The Down Under Lounge

[Marc]

As widely expected, Newspoll is absolutely horrendous for Abbott.

2PP : ALP 57-43
Abbott : Satisfied 24, Dissatisfied 68.

To put that in context, a 57% 2PP vote for the ALP would give it the biggest electoral win in history.

As for Abbott, he is now firmly in Gillard territory in terms of his popularity.

I'm not sure what Abbott sticking around achieves from here. Time for a Howard or someone to get on the phone and tell Tony to make a dignified exit?

Some-one has been researching.

Previously Gillard's lowest was 26% but some-one found a poll from September 2011 where she hit 23%. It had listed as 26% in 2012 - a nadir at which Abbott would now have beaten. Oh well if he doesn't get dumped on Monday he'll probably beat that in the next poll.

 

[Botany Bay]

Spill motion fails 61-39.

Abbott survives for now, but with 40% of the partyroom (most of them backbenchers assuming the frontbench stayed loyal in the vote) wanting a change, he continues to be in big trouble.

 

[Marc]

The Liberals in N.S.W might be worried.

They aren't on the nose like the QLD LNP but the abbott effect could also impact them and it's only a month and a bit until the state election.

I ever much doubt Abbott will change any of his policies and the poll numbers will continue to drop.

 

[Botany Bay]

The Liberals in N.S.W might be worried.

They aren't on the nose like the QLD LNP but the abbott effect could also impact them and it's only a month and a bit until the state election.

There was a Fairfax poll on this today.
PV -- COAL 46 ALP 34
2PP -- COAL 53 ALP 47
8% of those who voted Liberal in the last election say the Federal Government’s performance has changed how they will vote in the NSW Election.

Suggests a comfortable Coalition win, but only 15% of voters could name the opposition leader, which suggests people haven't exactly switched on yet.

And, of course, all the while Abbott remains in office, who knows what he could do.

I ever much doubt Abbott will change any of his policies and the poll numbers will continue to drop.

Sure looks that way. Hockey still in treasury, and the Medicare and Education changes that are killing the government are still in play.

 

[Australis]

Hmm, I wonder if the non-change in leadership means the electorate will punish the Libs at the NSW election? One hopes so, fervently. In my neck of the woods it would be a big help with reversing the Newcastle rail line decision (Google is your friend). Locals are dead set against it, but the Govt steamrolled it through.

 

[Marc]

Well a couple of days after nearly facing a spill Abbott has utterly failed to turn over new leaf from the continued blame everything on labor in the lower house to hockey's latest round of bullshit "Labor controlled senate".

Which is funny considering the coalititon holds more seats in the senate the Labor and the government's failure to get legislation through has come from their failure to deal with the minor parties and independants.

 

[Australis]

Australia in Eurovision! Yay!
Jon Stewart retiring from the Daily Show! Boo!

Abbot in leadership spill! Yay!
Retains PMship! Boo!

Yep, it's that kind of year.

 

[Australis]

Thoughts?

 

[Marc]

Thoughts?

yes the current government needs to go.

Their behaviour is getting worse and worse.

 

[Australis]

But nothing on Eurovision or Stewart?

 

[eyeresist]

A royal commission into children in detention camps? Yes. But really it should be folded in to the current inquiry into institutional child abuse.

 

[Marc]

A royal commission into children in detention camps? Yes. But really it should be folded in to the current inquiry into institutional child abuse.

yeah but the current child abuse RC was defunded to the tune of $200mil so the mongrels could divert money to the Union royal commission that's failed to turn anything up and cleared Gillard of any illegal activiies.

Also I'm not sure that the RC could be set. Once the terms of reference are laid out it can look at the areas specificed. Kids in detention would be outside the scope of the current inquiry so couldn't be looked at.

As for Abbott's comments on the inquiry into kids in detention, if there is a hell I hope the rancid little goat fucker winds up there.

I'm more of Christian than he is and I'm borderline between agnostic and athiest.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

But nothing on Eurovision or Stewart?

I found there was a petition for TISM to reform for Eurovision on facebook yesterday. Eurovision has never really interested me, and having Australia there wouldn't change it at the moment. Hopefully we don't send some stupid boy band or singer from one of those stupid singing shows.

 

[Australis]

I think the ESC is a complete hoot. ANy competition that ncan be won by Lordi doing 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' one year and a Russian violin playing pretty boy the next is fun.

And this, I think, is bloody amazing. And it's an interval act.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJQu_3_td3Y[/yt]

 

[Botany Bay]

The RBA Governor's trip to Canberra last week, as many expected, wasn't for a nice cup of tea with Joe Hockey. 28,000 full time jobs were lost last month, and unemployment sits at a 12 year high. There are now 800,000 Australians out of work. Calling Canberra -- it's the economy, stupid. The Liberals could replace Abbott with John Howard and they still won't re-elected with the economy tanking like this.

It's not looking good for the two Bali 9 members on death row. If the foreign minister is resorting to making appeals in parliament, you know the Indonesians are refusing to listen to diplomatic appeals and there's not much hope left.

It looks like the only good news this week has been the arrests on Tuesday of those two would-be terrorists in Western Sydney, just hours before they were, it seems, about to murder innocent people with a machete on the streets of Sydney in the name of the name of Islamic State. One of them had been granted a protection visa before being given citizenship. That's gratitude for you. Thankyou whoever picked up a phone and tipped off the cops. Its likely quite a few lives were saved.

Cricket World Cup (finally) gets underway this weekend. Pity the business end is six weeks away, by which time we'll all be itching for a footy fix. Australia should do pretty well if their pacemen stay on the park.

 

[Australis]

It's odd, to me, that the Indonesians are so stone-hearted. Why be so intractable? Are they trying to set an example? erribe all round.

Unemployment hasn't been this high since the minister for employment was... Tiny Abbot. They should be cutting theoir loses and finding a way to ge tthe Budget through now, in preparation for the next one.

(yes, Tiny was a spelling error, but I decided to leave it, fitting).

 

[Marc]

It's odd, to me, that the Indonesians are so stone-hearted. Why be so intractable? Are they trying to set an example? erribe all round.

(yes, Tiny was a spelling error, but I decided to leave it, fitting).

The Asian countries are pretty intractable on the issue of death penalty for drug smugglers even for foreigners.

The Thai government didn't listen in the 1980s, the Singapore government didn't listen a few years back.

 

[Australis]

The Asian countries are pretty intractable on the issue of death penalty for drug smugglers especially for foreigners.

FTFY, or that's how it seems to me, with 7 of the 8 on Indonesia's death row being from overseas.

 

[Marc]

The Asian countries are pretty intractable on the issue of death penalty for drug smugglers especially for foreigners.

FTFY, or that's how it seems to me, with 7 of the 8 on Indonesia's death row being from overseas.

Well you'd think that they would learn smuggling drugs into Indonesia will get you shot.

As it the the death penalty is the sanction for smuggling drugs into Indonesia of course it's going to impact foreigners.

But accord to the wiki entry that in 2013 there were 130 people on death row Indonesia including foreign nationals.

 

[eyeresist]

Abbott called the human rights report "blatantly partisan" - yes, where's the balance? Where's the argument against human rights for children in detention camps?