I’ve written a post over at New Matilda’s PollieGraph on the second week of the campaign.
Archive for October, 2007
Goodness, there seems to be something in the air in today’s newspapers. The Fairfax press, anyway.
The Age editorial: X marks the spot on the post-election Senate map and an article: How the fight for the Senate will unfold.
SMH today: Leader dreaming of a Green Senate and Brown sets out his stall with focus on energy, education.
It’s tempting to wonder whether GetUp!’s Save Our Senate campaign, now formally allied with Labor, the Dems and the Greens has something to do with it.
Yesterday’s SMH: Trio gang up to beat Senate majority and The Age: Three parties unite to ’save our Senate’. Today’s Age has a short profile of GetUp!s campaigns for this election: Online activists more than a mere mouse click. With the Green/Lab/Dem alliance for this upcoming election, and opening an office in Eastwood to target Bennelong voters especially, the group is starting to give some answers to those who questioned how much influence they could have:
Apart from returning the balance of power to the Senate, Get Up! has identified the environment, industrial relations and Iraq as election issues. It is focusing efforts on undecided voters in Bennelong and the bellwether NSW seat of Eden-Monaro. A companion site, howshouldivote.com.au, will soon be launched, matching undecided voters to candidates in their area using an issues-based quiz. Members are also being urged to “adopt a booth” and hand out candidates’ ratings on election day.
This last article even quotes Mark from a post here about GetUp! written over two years ago:
“The appeal of Get Up! represents a failure of internal democracy, and belief in the viability of change, through political parties. But it also represents a constituency — progressive educated urbanites — who … are often unwilling to identify with the ALP as the main vehicle of opposition to Howard.”
Interesting times.
Addendum: One question, why doesn’t this ad seem to be up on YouTube? Surely it should be on the YouTube channels at least of the politicians who appeared in it, and why doesn’t GetUp! appear to have their own YouTube channel to disseminate this stuff?
Yesterday morning on Insiders, Bob Brown pointed out that neither Howard or Rudd mentioned the drought in the debate last Sunday. That may be so, but Labor has put it back on the agenda with the promise of a $1 Billion National Urban Water and Desalination Plan”. The plan, in a nutshell, is a 10% tax credit on private sector capital investment in approved new water projects - for every dollar of capital invested in the project, whomever is responsible gets 10 cents knocked off their corporate tax bill. State government-owned water corporations - who don’t pay tax - would receive a cash grant of 10% of the capital cost.
Meanwhile, on the global warming front, Labor has announced some new plans to combat climate change, of which the headline was solar panels in every school, while the Liberals have interrupted their confusion over Kyoto to announce some extra grant money for renewables research.
Particularly with Labor’s plans, it seems that there is an inverse correlation between the quality of the policy and the amount of media attention it gets, if you look into the policy detail. Continue reading ‘Power and water’
Since we don’t live by politix alone (I sincerely hope), what did people get up to this weekend? Join in, share some tales, regulars and lurkers all!
After jumping straight back into work on my return from Adelaide, I had a very lazy weekend, largely occupied reading and watching Dr Who dvds, apart from an excursion into town this arvo to have coffee with friends. I walked back along the Riverwalk from the City to New Farm, accompanied by a storm building up and what felt like 100% humidity. Still sitting around at home waiting for it to hit, and having a beer… (incidentally a beer from Barcelona, Estrella. I’m slowly working my way through a four pack thereof!)…
Click through on the photos and then select “full view” to see a larger version.
It’s a while since we’ve discussed this, and as an issue it’s largely being pushed to the sidelines by our very own presidential-style election campaign. However, Mal Brough getting heckled by the indigenous community in Darwin seems as good a hook as any to hang some general discussion on.
Perhaps it was describing their visiting relatives as “blow-ins” who cause social problems that made them so hostile.
Another part of that story that raised my eyebrows:
Mr Brough also announced $6 million from the Aboriginal Benefit Account to fund a crocodile farming business and a business development zone at the remote community of Ramingining in East Arnhem Land.
“This is about creating real jobs and real wealth from the Northern Territory’s natural assets,” he said.
“It is part of a new way of thinking that can allow remote Aboriginal communities to make a real contribution to the Northern Territory economy.”
Because my first question certainly is: who is going to own this crocodile farm and business zone?
It seems like naked asset grabbing to take money from the Aboriginal Benefit Account unless the local indigenous communities are going to own it.
For information on other issues relating to the NT intervention, Lauredhel has a variety of links:
Continue reading ‘Not forgetting the NT recolonisation’
There’s a good piece in today’s Age by New Matilda’s Associate Editor, Rachel Hills, on the contribution of psephological blogs to the campaign.
Yes, folks, it’s true. Wayne Swan will hold his seat and even get a swing of 10%, according to fascinating Galaxy polling in the Brisbane Sunday Mail today. There’s a lot of speculation over on The Poll Bludger’s thread as to the motivations for News Ltd tabloid polling in Labor seats (Kate Ellis is also romping it in in Adelaide, according to Galaxy) - are they trying to suggest that all the swing is tied up in Labor territory? Who knows? The Galaxy poll in Queensland taken in the first week led to a media narrative that Labor weren’t doing fabulously in the Sunshine State - based on the completely invalid extrapolation of the swing in that poll to the state as a whole. Somehow, I doubt we’ll see the same leap made in commentary on this one - though if it were, they’d have to be reporting that Labor would win 13 seats in Queensland.
Anyway, as several commenters at The Poll Bludger have realised, it’s probably more interesting to discuss the musical merits of Swannie’s daughter Erinn’s band, Nina May. Not bad at all, I reckon!
Lenore Taylor in the Weekend AFR reported that Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull had taken a submission to cabinet suggesting that Australia ratify the Kyoto Protocol immediately.
Government sources have told the Weekend AFR that Mr Turnbull argued the government would gain kudos and lose nothing by ratifying the international climate change agreement.
But cabinet decided such a backflip would not look credible to voters given the vehemence with which Prime Minister Howard had argued against Kyoto for a decade, even though it was looking for ways to redefine the coalition’s image in the electorate.
It is understood that Mr Turnbull was not the sole voice for ratification at the meeting, held about six weeks ago, but that a clear majority of cabinet did not think changing the government’s stance was a viable political position to take.
Turnbull is not denying the story, so it’s probably true.
Continue reading ‘Climate change issue comes alive - almost!’
Another campaigning week, another personally addressed letter from Malcolm Turnbull. This one, I immediately noticed, managed to get the word ‘families’ into the opening line — Dear Ms, While Australia’s economy continues to grow, I know families continue to face pressures. It was beginning to look very much like some Rudd-style empathy for “working families” but then came the next sentence: That’s why John Howard and Peter Costello have together announced a strong plan for tax relief, which will let families keep more of the income they work so hard for. The rest of the letter was about the importance of the strong economy, etc, etc. Then a PS in small type: under “union-controlled Labor” … “families could face an extra 1.4% on interest rates if the reforms that keep our economy strong are reversed”. I don’t know whether to think it’s brazen or stupid to claim that interest rates will go up under Labor in the same week that yet another rate rise on the Howard watch begins to look inevitable. Continue reading ‘Malcolm’s environment 2′
In Queensland, the Australian Greens and the Australian Democrats have agreed to a preference swap deal, to maximise the chance that at least one non-major Senate candidate will win a seat.
I’m so glad to hear this. Good on Andrew Bartlett (incumbent Senator for the Dems) [his blog] and Larissa Waters (Senate aspirant for the Greens) [her official Greens page]. It’s always made logical sense, but on more than one occasion there has been some point-scoring at the others’ expense from both parties, and all that does is make it easier for the major parties to scoop up the seats.
Continue reading ‘A Senate preference deal to celebrate’
Costello’s tsunami is coming! I somehow think the dire predictions of doom so portentously articulated by the Subprime Minister haven’t had quite the effect that he might have liked. Virginia Trioli could hardly keep a straight face when talking about the “financial tsunami” on Lateline last night.
There’s one question that $weetie hasn’t been asked yet, as far as I can tell. If the tsunami did hit, what exactly would an “experienced economic manager” do? Cancel the tax cuts, perhaps? Maybe Swannie could put it to him on Tuesday.
Christopher Pearson joins his colleague Greg Sheridan in dissing the (formerly) Dear Leader for losing the culture wars. If only Howard had been more courageous the evil “latte-sippers” would really have been swept from their redoubts in the ABC, public service and universities (aka “37 publicly funded leftist think tanks”)…
You can see where all this is going.
From their own redoubt in the Windschuttle edited Quadrant (which as Andrew Elder says, is more “rant” than “quad”), the culture warriors are going to be spinning a tale about how Howard betrayed the true conservative faith, failed to seize the opportunities he had, blah blah. Sound familiar? That’s right - it’s what Howard said about Fraser. Presumably Tony Abbott, or someone or other, will seize the leadership boldly and vow the complete destruction of all latte-sippers everywhere…
On one hand, this will be completely irrelevant. Without the impetus of Howard hugging behind the culture wars, they’re likely to be seen for what they are - an imported potlach of doomsaying drivel. On the other, if a defeated Liberal Party were stupid enough to remodel itself in their hard right image, they will have the fate of the British Tories to look forward to. Years and years of opposition banging increasingly hollow drums while the “culture” that they seek to shape has long moved on.
An open thread where, at your weekend leisure, you can discuss anything you like.
[Except federal election stuff which should go here.]
A while since we’ve done this. So, by popular request, it’s time again to condemn. Here’s a fourteenth open condemnation thread. What’s getting up your goat this week? Which evil political, cultural, social, musical, religious and garden related phenomena need condemnation? (Or loud denunciation?)
I condemn Peter Garrett’s Backyard for talking about gardening tips but not pulp mills. But you may wish to condemn other stuff!
From today’s Crikey:
There was a forerunner of things to come in the 2004 election campaign when John Howard announced a new quasi-system of “Australian technical colleges”, many of which still aren’t up and running (a major reason why Moreton MP Gary Hardgrave lost his Ministry gig, though his desire to spend more time with his electorate made sense in spades).
In truth, these colleges hardly matter. The symbolism is all. It goes to the same sort of backward looking, implicitly blokey theme that John Howard puzzlingly ended his debate final statement with - trades good, uni bad. 3Rs good, book learnin’ liable to lead to refugee lovin’.
As with another now forgotten election promise ($800 to apprentices for toolkits), it’s the novelty of the announcement and the message it sends that’s the thing, as Peter Martin astutely observes. Labor’s proposed integration of vocational education with senior schooling, pioneered in Queensland (where there’s often also a particular vocational tinge to senior colleges - though you’d wait in vain for Howard to announce funding for a creative arts high school), makes much more sense in terms of skills policy and labor supply.
So now we have a micro-system of two “Australian Defence Technical Colleges”. One’s to be in Ipswich. Why? According to the PM, because it’s a defence hub. Really?
Recent comments
Fine, steveh, wizofaus, grace pettigrew, wbb, via collins [...]
Ambigulous, Katz, Ambigulous, Lefty E, Tyro Rex, All Mi T
Derek, Down and Out of Sài Gòn, tigtog, Bingo Bango Boingo, Mark, Bingo Bango Boingo [...]
Darlene, Darlene, via collins, MikeM, glen, Deborah [...]
suz, Colin, un ami des beaux arts, adrian, suz, billie [...]
rosieblue, Lefty E, wankaroo, What me banal?, FDB, Eye'm A Love Man, Ooh Baby, Eye'm A Love Man [...]
Michael Sutcliffe, Mark, Tyro Rex, Adrien, Posey, Nabakov [...]
hannah's dad, Benedictus, Benedictus, Mary Jenkins, hannah's dad, JohnL [...]
Lefty E, Nabakov, Lefty E, joe2, Mark, Fine [...]
RobWindt, Pappinbarra Fox, Ai! Que Dolor!, Patrick B, peter jones, Paul Burns [...]
Dave Bath, Bilko, Nabakov, Adrien, Richard Green, FDB [...]
Mark, Adrien, Adrien, Kim, Adrien, smiley [...]