The flowers that bloom in the spring

This little black duck Uncategorized

The flowers that bloom in the spring,
Tra la,
Breathe promise of merry sunshine —
As we merrily dance and we sing,
Tra la,
We welcome the hope that they bring,
Tra la,
Of a summer of roses and wine,
Of a summer of roses and wine.
And that’s what we mean when we say that a thing
Is welcome as flowers that bloom in the spring.
Tra la la la la,
Tra la la la la,
The flowers that bloom in the spring.

IMG_8482.JPG

Pour yourself a drink

and enjoy the show

292 thoughts on “The flowers that bloom in the spring”

  2. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    David Wroe reports that Morrison is considering recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in a historic change of policy that would align Australia with Donald Trump’s controversial shift but jar with much of the Western world and risk angering Arab and Muslim nations. And there’s more! What is going on with this bloke?
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-considering-controversial-recognition-of-jerusalem-as-israel-s-capital-20181015-p509tl.html
    Of course The Australian’s Greg Sheridan supports these moves.
    https://outline.com/Pnbb76
    Nick Miller writes about Stephen Hawkins’ warning message from beyond the grave.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/stephen-hawking-s-last-warning-from-beyond-the-grave-20181016-p509u0.html
    Michael Koziol goes into the less than thorough investigation into the ABC. We probably haven’t heard the last of this.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/government-did-not-ask-for-crucial-documents-in-abc-investigation-20181015-p509t6.html
    Peter Manning says that any Senate inquiry must get to the bottom of political pressure on the ABC.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/15/any-inquiry-must-get-to-the-bottom-of-political-pressure-on-the-abc
    It was quite a good QandA last night where the right wingers did not fare at all well.
    https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/a-gay-teacher-doesn-t-teach-gay-maths-on-q-and-a-it-s-ok-to-be-right-20181016-p509u1.html
    This is one to watch. Michael Koziol explains how Australia is being taken to the UN over its treatment of refugees.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/separated-refugee-families-launch-legal-action-against-australian-government-at-un-20181009-p508kg.html
    And three government MPs have urged Scott Morrison to remove children and their families from Nauru, declaring conditions in offshore detention have reached a tipping point.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/16/three-liberal-mps-push-morrison-to-take-child-refugees-and-families-off-nauru
    Peter Hannam describes how the world’s beer industry could be particularly susceptible to the impacts of climate change as rising temperatures including “heat shocks” reduce barley yields worldwide, international researchers estimate.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/heat-shock-bad-news-for-beer-industry-lurks-20181015-p509qi.html
    The federal government must consider raising the GST from 10 to 15 per cent, some of Australia’s top economists have warned, urging them to package a hike in the goods and services tax with an income tax cut that would alleviate pressure on the lowest income households.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/push-to-increase-and-expand-gst-20181015-p509p7.html
    Latika Bourke has a look at the Coalition’s rather strange backing of Hanson’s “It’s OK to be white” bill.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/coalition-backs-pauline-hanson-s-it-s-ok-to-be-white-motion-20181015-p509tw.html
    Peter Hartcher writes that the world has been slow to wake up to Saudi depravity, He prosecuted this position very well on The Drum yesterday.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/world-has-been-slow-to-wake-up-to-saudi-depravity-20181015-p509o6.html
    And John McDuling says that the old global economy was addicted to Saudi Arabian oil. The new global economy is addicted to Saudi wealth.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/that-startup-you-love-is-probably-funded-by-saudi-oil-wealth-20181015-p509qq.html
    Climate change finally came to the surfaces as Sharma and his Wentworth opponents faced off in an animated debate yesterday.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/wentworth-candidates-clash-on-climate-change-as-debate-heats-up-20181015-p509r2.html
    Deborah Snow has more on the debate.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sideshow-comment-trips-up-wentworth-candidate-20181015-p509t4.html
    Richard Flannagan and Geoff Cousins tells us that our leaders are destroying our future. Wentworth must be a referendum on climate change, they say.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/16/our-leaders-are-destroying-our-future-wentworth-must-be-a-referendum-on-climate-change
    The SMH editorial says that the Wentworth by-election has become a poll on religious freedom. It makes the point that Conservatives have certainly shot themselves in the foot when they pushed for the Ruddock review hoping it would strengthen their hand in the wake of the same-sex marriage vote.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/wentworth-becomes-a-poll-on-religious-freedom-20181015-p509p1.html
    The Executive Officer of the Australian Association of Christian Schools says that what we are set to debate this week is not simply the hiring policies of religious schools, but whether or not we want to see pluralism replaced with an iron-fisted style of secularism in which all views have to fall into line with what a government decides. Well the Australian people have got news for her!
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/schools-would-be-pushed-into-an-impossible-corner-20181015-p509od.html
    And Australia’s Grand Mufti has signalled open hostility to gay teachers in Islamic schools in defiance of Bill Shorten’s proposed changes to discrimination laws, saying they engage in “abnormal practices that contradict nature” and suffer from “mental illness”. All this sunlight being shed!
    https://outline.com/jhq7Fk
    Phil Coorey explores the federal Coalition’s division over whether faith-based schools should be able to discriminate against teachers on the basis of their sexuality, creating a fresh headache for Scott Morrison in the run-up to Saturday’s Wentworth byelection.
    https://outline.com/M8jaRu
    And right on cue Liberal senator Dean Smith – the architect of the marriage equality legislation that passed the Australian parliament in 2017 – has called for discrimination law protections to be extended to LGBTI teachers at religious schools.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/16/liberal-marriage-equality-law-architect-calls-to-end-discrimination-against-teachers
    And Michelle Grattan hops in saying the conservatives may come to regret stirring hornets’ nest of religious freedom.
    https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-conservatives-may-come-to-regret-stirring-hornets-nest-of-religious-freedom-104982
    John Passant writes that Morrison has bowed to public pressure, announcing he will address homophobic legislation — but the extent to which he delivers remains uncertain.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/will-scott-morrison-fix-homophobic-legislation-post-wentworth,11996
    Richard Denniss explains why the privatisation of schools has been another failed neoliberal policy experiment.
    https://www.outline.com/PemUPX
    The Independent Australia has analysed a Finance Department report, which the Morrison Government would prefer was kept hidden. Alan Austin found that its secrets confirm the worst fears of former Treasurer, Peter Costello.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/coalitions-very-very-weird-policies-a-disastrous-drain-on-australias-net-worth,11998
    Greg Jericho has deduced that Australia’s housing boom is not heading for a soft landing and he tells us how we got there.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2018/oct/16/australias-housing-boom-is-not-heading-for-a-soft-landing-how-did-we-get-here
    Jennifer Hewett writes that the story of the Coles milk levy as a means to provide drought assistance for Australian farmers is complicated – just like the mini drama over plastic bags.
    https://www.outline.com/jXbYKb
    It’s time to put the dole bludger myth to bed and focus on helping young people down on their luck, writes Tarric Brooker.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/dole-bludgers-and-other-urban-myths,11997
    Liberal Senator Jan Hume writes that a Banks Code of Conduct will only go so far to bridge integrity gap. It is actions that will speak louder than words she says.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/banks-code-of-conduct-will-only-go-so-far-to-bridge-integrity-gap-20181015-p509ov.html
    Meanwhile in a blow to a lot of communities ANZ Bank customers will no longer be able to do their banking at post offices after Westpac and NAB joined the Commonwealth Bank in paying an additional $22 million a year to Australia Post to process transactions for their customers.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/anz-customers-left-in-cold-as-banks-chip-in-for-post-office-services-20181015-p509rz.html
    Matt O’Sullivan reports that according to an inquiry Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore’s demands for the Berejiklian government to ditch the final stage of WestConnex would cost the state billions of dollars.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/cost-of-ditching-final-stage-of-westconnex-would-reach-into-billions-20181015-p509pv.html
    Scott Morrison insists his government has not killed a proposal to create a special visa for agricultural workers, as the issue becomes a lightning rod for internal discontent about the performance of the Nationals leader, Michael McCormack.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/15/scott-morrison-says-a-special-visa-for-agricultural-workers-is-not-dead
    Representing thousands of doctors Sarah Townsend says the Prime Minister’s rejection of the Australian Medical Association’s call for the transfer of the asylum seeker and refugee children and their families off Nauru has been swift but it hasn’t deterred them.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/viral-letter-to-pm-shows-the-people-are-united-20181015-p509pm.html
    Cole Latimer reports that Australia will look to replicate US success by creating an online marketplace for businesses to buy renewable energy, helping to them to reduce high power bills. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will help build the nation’s first Business Renewables Centre, designed to encourage corporations and councils to buy more sustainable energy.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/online-renewable-marketplace-aims-to-help-business-cut-power-bills-20181015-p509rc.html
    Trump has said that “rogue killers” may have been behind the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to meet King Salman over the case.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/middle-east/rogue-killers-may-be-behind-khashoggi-disappearance-donald-trump-20181016-p509ud.html
    As the Victorian election looms, energy prices are a critical issue for voters. The Liberals espouse scrapping the renewable energy target and lifting the ban on onshore gas extraction. Labor has its program for expanding wind and solar. Voters have a clear choice on energy and climate but have been presented with a false dichotomy: cheap and dirty versus clean and expensive. Will voters buy it?
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/whos-got-the-energy-mix-to-win-the-victorian-state-election/
    More conclusively than it tells us anything about her genetic heritage, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s neatly choreographed release of her own DNA analysis makes one thing abundantly clear: she’s running for the White House in 2020.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/15/elizabeth-warren-dna-president-2020
    This criminology academic explains how the Australian government is failing on countering violent extremism.
    https://theconversation.com/how-the-australian-government-is-failing-on-countering-violent-extremism-104565
    A coalition of sexual abuse survivor groups has urged the prime minister to strip former governor-general Peter Hollingworth of his taxpayer-funded pension and entitlements.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/10/15/peter-hollingworth-pension/
    The UK Guardian says that Britons should feel no pity for Theresa May – this Brexit bind is of her own making.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/15/theresa-may-brexit-norway-solution-peoples-vote
    Once seen as being driven mainly by retirees, migration out of our biggest cities to less crowded coastal regions is now being led by younger Australians.
    https://theconversation.com/meet-the-new-seachangers-now-its-younger-australians-moving-out-of-the-big-cities-103762
    The deaths of four people on a ride at Dreamworld in October 2016 would have been prevented by the installation of a water level sensor during safety upgrade works months before.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/qld/2018/10/15/dreamworld-tragedy-avoidable-cheap-water-level-sensor/
    The New South Wales government will roll out a new mathematics course to try to keep all students in the subject until the end of school. It will focus on numeracy and practical applications for everyday life.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/nsw/2018/10/15/nsw-new-hsc-maths-subject/
    Peter FitzSimons tells us why republicans welcome Meghan and Harry.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/why-republicans-welcome-meghan-and-harry-20181015-p509o7.html
    Apple may be paying a high price for the very high price tag it put on its latest generation of iPhones.
    https://www.outline.com/RPv2r9
    US shopping icon has Sears gone bankrupt in face of an Amazon onslaught.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/us-department-store-sears-goes-bankrupt-in-face-of-amazon-20181015-p509tx.html
    Michaela Whitbourn gives us today’s nomination for “Arsehole of the Week”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/self-styled-healer-serge-benhayon-leads-socially-harmful-cult-jury-20181010-p508ux.html
    Although Sarah Danckert also has a contender.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/forgetful-lawyer-accused-of-lying-under-oath-20181015-p509si.html

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe with Turnbull’s contributions to the Wentworth by-election.

    Perter Broelman gets this one right.

    Paul Zanetti ventures into Wentworth.

    Good work from Cathy Wilcox.

    And from Alan Moir who has taken up representing Morrison as a carnival spruiker.

    An absolute cracker from David Pope on the government’s own goal.
    https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_828/t_resize_width/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/5fb9c05fa4659a03636b0b9d782ee2c3b3e2373c
    Lots of good ones in here – especially those from Matt Golding and Cathy Wilcox.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/best-of-fairfax-cartoons-october-16-2018-20181015-h16od9.html
    Johannes Leak really must get himself seen to,
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/3c4f87991d521364414d18bd31ba8af8

  4. In case you missed this yesterday (I meant to post it) –

    This Photo Of A Cat Wearing Cookie Monster Pyjamas Was Accidentally Emailed Out By The US State Department

    The United States embassy in Australia has apologised for the US State Department emailing a fake meeting invite with a photo of a cat dressed as Cookie Monster.

    The email, according to newswire Australian Associated Press (AAP), was headlined “meeting” and featured this photo of the cat in a Cookie Monster outfit, along with some Latin text and an RSVP button

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/joshtaylor/this-photo-of-a-cat-wearing-cookie-monster-pyjamas-was

    Maybe if we had a US ambassador to Australia embarrassments like this could be avoided.

  5. Yesterday Labor politicians were assuring us that schools were not interested in and did not use the current provisions that allow them to refuse to enrol or expel students on the grounds of their sexuality and to sack or refuse to employ LGBTQI staff.

    Tell that to Craig Campbell, sacked last year from a Baptist school in WA, after working there for two years, and after being a student at the school, for being in asame-sex relationship.
    Teacher who lost school job after revealing he was in same sex relationship warns of impact of religious review
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-12/gay-teacher-attacks-push-for-religious-school-discrimination/10365816

    Then there’s this – threats to sack staff – from Q&A, last night.

    Q&A: ‘A gay teacher doesn’t teach gay maths’
    https://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/news/qa-christian-schools-concern-over-losing-right-to-/3550429/

    It’s not just so-called “Christian” schools doing this. We’ve had comments from Islamic schools too. It’s rife in religious schools no matter what religion they follow.

    Not all religious schools are like this. The schools my kids attending have always been extremely tolerant on this and other issues. They are the exception though.

    This debate could not have come at a worse time for Morrison. There are something like 15 private high schools in Wentworth and only one state high school. Parents who chose a particular private school for their kids because they knew that school would not employ gay, lesbian or whatever teachers are not going to be happy with Morrison’s decision to amend the legislation.

    It would be wonderful if the “Religious Freedom Review”, which the government wanted kept secret until after this weekend’s by-election, for reasons that are now all too obvious, was the deciding factor in bringing down this miserable farce of a government.

  6. Interesting thread, especially Hinch’s comment.

  7. In effect, that “It’s ok to be white” Senate vote was really a vote on: “Just how much do the Liberals rely on the support of One Nation, and what are they prepared to do for them?” Hanson just made them jump through a hoop for her. They did it unquestioningly, most likely because their thoughts were on political survival rather than the piece of legislation before them. And true to form, they figured out just what an unholy mess they’d created for themselves this morning.

    As someone has just pointed out on Twitter, the story is supposed to go that they voted in favour of it, then a bunch of them went on social media last night to defend their support of it because it’s anti-racism or something, and now this morning they want us to know that they didn’t mean to, or want to, vote for it at all. Talk about not getting your story straight.

    The worrying thing is that we’re seeing a return of the old Abbott approach, which is to abandon forethought, just think about getting past the next couple of hours, and try to sort it all out later with alibis. As I said the other day, the Morrison leadership is falling apart before our eyes.

  9. Jon Faine on 774 abc interviewed Independent Indi Cathy McGowen(?) and asked how she would vote if the parliament was hung after the weekend. She said a lot ‘we’ and ‘us’ and boasted how she speaks to scummo all the time. If she is Independent, I am a flying pig. (moderated my language in that last sentence.)

  10. Cormann drags out the tired old “It was an administrative error” excuse for government senators supporting Hanson’s nasty racist motion.

    Some might believe him, but only if they are already locked up in an institution for the terminally befuddled.

    Are Lib and Nats politicians so useless that they fail to question allegedly dodgy instructions? Why didn’t they abstain if they had doubts?

    It’s just the Coalition showing its true colours, and no amount of lies will cover that up.

    Mathias Cormann:

    “We made a decision to oppose that motion [in September] and to make a statement in our own words that as a government we deplore racism of any kind, but not to actually support the motion.

    Yesterday, as a result of an administrative process failure, the government senators in the chamber ended up on advice voting in support of the motion.

    As leader of the government in the Senate, I take responsibility for that error and I’m sorry that that happened. It is indeed regrettable. As I indicated when this motion first came up, we made a very clear decision to oppose that motion. It wasn’t voted on in September. It came back up yesterday and it slipped through. It shouldn’t have. And I take responsibility for that.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2018/oct/16/scott-morrison-israel-embassy-wentworth-politics-live

    Lots more if you use the link.

  11. Sen. Patterson is going to “work”; His mother straightens his tie…”For my little Chappy”…..She kisses his cheek and gives him his thought for the day: “And remember what your father always said..: ‘If you can’t get it for nothing, it’s overpriced!’…”

  12. A Tuesday reflection.. ;
    The Phantom Turd Flinger of Preston.

    I heard this snippet of information from a mate who was from Melbourne..He evidently had once met the above individual who claimed the title. This in itself, demonstrates the profound difficulty that both religion and the civilizing arms of society are up against when they proselytise for decent behavior from the citizens of a nation.

    Evidently, the desire of that individual to perform such an act arose from the result of many sleepless Friday nights when local hoons would, after closing time at the nearby hotel, commence to drink in the car-park and then proceed to do burn-outs there under the shouting and cheering encouragement of mates and girlfriends..all accompanied by the throbbing bass thumping of “doof-music”, that penetrated the very earth under the Phantoms house and rose to the surface, apparently and bizarrely under his very bed!

    He set about with a vengeance driven by insomniatic hate to construct a catapult out of a discarded leaf-spring from an old Holden car (“built for Australian conditions”?) Upon completion and testing and alterations and more testing, he ended up lobbing a satisfactory test “package” at the desired target with all the skill of a trained artillery officer. One has to give credit here for the determined tenacity to try again and again the varying degrees of tension of the spring, the direction – allowing for wind speed – of the “missile” and the parabolic curve to reach the desired target with a high degree of accuracy.

    Now, I have to wonder , considering the “manufacture” of his “missile” , whether he kept a few “in storage” or he produced several “on the day” of the presumed Friday night raucous. I would plunge on the latter…: “fresh is best”…as they say, for he would “deposit” a “bomb” in a soft-paper-bag, tie the top and place this in a fixed tin on the plate of the leaf-spring, drawn down in tension ready to fire..he would then set the direction desired and with a look to the sky for a hint of wind speed, do the final adjustments for the mission..

    On the night in question, he set about his task with a anxious trepidation..and why not?..after all, here was the “acid test” of much planning and hard work..not to mention the pride of the idea of conception. Needless to say, going by the title of this piece that he achieved in notoriety, his “bombardment” of the hoons and their coterie was a ghastly success, judging by the screams and chocking sounds of vomiting and retching that came from the general direction of the car-park..the burn-outs soon stopped and our anonymous hero from the suburbs went to sleep once more with a happy and satisfied heart..his last waking thoughts dwelling on whether he could use his contraption to wreak havoc on some nearby industries that he found unsuitable to his contentment of habitat.

    I have to comment that it must be admitted that many of us meander through this life in an aimless fashion, driven by the winds and tides of social currents, without achieving any accolades of admiration at all..So even though this chap could not without some criticism claim the title afforded him, he could go on his way with the inside knowledge of “a job well done..well done indeed!”..

    Ah!..this world is full of marvelous idiosyncratic characters..which demonstrates that God, at least, must have a divine sense of humour.

  14. Leone

    McGowen (?) was never an independent, just another Nat/Lib. There were a couple of issues that I thought maybe common sense would have had her vote against them, but she just follows them like a lemming. I wonder if any of her ‘voter’ base have woken up to her.

  21. Labor’s proposed legislation on medical treatment for children on Nauru –

    Pfffft!

    It’s a stunt.

    This is unlikely to go anywhere and Labor knows that. The government and most of the cross-bench in both houses will vote against it.

    What happens to those kids when they have finished their medical treatment? Shayne Neumann and Catherine King were very careful not to say a word about that, so obviously Labor intends to send these kids back to Nauru, where they will again become ill and will suffer further mental and emotional damage as well.

    Not good enough!

    Labor is still banging on about putting people smugglers out of business by stopping and turning back votes still raving about the need for third country resettlement when only NZ has offered to take some – not all – refugees currently in off-shore detention.

    I’m not interested in a stunt by a party that started the dreadful “if you come by boat you will never be allowed to settle here” thing, started as a way to save some votes. Those who arrive by air are not punished by being sent to off-shore detention, they are housed here, with much better medical care. Why does Labor condone this discrimination? Why is Labor happy to allow some asylum seekers to stay on the mainland while others are punished for seeking our help with incarceration for ever in hell-holes?

    I’m not interested in stunts. I want to see Labor demanding all those on Nauru and Manus Island be brought here now. Not just kids needing medical care, everyone. Kids, families, single people, everyone.

    The camps have to be closed and the government of Nauru can rot on their nasty little bankrupt shit-heap island for all I care. Why should we keep paying a corrupt regime billions to keep innocent people locked up?

    Last week’s Essential told us 51% of Labor voters (and 68% of Greens voters) support closing the Nauru detention centre and bringing all refugees to Australia. Why won’t Labor work to increase that number? Why pander to the nasty attitudes of too many bigoted Australians?

    • It needs to be done urgently. Close the camp. Give Nauru foreign aid as per other islands. I wonder if the tides are affecting the coastline.

  23. ScumMo shoves this one into the too-hard basket.

    Gay teacher law changes will have to wait: PM
    https://www.sbs.com.au/news/gay-teacher-law-changes-will-have-to-wait-pm?fbclid=IwAR3ZjAJptPJ2zNQbAzKlxDLCKQIiddwgjTH4W9VfBfSjidznf5GUG_ycjCg

    Gutless creep!

    If you are going to change a piece of legislation then you change both offending parts, you don’t just deal with the bit affecting children and ignore the part about staff. You rip off the bandaid, you have the whole debate, no matter how uncomfortable it might be, and you get it done properly.

    Clearly ScumMo has been spooked by the objections coming from various religious groups and doesn’t have the balls to finish the fight he started. I really don’t think he even knew that section of the act refers to all staff (not just “teachers” but all employees and contract workers) until complaints began to roll in. I doubt he has ever read any legislation at all, in all his time in politics.

  26. How many new catastrophes has ScumMo’s created today?

    Let’s see –

    Proposing moving our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, then when that went pear-shaped blaming the whole idea on Dave Sharma. Just the help poor Dave doesn’t need right now.

    Putting the gay, lesbian, whatever employees in religious schools issue in the too hard basket.

    Allowing his troops to do a complete reversal of their “It’s OK to be white” nonsense from last night.

    Upsetting the Indonesian government and possibly damaging the FTA with Indonesia.

    I’ve probably missed a few because I haven’t spent all day glued to my monitor.

    We have a PM who will say anything to get a favourable headline and will then completely change his mind when his initial brainfart is inevitably criticised. Maybe his caps are too tight and are restricting blood flow to his brain. Maybe the problem is he doesn’t have a fully functioning brain at all, just one that is stuck on
    ‘life support only” mode.

    We thought Turnbull was weak, a jellyfish, for refusing to stand up to the RWNJs in his government. ScumMo is far worse, he doesn’t have a clue about anything, he just opens that mouth, blurts out the first thought that comes into his almost empty head and then has to backtrack to clean up his own mess.

  28. What a shame Morrison gets to deliver this apology.

    It won’t be easy to listen to a speech delivered by someone with strong ties to Hillsong, someone who regards the founder of that church, Brian Houston as his mentor. Houston’s father, Frank, was a child abuser, Houston knew about this and covered it up.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/23/hillsongs-brian-houston-failed-to-report-abuse-and-had-conflict-of-interest-royal-commission

    A more gracious and generous man than ScumMo could ever be would have given this speech to Julia Gillard. She is the one who got the whole process started, she deserves our thanks.

  29. A good description of Poorlene to start the article….
    .
    .
    Forget it PM You’re Not Measuring Up
    Dennis Atkins
    PAULINE Hanson is, in my opinion, a racist. She runs a racist party. She walks into the Parliament wearing a burqa because she wants to set off dog whistles for her miserable supporters in Queensland.

    She is the an ugly carbuncle on the body politic who runs in elections for one reason only and that’s to hoover public funding out of the system.

    Hanson has legally hoovered millions of dollars of taxpayers’ cash into her pockets over the past two decades and she is shameless about how she does it.
    https://outline.com/utS8SM

  30. Dennis Atkins sure didn’t mince words in the posted but currently “Gremlin Eaten” article

    “The leader of the government in the Senate Mathias Cormann led his Senators to vote for the white supremacist language of the One Nation dog whistling filth.”

  31. There is a part of me that wonders at these “religion-ist” types. Have they never worked out that as soon as they actually start yelling loudly that other people are ‘infringing on their rights’ while telling everyone that the rest of the world is not abiding by their particular ‘list of laws’ and we “should”, the rest of the world starts actually looking under the rocks they have crawled out of?

    Makes me wonder what the Institutional Abuse RC missed out on, now other than known ‘Christian’ schools have been severely looked at?!

  32. Yep, Morrison is so nakedly populist, and so incredibly bad at it, that it’s laughable. He’s attempting to counteract each little disaster with a new ‘clever move’, designed to shift the focus I suppose. The ‘clever moves’ are so badly thought through they fall apart almost as he utters them.

    That’s your advertising background at play. Morrison thinks it’s all about where the public’s gaze is drawn. He’s got no chance of seeing the bigger picture – he’s not even able to figure out the immediate consequences of the things he says and does.

    So in terms of Liberal PMs we’ve gone from:

    1. An ‘attack dog’ political operative, who knows a bit about controlling the narrative but nothing about governance…. to

    2. A narcissist, who has little interest in policies per se (he left all that to the party to figure out), and was convinced his character and wealth were so intoxicating they alone could sustain his PM-ship… to

    3. A pure snake oil salesman, obsessed with the delivery of the message to the exclusion of any contemplation of the message itself.

    And they still haven’t figured out that it’s not the individual leaders we’re passing judgement on, it’s the policy direction of the party itself, which hasn’t changed at all in five years. Which is why I suspect that, no matter how ridiculous Morrison makes himself (and he has plenty more scope for that) the 2PP will probably settle around 53-47 and stay there. That’s more or less how the electorate sees things. Better media coverage of the ALP would bump that margin a bit, but we all know that’s not going to happen.

    • “I give up. Can someone please explain what the A means in WTAF? My pea brain can’t find an acceptable word that fits.”

      Actual. (No, I don’t understand why a simple WTF doesn’t suffice.)

  36. Katharine Murphy would never have written a piece like this about Turnbull.

    When the MSM turns against a conservative prime minister you know it’s all over.

    Katharine Murphy
    Morrison’s desperate embassy stunt is a silly idea designed for him to cling to power
    The Coalition’s anxiety about the Wentworth byelection has escalated and the PM is governing only from minute to minute
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/16/morrisons-desperate-embassy-stunt-is-a-silly-idea-designed-for-him-to-cling-to-power

    The use of the word “governing” is much too kind. Scummo isn’t governing, he’s just hanging on by his fingernails hoping like hell his constant movement and non-stop yammering distract us from how useless he really is.

  38. From The Juice Media –

    On this day in 1975, five Australian journalists were murdered in cold blood by the Indonesian army, with full knowledge of the Australian Government. #LestWeForget

    Speaking of not forgetting: let’s not forget Roger East, the forgotten 6th member of the Balibo 5 – he travelled to Timor-Leste to investigate the deaths of the 5 men and was captured by the Indonesian army and executed.

    Australia’s shameful relationship with Timor-Leste is a topic of a forthcoming Honest Government Ad, so before I start trying to make it “funny”, I’d like to share a serious post to pay my respects to the memory of the Balibo *Six*.

    These brave journalists had gone to Balibo in East Timor to make sure the world’s eyes knew what was about to happen there – an illegal invasion which ended up claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

    The Australian Government – beacons of justice that they are – knew in advance of the invasion, but chose not to warn its own journalists to get out of harms way for fear of upsetting Indonesia’s plans. And successive Governments, Liberal and Labor, shielded the Indonesian military from the consequences of its actions.

    Australia had lots to gain from this invasion: decades of access for its private companies (*cough* Woodside Petroleum *cough*) to loot Timor’s gas and oil resources.

    History almost repeated itself 16 years later when the Santa Cruz massacre took place: the Indonesian army opened fire on peaceful protesters and murdered 250 unarmed Timorese.

    The only reason the world knew about this crime is thanks to another group of journalists who went to Timor to film these crimes, smuggling the footage out for the world to see and thereby helping to bring the occupation to and end.

    One of those journalists was Amy Goodman – now host of DemocracyNow. She was beaten for trying to shield the protesters.

    👇👇👇👇👇👇
    “We remember the Balibo Five today not because journalists are any more special than other civilians, but because journalists play a crucial role in bringing information about human rights violations to the outside world.”

    https://www.facebook.com/thejuicemedia/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balibo_Five#Roger_East

  40. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    David Crowe reviews the “It’s OK to be white” saga and concludes that the damage has by no means been undone.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/undoing-the-ok-to-be-white-vote-may-not-undo-the-damage-20181016-p50a19.html
    And marginal Coalition seat-holders have hit out at the government for reversing its support for One ­Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s motion acknowledging “it’s OK to be white”.
    https://www.outline.com/vdEBpk
    Jason Wilson opines that ‘It’s OK to be white’ is not a joke, it’s careless politicians helping the far right.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/16/its-ok-to-be-white-is-not-a-joke-its-careless-politicians-helping-the-far-right
    Michelle Grattan tells us how the government’s plan to oppose Hanson’s motion became a vote to support it.
    https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-how-the-governments-plan-to-oppose-hansons-motion-became-a-vote-to-support-it-105054
    Paula Matthewson writes about Mathias Cormann, the incredible shrinking man
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/10/17/mathias-cormann-shrinking-man/
    Michael Pascoe laments, “It’s OK to waste taxpayers’ money on stupid motions. Just ask these senators”.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/10/15/its-ok-to-be-white-senate-vote/
    Peter Hartcher says that Morrison’s “unprincipled and craven” Israel pitch plumbed new depths of stupid. This is a hell of a hatchet job!
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/unprincipled-and-craven-morrison-s-israel-pitch-plumbs-new-depths-of-stupid-20181016-p509wr.html
    Katharine Murphy writes that Morrison’s desperate embassy stunt is a silly idea designed for him to cling to power. She says Morrison should stop and think.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/16/morrisons-desperate-embassy-stunt-is-a-silly-idea-designed-for-him-to-cling-to-power
    The Morrison government’s decision to signal its willingness to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on the eve of the high-stakes Wentworth byelection has received a mixed reception at a forum hosted by a Jewish community group. We should call Morrison “Errol” after Errol Flynn who f****d everything he touched!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/embassy-relocation-divides-wentworth-jewish-forum-20181016-p50a0d.html
    This spokesman from a Jewish group supports Morrison’s thought bubble.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-embassy-announcement-is-based-in-sound-policy-20181016-p509we.html
    But another group ‘Jews Against The Occupation’ has strongly condemned yesterday’s announcement by Morrison that Australia would consider moving its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
    https://newmatilda.com/2018/10/16/australian-jews-condemn-morrisons-plan-move-embassy-jerusalem/
    But this ANU academic specialising in Arab and Islamic studies writes that moving our embassy to Jerusalem would play into Islamic State’s hands.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/moving-embassy-to-jerusalem-would-play-into-islamic-state-s-hands-20181016-p509w8.html
    Just to add to the folly of Morrison’s statement Indonesia has warned that Australia’s shock decision to consider following US President Donald Trump’s Middle East policy threatens global stability, as the Morrison government braces for a diplomatic backlash that could hit lucrative international trade.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/indonesia-warns-australia-on-following-donald-trump-s-mideast-policy-20181016-p50a1k.html
    They are all lining up to criticise Morrison. Here Fergus Hunter tells us that the Palestinian envoy to Canberra says Australia risks becoming an “international pariah” and jeopardising billions of dollars of trade with the Muslim world if the government unilaterally recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moves its embassy.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/palestinians-warn-jerusalem-shift-would-turn-australia-into-international-pariah-and-risk-trade-20181016-p509zx.html
    The AFR’s Andrew Tillett looks at all the backlash.
    https://outline.com/2XxNRm
    The SMH editorial really gets stuck into Morrison on the issue.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/jewish-voters-should-fear-morrison-s-foreign-policy-u-turn-20181016-p509wf.html
    Nicholas Stuart explains why our PM shouldn’t be picking fights with Saudi Arabia.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-reason-why-our-pm-shouldn-t-be-picking-fights-with-saudi-arabia-20181016-p509zo.html
    Phil Coorey writes that Morrison’s government reeks of Wentworth panic. And he says yesterday was the worst day for any government in recent memory.
    https://outline.com/5UBUW5
    Paul Bongiorno says that the PM’s box of chocolates melting in the heat of the by-election.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/10/15/scott-morrisons-melting-box-chocolates/
    The AFR editorial says Morrison must seek solid ground, not symbolism.
    https://outline.com/gcTLXR
    Tony Wright ridicules Morrison here.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-s-okay-prime-minister-when-all-else-fails-think-of-jerusalem-20181016-p509wi.html
    Even The Australian is taking the piss out of Morrison and his government.
    https://www.outline.com/hFvUfj
    Independent candidate Kerryn Phelps is set for victory over the Morrison government in the Wentworth by-election this Saturday, as Liberal Party polling shows the former Australian Medical Association president ahead of Liberal candidate Dave Sharma 55 per cent to 45 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.
    https://outline.com/WfNNa7
    Emma Koehn writes that the most common complaint small businesses have about Australian telcos is that they’re slow to act when there’s a problem.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/small-business-telco-complaints-soar-to-five-year-high-20181016-p509zf.html
    John McDuling was at Telstra’s AGM and writes that the company suffered the embarrassment of a “first strike” against its remuneration report on Tuesday. A whopping 62 per cent of shareholder votes cast opposed pay for top executives. And from chairman Mullen’s perspective it didn’t make any sense.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/mullen-s-stand-on-pay-can-t-hide-telstra-s-broader-problems-20181016-p509xs.html
    Michael Koziol reports that Morrison is inclined to take up New Zealand’s long-standing offer to accept 150 refugees from Nauru and Manus Island on the condition the Parliament passes a stalled bill that would ban any of those people ever coming to Australia.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-prepared-to-accept-new-zealand-refugee-offer-if-lifetime-ban-law-passed-20181016-p509zu.html
    John Collett says that the pile of “lost” super will not be reduced to acceptable levels unless employees have a single fund that follows them from employer to employer
    https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/super-funds-multiple-consolidate-industry-lost-20181015-p509pl.html
    Anna Patty reports that the hospitality workers’ union United Voice is planning to merge with the National Union of Workers, which shares its concerns about the impact of wage theft on members.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/second-major-union-merger-proposed-for-next-year-20181016-p50a1u.html
    Nick Miller reports on what a mess the Brexit negotiations are in. The Irish border is one major sticking point.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/complete-chaos-and-a-total-mess-mps-deliver-brexit-verdict-to-may-20181016-p509uf.html
    Former UK OM John Major writes that we know the post-Brexit world will be very different from now. It cannot be otherwise, because no form of Brexit will remotely match up to the promises made by the leave campaign in the referendum: they were vote-gathering fantasies, not serious politics.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/16/false-promises-brexit-john-major
    Ross Taylor tells us that only 49 per cent of Sydney residents will live in detached homes by 2024, according to Urban Taskforce Australia, and 51 per cent in units and townhouses. But many of these higher density dwellings will be designed and built with major defects – and the homeowner won’t even know until it’s too late.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/wicked-problem-facing-sydney-homeowners-20180930-p506zt.html
    For the first time, coastal researchers from the University of Newcastle and the Bureau of Meteorology have modelled the effects of tsunami inundation in Sydney, using 3D mapping to show what would happen from the heads to inland at Parramatta.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/research-maps-real-risk-of-major-tsunami-in-sydney-20181015-p509qo.html
    Katter’s Australian Party senator Fraser Anning addressed a rally organised by a neo-Nazi group that billed itself as part of a libertarian conference attended by four Coalition MPs held in Brisbane late last month. Nice!
    https://outline.com/LB8gTJ
    Neoliberalism has caused “misery and social polarisation” yet remains in vogue with the Coalition government, according to the economist Bernie Fraser.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/17/neoliberalism-has-caused-misery-and-division-bernie-fraser-says
    New national guidelines for diagnosing autism announced by the federal government on Tuesday will have no impact on those with autism previously deemed eligible for funding under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the minister for social services, Paul Fletcher, has said.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/16/coalition-says-new-autism-guidelines-wont-affect-ndis-access
    Older Australians will be denied Medicare rebates for GP-ordered knee MRIs from November and will have to wait months to see a specialist or pay up to $500 for a scan.
    https://www.outline.com/ZHNxE8
    Stuart Robert still owes money to Australian taxpayers as well as an apology and an explanation as to why he should still hold office. Belinda Jones investigates. This guy’s in a class of his own!
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/stuart-roberts-litany-of-transgressions,12001
    Matthew Burgess tells us why the worst may already be over for the ASX.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/the-market-is-cheap-why-the-worst-may-already-be-over-for-the-asx-20181016-p509v0.html
    But a financial market crash caused the last two global downturns in 2008-09 and early 2000s, and it could happen again, PIMCO global economic adviser Joachim Fels has said.
    https://outline.com/6Ua64D
    Eryk Bagshaw reports that the Reserve Bank expects bank lending to tighten further in the wake of the royal commission, telling homeowners to expect a “gradual” decline in house prices.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/reserve-bank-alert-but-not-alarmed-by-house-price-decline-20181016-p509xl.html
    Seven women have been murdered in as many days but their deaths are irrelevant to Australian politicians, writes Dr Jennifer Wilson.
    https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/australias-political-silence-enables-the-slaughter-of-women,11999
    The hidden cost of minding the grandchildren has been revealed in survey. Tell me about it!
    https://www.allhomes.com.au/living/hidden-cost-minding-grandchildren-revealed-survey-772248/?utm_campaign=featured-masthead&utm_source=the-canberratimes&utm_medium=link
    The Queensland parliament has agreed to hold a conscience vote to decriminalise abortion; but after a day of debate, support for the legislation remains split firmly along party lines.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/16/queensland-abortion-vote-set-to-split-along-party-lines
    The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union is pushing to recuse a senior member of the Fair Work Commission from deciding cases after he shared a Twitter post that “shamed” the militant union and Bill Shorten.
    https://outline.com/v2JzAJ
    The automotive industry has promised to review its advertising code following a request from the Deputy Prime Minister triggered by complaints that some car ads – such as the latest showing a 2019 Ford Ranger Raptor getting airborne – promoted reckless driving and speeding.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/airborne-cars-vehicle-ads-face-review-following-complaints-about-dangerous-driving-20181016-p509xe.html
    In the second part of an investigation into colourful Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, managing editor Dave Donovan reveals the Mayor’s connection to the trade of fraudulent forestry bonds and asks the question — why have no charges been laid over this deeply troubling scandal?
    https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/mayor-tom-tate-four-named-frank-and-the-piggy-forestry-bonds,12000
    Why do men send dick pics?
    https://theconversation.com/our-relationship-with-dick-pics-its-complicated-103444
    And for today’s nomination for “Arseholes of the Week”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/wollongong-woman-again-denied-bail-after-sugar-daddy-allegedly-hit-with-tomahawk-20181016-p50a2k.html

    Cartoon Corner

    Never has so much been crammed into one cartoon. David Rowe at this best!

    A poetic contribution from Mark David on Morrison’s campaigning for Wentworth.

    Fiona Katauskas with a crestfallen Cormann.

    It’s games time with Peter Broelman.

    Zanetti puts the boot into Peter FitzSimons.

    A thought from Matt Golding.

    David Pope with our alt-government.
    https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_828/t_resize_width/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/a3a8904bd7be7bf7a94be8f8b093e65c9a6fa530
    Jon Kudelka with a good depiction of the current government.
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/8b44f7c28aa67d52150519eb68b116a2
    Plenty of good ones in here.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/best-of-fairfax-cartoons-october-17-2018-20181016-h16plg.html

  41. It’s already looking like another bad day for the government.

    Scummo and his troops are already out trying to defend or retract (or both at the same time) yesterday’s mistakes, stuff-ups and gaffes.

    The government’s decision to allow New Zealand to take refugees from Nauru will remain stuck in limbo because Labor and some cross-benchers will not accept the government’s stupid and cruel lifetime ban on any refugees ever being allowed into Australia from NZ.

    And there’s this, from the terminally stupid Melissa Price, Minister for Trashing the Environment –

    Luxury camp allowed in Tasmanian world heritage area despite expert advice
    Leaked letter shows advisory council recommended the Lake Malbena project not be approved
    <blockquote.One of the first acts of the Morrison government was to greenlight a private tourism development with helicopter access in Tasmanian world heritage wilderness against the recommendation of an expert advisory body.

    The decision, signed by an environment department assistant secretary on 31 August on behalf of the environment minister, Melissa Price, signalled the luxury camp on remote Halls Island in Lake Malbena was not a threat to matters of national environmental significance and did not need approval under federal laws.
    ………………………………………………
    But a leaked letter tabled in Tasmanian parliament by the state Greens leader, Cassy O’Connor, shows the National Parks and Wildlife Advisory Council, a state body appointed to give independent advice to the state and federal governments on protected areas, did not support the camp going ahead
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/17/luxury-camp-allowed-in-tasmanian-world-heritage-area-despite-expert-advice

    Scummo needed his head read for installing Ms Price as minister. Her dreadful, incompetent, stumbling interview with Sabra Lane should have been enough to get her sacked. Scummo should keep this woman locked in her office 24/7, deprived of all contact with the outside world, to prevent any more damage to his government and to the environment.

  42. Here’s what Porter could not get his head around.

  44. What depth of moral turpitude forges the State of Fascism?

    “Just because the shrewdest lie feels itself
    inwardly annihilated before the simple truth, and because
    all the dignity and glory of human nature ultimately depend
    not on shrewdness but on honesty, Cato has played a greater part
    in history than many men far superior to him in intellect.
    It only heightens the deep and tragic significance of his death
    that he was himself a fool; in truth it is just because Don Quixote
    is a fool that he is a tragic figure. It is an affecting fact,
    that on that world-stage, on which so many great and wise men
    had moved and acted, the fool was destined to give the epilogue.
    He too died not in vain.” (Theodore Mommsen..; “History of Rome” Vol’ 5 chap’ 10.)

    How many times have we, in private deliberation of a great work, metaphorically bowed our head in acknowledgement of a magnificent sentence of writing, it’s power of word and vision giving concise agreement to our thoughts?….The above paragraph is in my mind one of those magnificent moments. In it is contained that force of nature that pushes past both the author and social constraint to lay before the reader, like a cartographer’s splendid map before the experienced geographer, the undeniable truth of boundaries and borders of topography real and absolute, so that to alter such would require both a duplicitous nature and an indelible pen.

    That we now see the rise, in deliberate confrontation, of those who would once again in the space of only a couple of generations, forge the desire for a Fascist State, demands us to seek an answer as to how such a vile body corporate could justify itself to a public that honourably marches in sombre celebration every 25th. April in memory of so many millions who died in two World Wars, the latter under the cursed image of Mussolini’s Black-shirt Fascists and the Nazi Swastika?

    What depth of moral turpitude would it take to forge again this ghastly talisman of hate and despair? For surely there can be no closer comparison nor more accurate depiction of the clumsy buffoonery of the philosophic ideology of Fascism, than to compare it to the manic pursuit by Don Quixote of a hallucinogenic state that must be contained and controlled.

    Yet here in Australia, a land of absolute plenty…of sea, sunshine and surf, there is a troop of fools trying to orchestrate just that idea… What do we do?

  45. Gee, aren’t we lucky (????) in NSW!

    David Leyonhjelm is going to leave the Senate (because he has no chance of being re-elected next year) in February and will try for a seat in the NSW upper house in the state election next March. NSW quotas are so low (4.22%) almost any dimwit can win a seat. Poor, impecunious David will only have to spend a few weeks without pay between quitting the Senate and turning up in Macquarie Street.

    He’s likely to be elected. He might even knock out Fred Nile.

    I’m not sure who would be worse, the nasty, abusive and misogynist Leyonhjelm or the ancient (he’s 84 and most likely senile) nasty, dimwitted religious bigot Nile.

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/david-leyonhjelm-to-make-a-run-for-state-parliament-20181016-p50a1r.html

    • Also – Barnaby making moves to regain the Nats leadership. Even worse, they will have him back, instead of doing what they should do – expelling him from the party. .

      Another looming headache for ScumMo – the start of the debate on amending the Sex Discrimination Act, not something he wanted happening this week, or maybe ever.

      Just for laughs, here are a couple of quotes from ScumMo in QT.

      “Australians will know this about me, what I believe today is what I will believe next week, and a month from now, Mr Speaker. From the chap who has changed his mind within 24 hours on the expelling gay students issue.

      And this gem –
      “What the Leader of the Opposition is demonstrating to the Australian people is just that he is just another politician in a suit, Mr Speaker.” (He says this while wearing a suit, himself)

  50. No Sharma. Just Karma

    The Liberal party is in serious danger of losing the seat of Wentworth this weekend according to a new ReachTel poll that shows Liberal candidate Dave Sharma’s primary vote has slumped to 32.7%. The vote of high profile independent and local GP Kerryn Phelps has surged to 25.8%.

    Labor’s Tim Murray has also increased his share of the primary vote to 21.6%, compared with 19.5% in a ReachTel poll two weeks ago. The Greens’ Dominic Wy Kanak has 9.1% while independent Licia Heath has 5.6%.

    The poll commissioned by Greenpeace did not attempt to calculate the two-party preferred result but did ask about preferences. Ominously for the Liberals, the result is in line with their own internal polling reported in the Australian this morning.

    It had Sharma’s vote “in the mid 30s” and Phelps “well into the 20s”.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/17/wentworth-byelection-liberals-in-danger-as-vote-slumps-to-327-poll

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