? He was so worried and concerned about Thomson maybe misusing a credit card for escort services, that he had to speak to state Police Ministers. Now that it is alleged Murdoch may have ripped off his competitors and shareholders of these companies of billions of dollars, he should be calling the cavalry!!!
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:16 am
Oh Michael, how could you!
by Bushfire Bill on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:16 am
At last someone appreciates Costello
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/newman-hires-costello-for-financial-checkup-20120328-1vyqe.html
by lizzie on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:20 am
BB
Very interesting that Mr Stutchbury welcomes any further independent investigation. No love lost for his former employer it seems!!
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:21 am
I assume BB you have morphed into Chris Mitchell, his “father ” at News Ltd, this is great a former insider now sanctioning and running with the story
by mari on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:28 am
http://newsallianceuk.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/skygate-and-cashforcameron-sparks-a-war-between-rupert-murdoch-and-the-prime-minister/
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:29 am
It seems that only Liberal governments are allowed to crow about surpluses and how they’re going to cut swathes through expenditure.
When Kentucky Joe brags about sacking 12,000 public servants, that’s a good thing. The shock-jock stations’ phone lines run white hot with callers telling us all that public servants are useless bludgers. They rail against the Nanny State… then put their hands out for subsidized nannies, subsidized lifestyles via PPL, and health insurance rebates for the seriously well-off. The most conservative thing a woman can do is to have a baby. Let’s breed more conservatives, and support them from the cradle to the grave. Nanny State? Nah… just nannies.
Then when Swan says belt-tightening is necessary, it’s a scandal. Let it go, Wayne, we don’t need surpluses, the hacks insinuate.
Of course, if a surplus doesn’t eventuate, they’ll be lining up to have a go at the government for breaking another promise… more in sorrow than in anger, of course.
How convenient.
Only Labor governments do surpluses for political purposes. Liberal governments do them for sound economic reasons.
by Bushfire Bill on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:29 am
http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/victorias-liberal-national-politicians-exempt-themselves-from-corruption/
Victorians may like this
by my say on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:30 am
has Abbott and his cronies been asked about their Uncle Rupie?
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:32 am
Clouseau only handles La Sûreté National’s smaller juicier cases. This one is too big, M’sieur.
He is off seeking a…… how do you say it?…ah, bon, a pissing dog at the moment.
by smithe on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:34 am
Mr Swan has presaged more slash and burn in the Fed budget. Company receipts have crashed.
He will most likely get his surplus but one implication is that Mr Abbott’s $70 billion challenge a whole lot more difficult.
by Boerwar on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:34 am
my say
We Victorians are being poorly served by Ballieu. We had a good state govt, and we ditched it for this hopeless bunch!
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:34 am
smithe
Lol!
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:35 am
The Coalition has cocked up yet another set of costings, this time with their aspirational nannies policy.
They have a serial costings disorder. How anyone thinks they are superior economic managers is beyond me.
by Boerwar on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:36 am
Indeed. A classic post-police-shooting intervention to spike any subsequent investigation with a nice bit of ever so useful ‘background’.
We see it here in NSW every time some poor slob is plugged by the coppers, usually coming out of the mouth of an Assistant Commissioner or someone else with plenty of ‘company brass’ as it were, on their shoulder or cap.
Standard Operating Procedure.
by smithe on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:39 am
Stephen Bartholomeusz angle is that *cardgate* involves old allegations of “immoral behaviour” not illegality. He also says AFR stated yesterday it was not illegal.
FFS.
So there you go *nothing to see here* move along folks.
Illegal = a sick bird ? Must be…
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/News-Corp-hacking-emails-Murdoch-AFR-pd20120328-ST695?OpenDocument&src=sph&src=rot
by dave on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:43 am
The Kouk’s take on Swan’s economic outlook announcement this morning: http://stephenkoukoulas.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/swan-delivers-powerful-message.html
by Space Kidette on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:50 am
<a href="http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/AFP-joins-British-police-in-News-Corp-investigatio-pd20120328-STNBT?OpenDocument&src=hp5″>http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/AFP-joins-British-police-in-News-Corp-investigatio-pd20120328-STNBT?OpenDocument&src=hp5
by dave on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:50 am
Barnaby and friends pleased that Independents seats reduced in Qld, as if they are an organised Party. Just trying to gloat over Tony Windsor.
by lizzie on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:50 am
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:51 am
‘The Australian’ trots out yet another geologist on AGW science today, breaking their run of straight down line reporting.
It is linked to a mini-campaign they have been running against coastal council decisions to avoid becoming liable for the consequences of sea level rise.
Some of the article is quite good and reasonable. Some of it is poppycock. Some of it is internally inconsistent. Oh, and, while it is difficult to be sure, it ignores arctic carbon and methane completely.
The writer is an Emeritus Professor – a certain Mr Cliff Ollier. He is part of The Australian Climate Science Coalition that includes Mr Plimer and Mr Carter. I take it this means that he is an ex-professor. It is a bit like my status as Private, Second Class, Retired.
It does remind of an Australian peculiarity: nearly all the very few acadamics, or ex-academics who are deniers, are geologists.
Why is it so?
There was a show called something like ‘Time Travellers’ on the history of the planet the other day. I enjoyed it immensely. While I was watching it I kept thinking about why geologists are more likely than other specialists to be deniers?
The first and obvious reason is that geologists are not client scients. The second is that they are more likely to be linked with, associated with or paid direcly by interests associated with the mining industry.
They tend no longer to be employed as scientists. They tend to be older. They tend to be men. They are always white’ They thus reflect the core of AGW resistance – elderly or old white men.
Their writings are polemics rather than science. In other words they tend to be political actors rather than active scientists.
Their values are pro-development. They routinely ignore biodiversity.
But there may be something more going on. It is as if they are peeved that their domain, geological history, has been co-opted to focus not on finding more minerals but to understand climate science.
They are no longer the heroes of their own stories.
by Boerwar on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:52 am
SK
Bouquets from the Kouk to Swannie
by lizzie on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:52 am
lizzie
The hubris being displayed by Barnyard is sickening
by victoria on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:53 am
Good morning everyone.
I haven’t seen any OO coverage of the Foxtel/Austar story. I’d hate to think News Ltd was cherry-picking the news it brings to its readers……
by confessions on Mar 29, 2012 at 8:54 am