Australia General Discussion

[Hifly]

Mike Kelly has withdrawn from the Labor Senate vacancy contest following Carr's resignation.
 
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/mike-kelly-withdraws-from-senate-race-20131029-2wdcb.html

[Hifly]

And Deb O'Neill has now been selected by the NSW Labor Admin. Committee  to fill the double senate vacancy.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/deborah-oneill-selected-by-labor-to-fill-bob-carrs-senate-seat-20131030-2wh7y.html

That's another vote for traditional marriage in the Senate, and Labor caucus

[Platypus]

While O'Neill is better than I expected, Kelly would've been a worthy replacement.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I got asked if I was interested in a job with Jacinta Collins, my immediate reaction was 'God no! (She's hifly in a (bad) dress!!!)'...

If O'Neill doesn't have to worry  about a marginal seat which skews old and bogan - she doesn't need to be so timid on social issues.

[Hifly]

I got asked if I was interested in a job with Jacinta Collins, my immediate reaction was 'God no! (She's hifly in a (bad) dress!!!)'...

OMG literally?!?! If I was offered that I would be so ecstatic you wouldn't believe it. We're basically ideological twins.

I'm so jealous. What sort of job were you offered with her?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Indeed - but I also said there are LNPers from QLD and WA that I'd work for before her.

[Hifly]

Indeed - but I also said there are LNPers from QLD and WA that I'd work for before her.

Blasphemy!

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Policy adviser

[Hifly]

Policy adviser

Yeh you guys probably wouldn't have seen eye to eye.
Are you also a member of a local ALP branch?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Policy adviser

Yeh you guys probably wouldn't have seen eye to eye.
Are you also a member of a local ALP branch?

I am

[RogueBeaver]

Rudd considered staying on as leader and threatened to resign if his rules changes weren't approved.

[morgieb]

New Newspoll...53/47.

Not the greatest start from Team Abbott it seems.

[Talleyrand]

Does anyone known when he will have two party counts for the eleven "non-traditional" electorates available to the general public?

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Kevin Rudd is retiring from Parliament, can't say I'll miss him:

http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=924213&vId=

[Hifly]

Same-Sex Marriage has been defeated 21-19 in the NSW Legislative Council with the help of Labor MPs.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/same-sex-marriage-bill-narrowly-fails-in-nsw-upper-house/story-fn59niix-1226759868692

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Yes, never denied my party didn't have it's fair share of backward types...

[RogueBeaver]

Costello is still sniping at Howard, while offering his usual policy critique and saying Rudd/Gillard could be among the worst-ever PMs. I find it rather ironic that he's complaining about a leadership Battle of the Bands. Pot, kettle, etc.

[RogueBeaver]

Anyone read SMH on Lab's trainwreck?

[Knives]

Indonesia about to cut ties with Australia, has anything like this happened before?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

They're not cutting ties... they're suspending operational support on asylum-seekers and not proceeding with a military exercise in Darwin.

There is a lot of butthurt and political opportunism going on... everyone 'knows' that we spy on each other, but it's hurt Indonesian pride to have it known. Plus it helps with internal political consumption to suggest the relationship is rocky and it put Abbott et al on the back foot when it comes to future negotiations.

[RogueBeaver]

Bryce came out in favour of a republic and SSM, and both leaders defended her right to express said opinion.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The first Nielsen poll

TPP

Coalition: 48%
ALP: 52%

Primary vote

Coalition: 41%
ALP: 37%
Greens: 11%

Preferred PM

Abbott: 49%
Shorten: 41%

Approval

Abbott: 47%
Shorten: 51%

Disapproval

Abbott: 46%
Shorten: 30%

[morgieb]

I tend to feel that Nielsen give too optimistic numbers to the Opposition from experience...but wowee.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I tend to feel that Nielsen give too optimistic numbers to the Opposition from experience...but wowee.

I just LOVE seeing those headlines... "Poll shock: people turn on Abbott"

[Platypus]

There is genuine buyer's remorse in Australia, I think. I very much doubt it's a pro-Labor result, after all they did lose the election far more than the coalition won it, but I think the average voters - I call them Cranbourne man and Cranbourne woman, named after an outer suburb of Melbourne that used to be a town - have discovered that the Calition isn't the solution to all the perceived ills of the government under Labor, and furthermore brings it's own particular problems.

The bsiness with Indonesia possibly hurts, and if it does so it's remarkably unfair on Abbott, after all the Labor party would respond the same and it all happened under Rudd. That said, Labor didn't contest the election promising idiotic policies to be implemented on Indonesian soil without the consent of the Indonesian government.

I doubt the other major issue that Labor tried to push in opposition has had a huge amount of bite either - the lack of women in senior roles - due largely to the fact that a sizeable whack of people for whom that is a major concern would be unlikely to vote for Abbott of all people anyway.

The most interesting number for me is the total collapse of the 'other'. I'm not a polling geek, but my memory suggests that 'other' tends to rise significantly following an election and stays high until voter's minds are focussed by an election campaign. Instead, the figure has essentially halved compared to the election result, which I think may be a sign that Palmer's on the nose with his voters as much as with the rest of the country?

All in all it means very little. The Libs are never going to turf Abbott over poll numbers. The only real take-away for me is that I have gone from expecting Griffith to fall to the coalition in the by-election quite handsomely to somewhere about 50-50.