Comments on: Good spin and bad spin and media narratives (and the Garnaut Report)

By: David

David — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:38:45 +0000

I was pretty impressed with Rudd’s performance on the 7:30 Report you linked to. He was a bit stilted, and sounded slightly nervous, but he also sounded as though he has the political courage to actually do the right thing on global warming and the Murray in particular. It left me feeling slightly less hopeless than I have in months.

By: DeeCee

DeeCee — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:46:33 +0000

BTW: Tell me I’m not hallucinating when I recall that Kev Rudd actually went to the electorate promising to have a CTS in place by 2010. So y’r Oz voters went to the polls – opinion as well as ballot boxes – and actually voted for a CTS in place by 2010!

So when Brendan Weathervane (& sundry NewsLtd scribblers & TV commentators) come out in spoiler mode crying “Too soon! Too Soon!” and “voter backlash”, are they, once again, trying to force Rudd to break his election promises (or hoping he will)?

Or do the above believe that voters are so dumb they don’t know what they’re doing when they cast a vote? That all those polled people showing concern about the environment – ratify Kyoto, introduce STS by 2010 etc – didn’t have a clue that Rudd would actually do it if elected, and wouldn’t have voted for him if they thought he would?

I do note with interest the underwhelming number of journos etc who ask Brendan whether he’s again hounding Rudd to break his election promises.

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:57:51 +0000

We await the Liberal version of GetUp!

And Milne didn’t mention LP? I’m disappointed.

If they mention us by name, people might discover that there’s an alternative to reading what Milne et al say about politics, and stop reading him and start reading us, Paul! So they never do.

By: Paul Burns

Paul Burns — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:57:51 +0000

And Milne didn’t mention LP? I’m disappointed.
While I’m sure Get Up and various blogs contributed to Howard’s defeat, the biggest reasons for Labor’s victory was that Labor was a credible alternarive for the first time in years and there was a stench coming from the Howard Government after all the wrong they did over their years in power – not just Workchoices (though that helped greatly) but a lot of other things, about which the Australian people said, No more!

By: DeeCee

DeeCee — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:17:27 +0000

PS: By the way, today’s OO attack on internet-based politics is Glen Milne’s Lessons from ALP’s secret web weapon on GetUp: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23978364-7583,00.html

Oh to be a media/ OzPol student in search of a thesis topic!

By: DeeCee

DeeCee — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:08:49 +0000

Further to the “spin v well-referenced reality” debate, you might like to compare Possum’s analysis of shifting poll demographics in The Coalitions’ Demographic Train Wreck http://possumcomitatus.wordpress.com/

with George Megalogenis’s effort in today’s OO Voters begin to shift on PM
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23979407-601,00.html

Not a bad July08 version of the 2007 example Kim quoted (above). Ah, but George had the advantage of Focus group polling; so he could claim:

The most worrying part of the Newspoll research for Mr Rudd is it suggests a window may have already closed on his leadership because he no longer commands the respect of older, wealthier conservative voters.

If this isn’t the superlative degree of “fending off gardening leave” tongue-in-cheek, George, I’m giving you up!

There is another doozy of a comparison between Sunday night’s TV news footage of the ACTU + Greens & other green groups demo yesterday, and Samantha Maiden’s in the OO’s Rudd faces climate revolt, the “authorities” quoted in this effort’s being – wait for it – Michael Costa & Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes!! http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23979406-601,00.html

“Spin City”, you have been eclipsed!

By: professor rat

professor rat — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:01:02 +0000

Okay – I’ll be conscripted…I may desert later but I’ll chip in for now.
Kim may seduce me even if others never will.
The smart play on petrol prices inho is to use the bully-pulpit. Start delivering regular sermons on psychopathic corporate behavior ( With numerous examples such as Exxon and etc)
And just how much cartels like OPEC resemble the old Comintern.
You know the drill. ( Kevin Carson is good for background)
Prices will rise but its up to us as consumers to keep up the demand for level playing fields and truly free and fair markets. Or else.
Climate change denialists and panic-mongers will be told to put up or shut up.
Then severely punished should they persist. Yes?
Say yes Kim please say yes.

By: Kim

Kim — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:31:10 +0000

Btw, Rudd was on Insiders yesterday. That’s closed off one line of whinging from the punditariat! But I wonder if they haven’t decided to cultivate a few allies or potential allies (ie Cassidy, Megalogenis) and split the pack a bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rudd’s got someone smarter than that press secretary dude giving him a bit of media strategy advice now.

By: Kim

Kim — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:26:46 +0000

It seems to me like they are letting the smaller hollow issues overcrowd their message. It is clear that from Friday onwards the ALP spin machine has been in full gear on the issue of climate change, but methinks that they should have been clearing the table for the debate before this time. On the other hand, would there have been all that much to gain by kicking off this debate before Garnaut released the draft?

Nothing much at all, mick, in one sense, but maybe a few high profile speeches about the need for an ETS? I suspect they were trying to avoid getting into a discussion about the detail too early, but I think maybe some more big picture ground needed to be laid.

I don’t agree with Lenore Taylor, as I said, that it’s a mistake for Rudd to talk about other stuff. It just needs tying in to the big picture themes.

I think they had a very scrappy period post-budget, but I think they’ve been back on the front foot the last week or so.

By: mick

mick — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:02:07 +0000

In order to follow the standard for Ozplogistan, nice post Kim.

It’s been a weird few weeks for sure for the Rudd Government. It seems to me like they are letting the smaller hollow issues overcrowd their message. It is clear that from Friday onwards the ALP spin machine has been in full gear on the issue of climate change, but methinks that they should have been clearing the table for the debate before this time. On the other hand, would there have been all that much to gain by kicking off this debate before Garnaut released the draft?

As you have said above, this fight is going to be big and is going to go on for a few months. Rudd has let Nelson get in first to rabbit on about how this is all a rush job etc – but Nelseon was always going to say that no matter how much analysis actually went into Garnaut and the umpteen other reports on emissions trading etc.

From what I understand, the government has been gearing up for this fight for a long time and they expect it to go over many rounds. I’m also pretty sure that Rudd and Penny Wong have had it spelt out to them in very clear language how important it is to have the right ETS and not the sort of half-cocked nonsense that some in the energy and mining sectors would like to see put in place.