…45% of Australians think so, according to this fortnight’s Essential Research poll. As a bit of an addendum to my earlier post about Julia Gillard’s speech last week to the National Press Club on the detail of the Forward with Fairness bills which will shortly be introduced into parliament, I should also note that many Labor MPs have been concerned by reports they’re receiving from constituents about continuing abuses of workplace power. This is more the everyday bastardry that WorkChoices encouraged, rather than the headline anti-union moves of big corporations like Telstra. A lot of voters assumed that WorkChoices had already been “torn up”, and there’s significant pressure on Gillard to bring forward some of the implementation dates for aspects of the new legislation.
The whole “keep business satisfied” implementation agenda might have seemed like a good idea last year. It’s not looking so flash now, particularly as the ACTU finally wakes up to the fact that they’ve effectively been locked out of the policy making process.
Elsewhere: More discussion of the poll at The Poll Bludger. Also interesting is the comparison with ratings of attributes between Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd (with the proviso that the data on Rudd dates from June). Turnbull will be worried at the 47% “out of touch” figure. How do you actually turn that around? Brendan Nelson didn’t do so by emoting and going trucking.
I think the significant stats among the list are Rudd’s 67% to 36% ‘down to earth’ which is basically an admiration rating. And the honesty rating 53% to 23%
To that we should remember Rudd’s utter obsession with making sure he honours every election promise. It might be annoying but people will know it next time that what he promises he does. A quite powerful message.
If most people see Turnbull as much more arrogant, out of touch, not down to earth and basically dishonest what hope has he?
I have made the comment elsewhere but the combination of arrogance and dishonesty in person’s character is deadly. Because the later must be overcome to be able to rectify the other faults. If people think he is basically dishonest then whatever he does isn’t going to help much.
And I would expect Labor to attack and reinforce this perception of dishonesty in Turnbull.
“To that we should remember Rudd’s utter obsession with making sure he honours every election promise.”
Well, all the promises except the ones about grocery prices (wait, sorry, that wasn’t actually a promise, more a pre-election statement of sympathy and support) and fuel prices (whoops, more pre-election sympathy and support, and fortunately no actual promise) and “tearing up John Howard’s extreme workplace laws” (Did I say ‘tear them up’? I meant re-package about 80% of them”).
Still, you are absolutely right that these figures are appalling and devastating for Turnbull. I mean, if Richie Rudd is ahead of you in the ‘out of touch’ and ‘down to earth’ stakes, you’re basically f*cked. Two years doesn’t seem nearly enough.
Having said that, I wonder how much people really do care about political honesty in Australia. We are cynical. There is an expectation of dishonesty in politics. JWH did win the 2004 election you know. I think people are, unfortunately, willing to elect a liar if they think that liar will do a better job on the apparently important issues like Teh Economy.
BBB
It was a bit more complex than that, BBB. The perception of Howard as a liar only set in after 2001 - kids overboard had a lot to do with it. People then decided - reluctantly - they could trust him on the economy if nothing else. That was his own argument really with interest rates. Then interest rate rises and WorkChoices shredded what remained of the perception of honesty.
I was also struck by how high Rudd rated on that measure.
And I think Nelson’s fate shows that all that stuff about food prices and GroceryWatch was more of an elite/media talking point than reflecting anything in the electorate. Check out Emo Man’s ratings for honesty and being in touch.
Swan was having fun with his support of the non-existent “Roosters” in the AFL - “out of touch” and dishonest according to Wayne.
Labor’s answer to Workchoices is Worchoices Lite. I hope this comes home and really bites them on the bum, but it won’t if only because the Libs are even worse. Maybe that’s what they’re counting on. By sucking up to business on Workchoices and climate change the Labor Party can only lose popularity.
I suspect the idea that the Libs have gradually pissed people off for the past eleven years one way or the other, finally culminating in the Rudd victory, and assured future victories could verey well be partm of Rudd’s thinking. Now, that is arrogance.
What Malcolm’s up to is just stupidity. I mean, if he’s intelligent enough to find football boring, violent,offensive and thinks its a quick way for otherwise mindless cretins to make a buck, and something he wouldn’t watch in an iron lung, why didn’t he just say so? There are lots of us out there who would delightedly agree with him even if we wouldn’t vote for him. In facxt, it might have even won him some votes. Its unwise to believe we were all successfully brainwashed at school or continue to be brainwashed by the media in adulthood into a passion for sport. Many of us weren’t.
I was thinging same Paul re Malcom’s gaff with sports - why didn’t he say not much interested, next question make it a real one rather than fumbling as he did - would’ve worked for me.
But maybe, like in the US where pollies must declare an alleigiance to some Christian flavour of faith, Aus pollies feel pressured to pick a footy team to ra-ra for.
A story I was told by my partner’s grandmother, a lifelong Carlton fan, involved going to matches at Princes Park and frequently seeing Prime Minister Menzies roll up to a gap between stands in his Commonwealth car, sitting in the front seat with his driver.
If Ming could get behind a football team, there’s no excuse for Turnbull.
I’m actually pretty shocked by this. I try to resist the urge to be judgemental, but the ignorance is amazing. Understandable-ish re: AFL (although, is there a rock on the North Shore big enough to hide under and miss September 2006?) but this also demonstrates that he doesn’t know NRL.
I’d suggest it’s even worse than Howard’s bowling.
Not a chance, FDB. And it was 2005 we won—2006’s Grand Final resides in a special Sydney memory hole.
Ah yes, silly me. As a Freo man, forgetting September 2006 is a hobby of mine too. Stinking Wet Toast Weevils.
WELL, As a Roosters man, Im assuming theyll get top draft pick in 09, as they erm….dont.. um ….seem to be even on this F*CKING LIST OF TEAMS!!!
BARRY!! Who wrote my “man of people” cheat sheet? F*CKING FLINTY??
YOU’RE SACKED!
Heh.
lolz
DaveMc @ 6,
I gather Keating was/is not a big sports fan. He once described the Hawke Cabinet as ’sports junkies.’ Yet even Keating, God bless him, had to go through the ritual of tuning up at footie finals.
Unlike Turnbull, Rudd’s enthusiasm for sport is genuine and nowhere near as posed as Howard who presumably modelled himself on Hawkie in this regard, the same way he (Howard) stole his power walking from Clinton.(Oh, why am I still obsessing about the little turd? Wasn’t eleven years enough?)
Mind you, Rudd seems pretty good at backyard cricket
“If Ming could get behind a football team, there’s no excuse for Turnbull.”
We don’t know that Turnbull isn’t ‘behind’ a football team, only that he doesn’t follow AFL or League. Ming was Victorian and AFL is a classless activity in Victoria. I bet Turnbull wouldn’t make the same mistake about a Rugby Union team.
d
If he’d said his team was Randwick or West Harbour or Sydney Uni there’d have been no questions asked, Darryl. Sport is one of the basic briefs of a backbencher. He’s had time.