JCC [Australian politics] And here we go again...

First Galaxy poll has Rudd ahead of Abbott as preferred PM

Pretty much exactly what I predicted. Rudd would have Abbott running scared on preferred PM but with the 2PP preferred vote narrowing only slightly if at all.

 

No surprises there on Rudd, but I think all he's done is mitigate the loss of all those seats. I think the Libs will return to government, albeit with less of a landslide than it would have under Joooolya. The electorate just can't believe that the issues are due to the leader and there's a bunch of competent people there hamstrung by the behavior at the top.

 

I agree pretty much. Unless Rudd can build off that improved primary vote the Coalition (currently 52-48 2PP in favour according to Galaxy) are still heading for a close-but-comfortable win.

In other news, Combet will retire at the next election as well. Pity - I thought he'd make a good alternative to Shorten as a future leader, oh well.

 

Oh, Newspoll. I went on a self-imposed poll ban but now that Rudd's back I just can't miss this *popcorn*

 

Kevin Rudd announces election date was yesterday

http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/kevin-rudd-announces-election-date-was-yesterday/

 

Oh dear.

 

Will I get fined for not voting?

 

If you're registered, yes you will be (unless you can provide a good reason why you didn't vote).

Good news though - thanks to the election date Gruen Nation will be back on the air next week. Plus the guys on The Hamster Wheel (formerly The Chaser)

 

That's about the only good thing about the impending election.

 

At least it's happening even earlier than Gillard's original planned date - the thought of it dragging into October (or even November) was just despairing.

 

Voting for this guy? I think he wants to stop the boats...

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...ndidate-misses-the-points-20130806-2rb1v.html

 

I'm not looking forward to choosing between a tennis player and a sexist in my seat. Siiigh. I think I'll vote informally in the lower house.

 

Surely there's more than just 2 candidates in your electorate?

It's not up and running at the moment, but the AEC website should eventually provide details on all candidates standing in any electorate you search for - just need to find your electorate, see who's running, then follow them back to their homepages and read their policies and make a choice.

(I did this at the last election, and for the 1st time avoided the major parties and instead went for an independent (House of Reps) and Secular Party (Senate). I intend to follow this method again this time)

 

It's compulsory preferential. Regardless of whom I put first (and it's a pretty conservative electorate so I'm not holding my breath for any decent minor party candidates, just the same old Christian Democrats/Family First rubbish) I have to direct my preference flows to one of those two.

 

Put them last - there's no guarantee that the major 2 will get in. That's how Wilkie won his electorate in the last election (had a good strong polling which pushed him to #2, so all the Lib/Nat voters who preferenced him over Labor pushed him up to #1).

Granted, compulsory preferential voting is a curse on the electoral system at the federal level.

 

Are we In the same electorate?

 

Given that there's only one tennis player in Parliament, I'm gonna go with yes? It's a marginal and will probably be a bellwether from now on.

 

It used to be a safe liberal seat.

 

And North Sydney, where Joe Hockey is firmly ensconced with a 14% margin, was a completely swing seat only 20 years ago and in fact held by an independent for a couple of decades. It doesn't take much of a shifting demographic to alter the electoral landscape, as Labor were rudely shocked with last election.

 

This is a bit nuts. You wrote an essay that I loved and now I find out that you live within a few k's of me

 

Just found a nugget of Australian politics. LGBT refugees arriving in Australia will be sent to Papua New Guinea, where they'll be imprisoned for 14 years just for being gay. It does say that refugees won't be transferred until there is appropriate accommodation and appropriate circumstances for everyone who is sent, which to me would mean 'not until being gay is no longer illegal', but that's probably optimistic of me. On the other hand, 14 years in prison could be better than what they're fleeing from, so the risk of being in prison could be worth it if the alternative is death.

Link: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/...-papua-new-guinea-despite-anti-gay-laws300713

 

I don't know how much this impacts politics, but I just read that Ford is going to cease all local production of vehicles? The Falcon has been continuously produced just outside of Melbourne for the last 56 years. While the Falcon is probably the most well known, it includes all models. The report cites the fact that production costs are 10x higher in Australia than in Asia, and between 2-3x higher than Europe. Not to beat a dead horse since she's out of office, but Gillard gave a rather clueless statement about how despite the shut down, auto production is still viable, despite over 1200 jobs being lost.

So, I guess if the oil wars ever do happen, Max will be out of luck:



Or at the very least, he won't seem so mad if all he has to ride is a bicycle. Or maybe he'll go find a Commodore SS?

 

Don't worry, there's still plenty of old 1970s XB Falcon Coupes around Mr44 and even a few Interceptor replicas. I'm sure they can be compulsorily acquired if the need arises. Abbott will probably put a few into service to help "stop the boats". Apparently being a Rhodes Scholar doesn't empower you with the ability to think or articulate ideas beyond three words. I'm definitely going to sit this election out and just cop my fine.

 

Bob Carr has been asked point-blank about this - LGBT boat people will still be sent for PNG with no regard for the fact that their sexuality is criminalised. This in spite of the fact that there have been some LGBT people from PNG claim asylum here in Australia on the grounds of persecution for their sexuality...