text:
This is Australia's debate on economics and security? No wonder we're dissatisfied
For nearly 18 months, voters have been deciding which of Australia's two political leaders they dislike the least. Comments from Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten over the past week show us why, writes Greg Jericho.
Australia currently has two men leading the major parties who are held in very low regard by voters. The struggle to pick even the least bad option is becoming more difficult, and the events of the past week suggest that's not going to change soon.
Later this month, the final fortnightly Newspoll poll of voters intentions will be run. It will be replaced by a robopoll conducted by Galaxy (though the name will be kept). For me, the most interesting aspect of Newspoll has always been which elements of the poll The Australian chooses to cover. For example reportage of the latest poll highlighted not that the ALP are ahead 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis, but that for the first time in 14 months, Tony Abbott's net-approval rating was above that of Bill Shorten.
Only 38 percent of voters were satisfied with Tony Abbott's performance, compared to 53 per cent who were dissatisfied. Thirty-two percent of voters however were satisfied with Bill Shorten's job performance with 50 per cent being dissatisfied.
This meant that Tony Abbott's net satisfaction rating was minus 15 per cent compared to Bill Shorten's rating of minus 18 per cent.
And while leadership performance is not an odd aspect to focus on, what is bizarre is the realisation that minus 15 per cent is now considered a worthy achievement.
This is because pretty much since the start of 2014, neither leader has been able to average a positive net satisfaction rating in any one month:
For nearly 18 months, voters have been choosing which of the two leaders they dislike the least.
And sadly this has been almost par for the course for over four years now. Looking at the satisfaction ratings of prime ministers and opposition leaders back to 1985 (thanks to Scott Steel for use of his Newspoll data archives), it's clear that we are currently in the midst of a particular poor stretch of leadership satisfaction.
Using a six-month rolling average to avoid some of the variance that comes with individual Newspolls, currently voters are dissatisfied with both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader in a manner not seen since the early 1990s:
In the past six months, the average dissatisfaction rating for Tony Abbott has been 59 per cent, and for Bill Shorten it is 47 per cent. Combined, that produces a total of 106 per cent. That is a level of combined dissatisfaction that rarely occurred from March 1996 to June 2011, and never on average over a six-month period. But over the past four years, it has been the norm.
And while there may always be those who are negative towards political leaders, what is unusual is how few currently find any satisfaction with either Abbott or Shorten - or indeed any of our leaders since the middle of 2011.
Throughout most of the period of the Howard government and the first Rudd term, voters either liked both leaders, or at least had one whom they thought worthy.
For the past four years, neither of those situations has been in existence.
The combined net satisfaction of both leaders is currently minus 33 (minus 15 plus minus 18); for the past six months, it has averaged minus 36.
It is not as bad now as during the years when Gillard was PM and Abbott was Opposition leader, or when Keating was prime minister and John Hewson was opposition leader (i.e. a time when we were in a massive recession and we had an opposition leader who wanted to introduce a consumption tax on everything including food!).
But still, Abbott and Shorten are decidedly not popular, and the events of the past week serve to show why.
We were provided with the sight of the Prime Minister suggesting in Parliament on Tuesday that because Bill Shorten was asking a question about remarks made by the secretary of the Treasury on housing bubbles, "the Leader of the Opposition wants your house to be worth less".
Given that the concern with housing bubbles is that if they burst, houses become worth much less very quickly, Mr Abbott was using a decidedly bizarre form of logic.
By Wednesday, Abbott's over-the top rhetoric had turned to superannuation.
The ALP is proposing to place a 15 per cent tax on super earnings above $75,000 a year and reducing the taxation concessions for those earning between $250,000 to $300,000 from 30 per cent to 15 per cent (putting it in line with those earning over $300,000). It is a decidedly tepid response to calls from many economists and groups to reduce the taxation concessions on superannuation.
But it was enough for Tony Abbott to tell Parliament that the ALP "are coming after your super. They are coming after every dollar of savings that any Australian has put in a superannuation account. They are coming after the superannuation of the people of Australia."
This view is rather odd given the Government's own taxation discussion paper asks, "How appropriate are the tax arrangements for superannuation in terms of their fairness and complexity? How could they be improved?"
It would seem Tony Abbott has decided the answers are: a) very appropriate, and b) they can't be.
Good thing we're spending money on a taxation review then I guess...
This from a man not two years into his Prime Ministership shows he has given up attempting to lead and is once again back in full opposition leader mode (a mode it must be said he has rarely strayed from for more than a week since becoming PM).
But would we to also have an opposition leader worthy of the name.
In the past fortnight, we have seen reports of the Government planning to strip the citizenship of dual-nationals who are suspected by the Minister for Immigration of being engaged, or planning to engage, in terrorism. There are even reports of backbenchers and members of the Cabinet including Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton wishing to strip sole citizens of their citizenship.
And this would occur without a crime having been proven to be committed.
The Minister for Immigration, Peter Dutton, sees no issue with this. Fairfax's Peter Hartcher reported him saying in a cabinet meeting that the fact a conviction was not required was "the point". He reportedly told cabinet, "You don't need too much evidence. It's an administrative decision."
Perhaps someone in his Department should show him the administrative file on Cornelia Rau.
In Parliament, Tony Abbott saw this as little more than a chance to engage in a manhood measuring contest with Bill Shorten. Mr Abbott suggested that "anyone who raises a gun or a knife to an Australian because of who we are has utterly forfeited any right to be considered one of us". And he demanded that the ALP agree with him that "terrorists with dual nationality will be stripped of their citizenship".
And what did the ALP leader do in the face of clear disunity in the Government over the issue; in the face of experts pointing out it will do little, if any, good, and that not requiring a conviction goes further than countries like Canada have gone?
What did Bill Shorten say as Malcolm Turnbull expressed that this "is not a sort of a bravado issue"; and as Amanda Vanstone clearly articulated that "cutting down our democratic protections to get at the enemy is profoundly dumb"?
Why, he rushed to let it be known that he agreed "in principle" with Tony Abbott. That would be the principle that Peter Dutton should have the say on who can be an Australian citizen?
We have on one side a leader uttering inanities and unhinged logic on the economy, and a leader who thinks national security is a chance to prove to the world he is a tough guy. And on the other side we have one who thinks the biggest problem with the citizenship proposals is that he hasn't been briefed on the legislation.
No wonder voters are dissatisfied.
Greg Jericho writes weekly for The Drum. He tweets at @grogsgamut.
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Topics: federal-government, bill-shorten, abbott-tony
First posted
Comments (159)
Comments for this story are closed.
septumis bent:
10 Jun 2015 7:19:40am
"For me, the most interesting aspect of Newspoll has always been which elements of the poll The Australian chooses to cover."
The (un)Australian has always put pro-coalition spin on the poll results. Like they put pro-coalition propaganda within their news, and write headlines that are anti-Green or Labor. Being funded by an independently wealthy American, they are entitled to do so. And we are equally entitled to dismiss their "newspaper" as a completely biased trash rag suitable only for lining the bottom of budgies cages. In fact if you have intelligent budgies they will probably complain if you do that.
black belt:
10 Jun 2015 8:32:45am
We live in a society where its the money or the gun. No middle ground is useful nor important. We have a government here to prove it to be true. I don't care about either of those values. Show me the money, or go to prison, or a war.
People like me. With middle ground hopes and values are stuffed. What is the point of fighting them anymore. The wild west groundhog days are here to stay forever. I give up. They can have it all, and eat all the worlds cake too.
I give up.
10 Jun 2015 9:04:49am
The problem with saying "I give up" is that you can't, short of ending your life (something I would not recommend). You've got to interact with all of this, and "all of this" is still going to affect you.
10 Jun 2015 11:49:20am
Well a good start is not to give them any money!
10 Jun 2015 11:59:48am
I tried arguing that yesterday. But so many on here - despite the disapproval - want them to have more tax.
Like they do much good with what they have?
10 Jun 2015 9:12:08am
They say New Zealand is a nice place for the middle grounded.
10 Jun 2015 12:12:27pm
If I was young enough to work I would seriously consider emigrating to New Zealand.
10 Jun 2015 1:00:06pm
Go there as an illegal entrant and live on welfare.
That's what the majority of the illegal entrants in Australia do.
spacey 101:
10 Jun 2015 5:42:25pm
So according to John we not only have illegal immigrants in our midst but these illegals also somehow manage to forge all the correct documents enabling them to get welfare.
If this is so John then you need to let the government know. And Centrelink. They will probably have to go through all the foreign sounding names and make sure the documents they provided weren't forged.
Alternatively, you'd have to give these guys some credit. They've shown a real get up and go attitude, and are ingenious to boot. Maybe we should let them in based on these attributes alone.
10 Jun 2015 6:34:02pm
Sad, sad foolish comment from what evidence I have seen
Graham H:
10 Jun 2015 1:04:15pm
High cost of living. 15% GST. No tax free threshold.
Less Government though,. No senate. Things move faster than they do now in OZ.
10 Jun 2015 1:52:55pm
Salaries are about 25% lower in NZ and most things are about 25% more expensive (except booze)!
I wouldn't recommend a move to NZ if you're trying to save money......
Lovely place though.
Machiavelli's Cat:
10 Jun 2015 12:16:12pm
hidi, not quite correct they actually say New Zealand is a nice place for the middle earthed. It's very easy to get earthed and grounded mixed up.
Graham H:
10 Jun 2015 9:56:32am
black belt
Even funnier for me is that we have people on the Drum - who daily tell us how inept government and/or opposition is - but at same time expect the government to fix everything.
To me these posters live in fantasy land. The past track record of Government over 40 years tells us this.
Worse than that - these same Drum posters want us to pay more tax to the Government. More tax to Govt or Opposition with negative approval ratings. Crazy.
There is this fantasy that paying say another 50 or 100 billion to the Government will lead to better society. I challenge this. What will Govt do with 500 bn that it cannot do with 450bn? A good portion of govt revenue goes on admin costs.
All we would do is prop up more of a failed regime.
Handing out 20bn more in welfare isn't going to stop the entitlement bleat either. That will never end. So why try.
And in 10 years time people will still be on here bagging govt , yet saying we should pay them even more tax! Duh.
I think $ 50,000 more in my hands annually - and people like me- will do a lot more good. And I practically know its the case. And I am accountable to me. The Government and Opposition, is not.
black belt:
10 Jun 2015 12:27:28pm
I fear you misunderstand my comment Graham H,
"I think $ 50,000 more in my hands annually - and people like me- will do a lot more good."
It wont. And you wont.
What we need is a better fed govt. Not one that promises less taxes that they cannot deliver. Pie in the sky stuff directed at people just like you.
As services to the public are in fact their job. Otherwise why would they being getting paid in the first place. Let alone large sums and perks to boot.
To pander to people like you, is not my idea of top notch leadership. How much does it cost to incarcerate someone for a simple example? One person per annum?
The proof is in the pudding.
I rest my case.
Graham H:
10 Jun 2015 1:01:11pm
No black belt. I'm just taking it a step further.
It will . And I will. I've proven it before. The government have never.
And for those that disagree - at least I'm a far better bet than any federal government in recent times and near future.
Certainly 30% wont go down an admin cost black hole.
10 Jun 2015 1:47:52pm
There is a difference between expecting the extremely wealthy and the big corporations to pay their fair share of tax and 'us' paying more tax.
Everything is being outsourced and privatised so that extra 'fees' are not considered 'tax' when before that service was completely provided by consolidated revenue. Too much tax money supporting private choices such as health insurance and private schooling or handing funds to corporations when their dodgy studies showed that project A, B or C should have generated more fees for them.
When surveyed, most people said they would be willing to pay more tax if it was spent on areas like public schools, public hospitals and public transport. The Coalition always needs more money to blow on wars and security services with strengthened police forces to protect private corporations from protesters when they try to protect farms and the environment and such like.
Graham H:
10 Jun 2015 2:14:08pm
Still in fantasy land
When is it ever spent on schools, hospitals and transport. ?
30% immediately goes into admin.
I say - its better off in the private hands of people.
Not Govts. Not corporations.
I think I think:
10 Jun 2015 5:46:33pm
Gina and Rupert think the same as you Graham. That is the company you keep and the proof that your assertions are false. The money in private hands does not result in a better outcome for society as a whole, because self interest trumps the common good. It is known as the tragedy of the commons.
10 Jun 2015 6:39:40pm
I think I think - thanks for the reference to "the tragedy of the commons" which I hadn't heard of. Very interesting. I looked it up.
For those who are interested: The tragedy of the commons is a term, originally used by Garrett Hardin, to denote a situation where individuals acting independently and rationally according to each's self-interest behave contrary to the best interests of the whole group by depleting some common resource.
spacey 101:
10 Jun 2015 6:04:24pm
I'm not sure what your point is graham.
Every single item you will ever buy on any market will have a significant % of the cost attributed to admin costs (in addition to the profit margin).
Of course I'm quite happy for items such as hospital care, or my GP, or police services to name a few, to have quite high admin costs. It makes sure I don't receive the wrong medication or have the wrong limb amputated, it makes sure my GP and all the services they provide are up to date. No out of date vaccinations or redundant treatments for me thank you very much. And as for police I want there to be a minimum amount of corruption, that the officers are up to date with laws and procedures, their guns fire when required and their handcuffs to lock.
Quite simply administration is required, in fact absolutely crucial in the running of any enterprise, private or government.
10 Jun 2015 7:29:43pm
There was a comparison in Australia for value for money between public and private hospitals. The public hospitals did more with less.
Public schooled students do just as well if not better in university because the expensive private schools don't build resilience. Again the public is better value for money because they do more with less.
How can 'private' operate without corporations? How are big things made and operated without administration? It is no fun being a rich man in a country without infrastructure. The electricity networks, the train lines, the phone lines were all publicly funded and that would have been impossible if each person just provided personally funded infrastructure to their front gates.
10 Jun 2015 10:17:22am
Glad to see you are joining us BB.
I gave up years ago. It turns out giving up is a fundamental requirement to grow as human being.
Just remember, giving up is good but giving in is bad.
Andrew McIntosh:
10 Jun 2015 12:23:25pm
I understand you completely.
under warranty:
10 Jun 2015 8:58:13am
That's right, the nation's budgies have had it up to the back teeth. We need to give them a break from the Murdoch neo-liberal propaganda sheets - perhaps we could start lining their cages with the works of J.K. Rowling, which are more grounded in reality and fact.
10 Jun 2015 10:37:40am
The real problem is that unlike Greg's article other news outlets simply follow the easy line and repeat the News headlines. IF Greg can unpack the detail why can't Fairfax, the ABC etc.
This country is in a hole. It is being governed by a cabal that sees no further than their plush offices, the perks and the determination to ensure that the economic, and social gaps between us remain. They rely on fear and scapegoating to control the population. Seriously how any government could consider stripping a sole Australian national of their citizenship and have so much support within their ranks is frightening.
As far as leadership is concerned there is a lack of leadership at government level and one within the Opposition. Bill Shorten Is not the person. Too much baggage from the Rudd Gillard years and he too is spooked by Abbott's continuing campaign of fear and marginalisation which makes him look foolish. We need an alternative PM that can take the electorate with them through force of argument.
Another post talked about giving up, we just can't not if we want a reasonable future for our kids.
Claudius Pseudonymus:
10 Jun 2015 11:54:44am
@septumis bent ...u mean the same way the taxpayer funded Labor Propaganda Ministry aka the ABC puts a pro-Labor Greens spin on their poll results, surveys and "Fact" Checks? Headlines with anti-Lib-Nats slyly inserted?
Being funded by the taxpayers the ABC is NOT entitled to do so. And we are equally entitled to dismiss their news as completely biased trash rag suitable only for lining the bottom of budgies cages. In fact if you have intelligent budgies they will probably complain if you do that.
See what I did there @septumis (shouldn't it be septimus?)
Labor's Gillard govt consistently shut down debate on the economy and the ballooning debt over 3 long yrs. They screamed "Misogynist", chanted "Climate Change, Carbon Tax ..err, Price.... Education Revolution, NDIS, MRRT and avoided any mention of the humongous debt dismissing any criticism with the infamous "No ifs, no buts Surplus" ...err, DEFICITS...!
And yet all that time, Greg Jericho never seemed to mind or complain abt the dearth of any serious discussion abt the declining productivity, inefficiencies and the steady rise of unemployment & debt under Labor's watch. Labor knows only too well that their economic credentials are a joke! They desperately wanted to avoid any serious discussion abt economics.
Labor did not want to discuss the economy last yr either. They preferred to scream abt "Fairness" instead. Labor refused to pass the Budget 2014 cuts in the Senate despite the appalling increase in debt ... due to the billions more in contracts which LABOR signed in 2013... just before they were booted out of office.
According to ABC polls, voters felt "fairness" was more important. Apparently Greg Jericho too since he never complained abt Shorten's lack of any economic policy alternatives.
Well, the Lib-Nats have given a "fair" Budget 2015 and suddenly Labor is on the wrong foot. Shorten's Budget Reply bombed out completely and all he had left after 2 weeks was "Gay Marriage". Boy, did the lefties and Greenies love that! Economy? What's that, they asked? Gay Marriage was more important ..even to the ABC, judging by the enormous amt of webspace they devoted to that silly question.
The ALPs National Conference is in July. Shorten is going in without anything to show or offer. Labor MPs are getting nervous and it looks likely that someone might be "moving forward" soon. Hopefully that someone will be prepared to talk the economy with some seriousness it deserves.
10 Jun 2015 12:51:11pm
With so much ALP baggage still being aired daily in parliament and in the media, why is Abbott's performance rated so low and the Coalition behind particularly as the choice is between Shorten and the ALP?
As far as the '15 budget it is not as fair as it seems . The pain and cuts will simply be implemented slowly from 2016 on and many of the sweeteners are dependent on savings being made by the Senate passing the unpopular measures from budget'14.
the yank:
10 Jun 2015 7:33:05am
Tony Abbott's net satisfaction rating was minus 15 per cent compared to Bill Shorten's rating of minus 18 per cent. ... agreed we are desperately short of leadership and will probably go the next election voting once again for the person we dislike the least.
I never thought that Abbott deserved to be PM. But then we have Shorten. The best thing each has going for them is the other's lack of ability.
Speaking for myself I could never vote for a person as spiteful as Abbott. I've tinkered with the idea of voting for an independent but if that left Abbott in power I couldn't stand it.
I dread the next election.
10 Jun 2015 8:17:49am
I agree and I keep asking why the ALP let Greg Combet resign?
Val Doxan:
10 Jun 2015 9:18:35am
Agreed. I didn't always agree with Greg Combet, but at least he was intelligent, respectful and principled.
Come back Greg.
10 Jun 2015 9:56:55am
Come back Kevin.
10 Jun 2015 1:20:46pm
No thanks to Kevin. Anyone who was prepared to take his Party 'to the brink' as a result of personal sour grapes (as Rudd did), does not deserve another go - especially as he had two chances.
Abbott is of the same mould - no doubt why he still remains as leader...
10 Jun 2015 9:47:02am
Didn't you hear him using the "F-word" in last night's ABC programme to describe the last ALP Government ?
It seems that it wasn't a matter of the ALP "letting him go" but more a matter of "let me get out of here".
Monty B:
10 Jun 2015 10:18:43am
The F-word? Did you follow the recent, very accurate and very detailed leaks from federal cabinet last week? Apparently there are current ministers who side more with Ms Triggs than with Abbott.
10 Jun 2015 8:18:29am
The government will be returned easily. Despite all the confected outrages about 'gaffes' and 'embarrassment', the government has not really stuffed up any significant policy area. In comparison Australia still has fairly fresh memories of Labor's omnishambles and they are still totally unreconstructed. Not even a policy review. Fail. It has been a fool's paradise for Labor that Shorten has been relatively popular until recently because it has allowed Labor to be totally negative and not self reflect and renew, and leaves them underdone.
10 Jun 2015 9:29:31am
Black, the government has indeed stuffed up in policy areas, in fact most of them. That is reflected in its gaffes which indicate its real policies or its failures to understand the issues.
10 Jun 2015 10:34:45am
The government has stuffed up by its ideas (most rightly so) being rejected by the Senate.
They have not stuffed up on managerial roll out.
It really is the opposite to what Labor delivered.
Currently the government stopped boats (coming to Australia obviously) and reduced people in detention, when the ALP was increasing it.
The government beat ALP predictions for unemployment and has started prosecuting illegal home purchases which the last ALP government never did.
They have finalized free trade agreements that where permanently stalled under the ALP
And have assisted small business practically when the ALP couldnt keep a small business minister in place for two years.
They successfully removed the carbon tax which ABC opinion deemed impossible (much like stopping the boats), have started to change the DHS computer system which causes many problems and started an examination into public service efficiency (which the ALP never did either).
I loved the ALP ideas, but the roll out just sucked across the board. We need the best of both worlds. At present, i am not seeing the ALP reward decent ministers so I have no confidence things will change. Abbott was an average minister and now is an average PM.
The countries best hope is that Abbott sits aside for Morrison.
10 Jun 2015 10:44:53am
Lo, maybe you confuse symbolism and your approval with manifest policy debacles. I'm talking about things like open borders, NBN blowout, pink bats; an inability to perform core functions of good governance. Labor has a mindset of reckless, revolutionary social change without proper attention to affordability, implementation, and policy based on evidence. 'Gaffes' are usually just moralistic opposition to the government and trying to drive social engineering and not of substance. This government has no major policy stuffups on core issues of competency.
10 Jun 2015 2:53:59pm
Blacklisted, this government has no core issues of competency. They are uniformly incompetent in all areas.
Incidentally, your list of the previous government's supposed "problems" are all factually incorrect. Labor had no "open borders" policy, that is an outright lie from the Coalition. The NBN is costing MORE under the Coalition's plan, not less, and it will now need to be rebuilt within a couple of years thanks to the Coalition's complete failure to understand technology. The insulation rollout in fact had fewer injuries than is normally the case in that number of jobs. As for "core functions of good governance," the previous government proved itself able to negotiate and pass legislation which is more than the Abbott government has been able to do. I wonder, will they even get a single budget past the Senate before their term is up? It's not looking too rosy. Finally, it is the Abbott government that is attempting radical social engineering as they attempt to drive the country to the right. Fortunately for us all, they are proving just as incompetent at that as they have been at everything else they have tried so far.
10 Jun 2015 9:55:32am
The government has been nothing but a rolling series of policy failures in every area...
10 Jun 2015 10:07:05am
Who's government ?
the yank:
10 Jun 2015 10:40:19am
We have now been caught paying people traffickers to turn boats with asylum seekers around, great approach. Plus, rising unemployment and all the other blunders and you think this is a good government?
Oh please.
Monty B:
10 Jun 2015 1:01:53pm
Now be fair Yank. The bad Labor debt has been converted into increased good LNP debt. The bad Labor low interest rates, indicating a sluggish economy, have been transformed into good, even lower LNP interest rates indicating affordable home loans.
Graham H:
10 Jun 2015 1:06:23pm
Yank - how about taxpayers funding sex change operations. Just as crazy.?
the yank:
10 Jun 2015 5:00:26pm
I hope you are kidding.
Or was Abbott's promise to stop the boats by paying off the human traffickers. That way bad old traffickers can double their income.
Great approach.
10 Jun 2015 4:17:29pm
So you believe people smugglers without any evidence? No wonder your vote was so easy for Labor to buy. Even if it was true, $30,000 to save $7.5 million seems OK to me.
Monty B:
10 Jun 2015 5:50:01pm
No wonder your vote was so easy for Labor to buy.''
Too right. Nothing easy about Abbott's efforts to gain votes. Promise tracker has his list of pre-. election lies up to 14 now.
10 Jun 2015 11:21:32am
It depends on how you define "not really stuffed up any significant policy area".
If, unfortunately, like most people you are only interested in the economy then there is a real chance that the country will be in recession by the time of the next election. Is that a stuff up?
If you are interested in the long term stability of the human race the government has failed spectacularly to deal with climate change.
If you are interested in the gradual structural shift from mining to modern industries such as technology and renewables then this may not be the government for you.
If you are interested in Australia's reputation globally then the shirt-fronter is probably not the ideal representative for Australia abroad (I say shirt-fronter as a general swipe - the bigger issues are of course Australia's descent into being a pariah state which rejects just about every single one of its international obligations from climate change to refugees to respecting neighbours sovereignty to dealing with the fall out of ISIS).
If you are interested in your personal privacy (a true liberal) then this government is probably not for you.
If you are interested in a sensible anti-terror policy then - nope - this government can't help with that.
If you have some more kind of left-field (not left wing) interests from a sensible drugs policy (you know with the massive ICE epidemic we're experiencing) to euthanasia then this stuff isn't even on the table.
Now having said all that if you voted Labor you wouldn't get any of this either. While Labor did manage to pull the country through the GFC without going into recession (come on give them some credit) it would have equally failed to re-structure the economy so as to avoid the slow death that we are currently experiencing.
And this is why both leaders are in negative ratings. Because both leaders and their respective parties and nearly every single person in politics is completely and utterly useless.
They are professional politicians who believe in politics and political theory over reality.
Both Abbott and Shorten are supposedly intelligent but both reject evidenced based approaches to things and prefer to exist in an evidence-free zone made up of whatever political theory they like to wed themselves to.
They spend more time trying to pursue political ambitions than showing actual ambition in leading a country through some pretty difficult times by showing genuine leadership and promoting genuine ideas.
It's in this context that media owners and private interests get to run amok pursuing their very clear/black and white interests: money and power. They manipulate and use politicians as pawns selling them whatever fits with their beliefs - "Believe in a small state? Well I've got the perfect public-private partnership for you where the State bears all the risk and
Melena Santorum:
10 Jun 2015 2:09:02pm
Hear, hear!
Good post; sorry to see it truncated.
Sir Trent Toogood:
10 Jun 2015 11:25:37am
'The government will be returned easily.'
Who says so?
Certainly not the polls and wishful thinking doesn't count.
Where's Tony:
10 Jun 2015 9:07:48am
I share your dread Yank but the rusted on will vote for their preferred party no matter what. Personally I just don't see any light on the horizon and my conscience tells me to vote for neither, unfortunately my vote will be useless as I live in a very safe Liberal electorate and the best I can hope for is that many will vote independent in order to register a protest vote against both of the majors. We are poorly served and deserve much better.
10 Jun 2015 12:42:39pm
I'm a rusted on voter, rusted on to the concept of voting Informally. None of these sycophants will be getting my vote or the funding attached to it and I urge all voters to do the same until a parliament representative of the people's interest is returned to us.
Frankly, these forums much like our elections are illusory. They give people false hope that they have democracy when in fact government is essentially controlled by an elite driven by external powers and vested interests. Ask South America or Eastern Europe or any other country that dares to play to a different tune. A swath of economic sanctions is imposed upon their people. The fourth estate dress us up as democratic and free but are we ?
or do the corrupt just wear a better cut of suit in the West ?
It is not freedom and democracy that the "free world" exports/imports it is an extortion racket run for the benefit of a precious few capitalists.
10 Jun 2015 1:14:57pm
Probably the best we can hope for is for Tony Abbott to lose his seat, but sadly for Australia, that dream seems unlikely.
10 Jun 2015 9:08:03am
The Killing Season may prove to be Bill Shorten's undoing. The coalition now have the line "Kevin Rudd couldn't trust Bill Shorten, Julia Gillard couldn't trust Bill Shorten, how can you trust Bill Shorten".
Not appearing in the show may superficially have seemed wise, to not get involved in publicly raking over the past, but he has also lost the chance to gain any redemption by having his perspective of the events made clear.
Sir Trent Toogood:
10 Jun 2015 11:29:37am
I dont think the infighting between Rudd and Gillard will have any impact on Shorten.
Shorten did what he thought was good for the Labor party, not for personal gain.
Desperate clutching at straws, I think.
10 Jun 2015 4:18:56pm
I fail to see how supporting, then knifing, then supporting, the two worst leaders in history could have ever been good for Labor, but hey, whatever you think. All it indicates to me is that Shorten has zero judgement and cares nothing about the country.
10 Jun 2015 1:45:33pm
That raises all sorts of interesting questions about how many of the people who'd potentially vote for Shorten, who'll watch this show, reach the conclusions that you have, and then abandon him for....who and what? The faithful, competent, relaxed, transparent band of buddies who're keeping the chairs warm ATM?
10 Jun 2015 9:16:09am
Rubbish !!! Our present government is doing a great job and so is Tony Abbott.
Just imagine Labor in power now. We would be overrun with boat people and another 500 billion in debt as Bowen tries to stimulate what's not there. I just shudder at the thought.
Chris L:
10 Jun 2015 10:58:08am
I don't think debt can continue to be a criticism aimed at Labor given the Coalition government has more than doubled it without the justification of a global financial crisis.
Monty B:
10 Jun 2015 5:56:27pm
Chris, the previous debt was bad Labor debt. This government has good LNP brand debt. Its completely different, although higher. Just as low interest rates under Labor proved sluggish economic performance, while the even lower interest rates under Hockey prove affordable housing.
10 Jun 2015 11:03:43am
I have to admire your loyalty, hidi. Governments in Australia are run by amateurs who have risen through private political parties. It's more of a question of who has the worst government not who has the best. Historically it takes 3-4 years for the grasping, venal corruption to surface which contributes no end to the average length of term. As we've a representative parliament when we no longer need representing, a system hijacked by parties which are little better than the paid front for interest groups and a duopoly that differs only in the eye of the beholder, good and bad are gaseous concepts until made solid through the magic of the media. Once pundit's "great job" is another's disaster. When opinion is divided along partisan lines there fair change that everyone is wrong
Val Doxan:
10 Jun 2015 9:17:20am
"I dread the next election."
I share your dread Yank. The idea that we could possibly be stuck with a further three years of Abbott has me thinking about migrating elsewhere. The prospect of a leader as lame as Shorten is only slightly more inspiring.
10 Jun 2015 10:27:50am
Yes, three more years and the prospect of possibly getting near to a balanced budget fills one with dread. Bring back the Labor spendathon. Free money for everyone!
spacey 101:
10 Jun 2015 2:12:53pm
Dear bulldust, its clear to all you havent read the budget, or taken note of the flimsy assumptions is is based on. You also have seemed to completely missed all the advice by respected economists stating that these assumptions are fairy tale stuff, such as Hockey's wish upon a star growth predictions.
You've also missed that a lot of saving Hockey has booked in were still stuck in the senate last year, let alone this year.
When will you rusted ons realise, as Hockey is starting to, that much of the budget is dependant on the wider world wide economy, that we have little control over (hello commodity prices!).
The parts we can control, such as revenue and middle class welfare, Hockey and Abbott refuse to even look at. I mean why should they when the poor dont drive and buying a house means you need to just get out there and get a higher paying job that the unemployment figures confirm dont actually exist??
10 Jun 2015 10:51:34am
agreed, it would be nice to have political leader who is innovative, honest, not controlled by multi national corporations , humane, intelligent, caring , etc, but not likely in australia why , because of the class of pollies we have in australia example , me me me me me me me, greed , sub servant to the wealthy, lack of any real intelligence, idology , and buried head in the sand attitude to resolving real problems, in other words useless, the current crop of pollies are uninspiring
the yank:
10 Jun 2015 5:04:07pm
Dare I say we are getting what a majority of Australians really want?
leigh of Tregevis:
10 Jun 2015 8:50:40pm
People need the courage to vote Green or Independent if they know the candidate's principles.
10 Jun 2015 7:34:55am
Thank you Greg for saying it as it is.
"We have on one side a leader uttering inanities and unhinged logic on the economy, and a leader who thinks national security is a chance to prove to the world he is a tough guy. And on the other side we have one who thinks the biggest problem with the citizenship proposals is that he hasn't been briefed on the legislation."
I am getting seriously worried that we have a govt. in Canberra that have absolutely no idea of what they are doing. Every time someone mentions that we have a problem in one area the PM or the Treasurer immediately try & shoot the messenger, rather that agreeing there is a problem, that everyone in the electorate is quite aware of.
The way things are going with a complete lack of any action from the govt. on a heap of problem areas, we will just drift into a recession. Things like low revenue receipts, housing prices out of control, unemployment rising, consumer & business confidence very low, just to name a few.
under warranty:
10 Jun 2015 7:43:09am
It seems like we have two leaders of the opposition, one on each side of the parliament.
Desert Woman:
10 Jun 2015 8:56:23am
Yes, we are witnessing the adversarial system run right out of control. Competitive systems are inherently unstable so this situation is not unexpected but the real question is how do we rectify it.
Unlike many here, I do not believe it is a question of individuals or 'leadership' because the forces within the system will always render their changes short lived. We are at the point where we must consider changing the system to one which is cooperative rather than competitive. People working together offers a real opportunity to set national goals and start moving towards them.
Using the jury system to select the representatives with open discussion in parliament would be a good start.
10 Jun 2015 11:37:03am
Great comment
10 Jun 2015 11:47:10am
Desert Woman:I was pleased to see you resume posting, a level head. My conservative instincts withdraw from such a fundamental change, but appreciate the obvious logic of your proposal.
The unwillingness or inability of either party to offend financial backers with progressive policy that may impinge on their profit is understandable. The ethical and moral code of government as a result is badly distorted.
The same belief that people wont act selfishly and start thinking in terms of the common good/community, is pivotal in any system.
There is no reason why a representative guest can't speak in parliament especially if it is the will of the people it may even spark that discussion.
10 Jun 2015 7:54:38am
If this wasn't so serious it would be funny. Unhinged Greg says. What a good way to sum up Abbott but unfortunately it could be applied equally to Shorten.
The thing is many people including me expected nothing better from Abbott but we look to the opposition leader to save us from this stuff. The only reason Shorten is still in the running is that Abbott just keeps on giving with his verbal blunders.
The latest one on allowing superannuation to be used for continued tax avoidance instead of its intended purpose is a good case in point. Why is Shorten not all over it? Shame on the ALP for not demanding better performance from their leader.
10 Jun 2015 2:07:20pm
L, I sometimes speculate that the ALP counted on having a couple of terms in opposition to find a good leader and good policies. Abbott's incredible incompetence had them on the back foot: Shorten was a place holder, not a long-term leader.
10 Jun 2015 8:18:38am
What is sorely lacking in both leaders (but especially in our current PM and his party) is the appalling lack of vision and strength of policy that we should be seeing by now.
The Abbott government has provided none of this in their almost 2 years of government thus far, preferring instead, at their most 'palatable' to use the (often wrongly) perceived threats of national security and herd immunity, to bolster their popularity reserves.
Shorten has laid a little too low, relying on the many blunders the Abbott led government has made to boost his party's political fortunes by default. Unfortunately, for Shorten, given his historical link to the former troubles of the Rudd/Gillard years, he has been somewhat obliged to keep a low profile.
I think that both parties have made errors in the selection of their leaders (especially when they both have options to improve them - Turnbull and Dreyfus come immediately to mind) and that is part of the bigger problem with leadership satisfaction we are now seeing.
Paul By The Bay:
10 Jun 2015 8:21:58am
I can't really disagree with anything in this article but the most worrying thing for me is that neither party seems to have anyone who would be any better.
Unfortunately, existing and recent politicians have so degraded their profession that good people of character and talent find the whole concept of modern politics to be repulsive and will have nothing to do with either party.
Poor fellow my country?
under warranty:
10 Jun 2015 9:08:32am
The answer is right there in front of us in the form of Malcolm Turnbull. I'm not saying Turnbull is perfect, but he is someone who could unite the large number of people who are fed up by the extremes, the negativity and absolute dribble we're seeing from both sides of politics now. Turnbull is a well-spoken statesman and would be a leader who we could actually be proud of.
10 Jun 2015 3:58:32pm
The problem with Turnbull as leader is that he would be leading the Coalition, and we cannot afford any more years of Coalition governance no matter who is at the helm. The Liberal Party represents their big business masters instead of the Australian people and simply changing the figurehead will make no difference to that at all.
Lehan Ramsay:
10 Jun 2015 8:32:04am
I could never understand why people were not more interested in Julia Gillard's decision not to try to push through same sex marriage but perhaps some very senior political figures understands it somewhat? Some seems to have some inkling there.
10 Jun 2015 9:18:01am
One theory. Labor represents nearly all the high NESB seats and those constituents are typically very socially conservative and will never accept gay marriage even if legalised. The risk for Labor is that appeasing a few inner city dwellers will alienate the vast suburban ethnic masses.
10 Jun 2015 12:48:26pm
I think you've just hit the nail on the head Blacklisted! Politicians of both stripes are busy appealing to the electorate. Apart from a few independents we just don't have politicians speaking from the heart and with true conviction any more.
Lehan Ramsay:
10 Jun 2015 9:38:20am
I think what we might find is that both labor and liberal and national voters are socially conservative through fiscal management strategies and that is why the system keeps in place.
Lehan Ramsay:
10 Jun 2015 1:25:16pm
Yes. I think that we might find that both labor and liberal and national voters are socially conservative through fiscal management strategies and that is why the system keeps in place. But we can't guarantee that the independents or the greens or the yellows are independent any more since they started making deals with in-power governments in return for stuff.
Electronic Graffiti:
10 Jun 2015 8:52:23am
I wouldn't call it 'dissatisfied'.
I'd call it utterly disgusted.
Lehan Ramsay:
10 Jun 2015 8:58:53am
Basically this classification appears to function through inheritance rights and/or property rights but I have no understanding of law it could be complicated. But important to realize that as a child you receive no classification. It is your parents who are classified.
dog tags:
10 Jun 2015 9:01:26am
NEWS FLASH....There is no individual and no political party in Australia worth voting for.
Big deal..... tell us something we don't already know.
Graham H:
10 Jun 2015 11:25:35am
And yet people want to pay more in tax to these Govts.???
Think it will make society better. No way.
spacey 101:
10 Jun 2015 2:34:10pm
And yet people like you keep banging on about how a surplus is sooo important.'
A little hint. To achieve that you either need to lift income (taxes) or reduce services (people do tend to like having their hospitals and police and fire services and the PBS though), or thirdly you cut tax concessions and rebates to those that dont need them (CGT, health care rebate, superannuation concessions etc etc).
Options 1 and 3 are generally opposed by Conservatives as it theoretically hits their hip pockets the hardest (although in the first Hockey budget lifting taxes on the poor was applauded by the well to do, yet to do the same to them is inconceivable, or as a token measure is limited to 2 years).
Option 3 is interesting too. Because to take this away Conservatives bleat that you are taking away something from them that they deserve because of their hard work. But if hard work is all it requires to be sucessful why do you need rebates and concessions and preferential tax treatment? I dont know.
Number 2 is the hardest. Simply because the axe has already been taken to these services by governments of all stripes, and what we have left is basically the bare bones. Long waiting times in hospitals. Back logged courts. Police services cut. Nurses, police, essential services, ambos, all asked to work harder and harder each year without the commensurate raise in pay.
Something has to give, option 2 has nothing more to give, while option 1 and 3 have lots of leeway.
What to choose, what to choose...
10 Jun 2015 4:27:27pm
Here in SA the long term ALP government has gotten itself into a huge debt and is trying both 1 and 3 and satisfying no one but their core and considering that the only polled 36% of the primary vote and snuck in with a minority government. It is going to take a miracle for them to be re elected in March 2018. They are economic numpties running the highest taxed state in Australia and they still cant get near a balanced budget.
Lehan Ramsay:
10 Jun 2015 9:04:04am
I'd say in part this is about preventing asylum seekers from having any claim to staying in the country if their children have automatic citizenship, having been born here or on Nauru or Christmas Island which I'd say even if they want to say is technically not being born in Australia actually is, and the reluctance to move them to the mainland was about that more than anything else. I'd say also that escaping from those places would land you in other countries, the waters are probably like a chess board other there. Or something.
Val Doxan:
10 Jun 2015 9:12:14am
I share your abhorrence Greg at the pitiful dumbing down of political debate, and the endless insults to our intelligence as a sophisticated and educated electorate.
It's like we have a Leader of the Opposition (Abbott), and a deputy Leader of the Opposition (Shorten).
Australia evidently needs, and wants new leadership in the parliament. Leaders who take a principled stand and be prepared and capable of arguing the case.
Electronic Graffiti:
10 Jun 2015 9:32:49am
Dear Val, love the circles of influence around you; sadly, the electorate can hardly be described as sophisticated and educated.
Your evidence exists in any commercial mainstream media.
And, of course, the so-called success of the sad and ugly offerings by politicians to the national conversation.
And worse, many sophisticated and educated people in the electorate actually like numbskull policies and utterances.
Means they don't have to think, to question, and can continue a lifestyle of relative insularity.
10 Jun 2015 1:21:02pm
" Means they dont have to think,to question,and can continue a lifestyle of relative insularity"
This could be the answer, if the government were to legalise all drugs we could all be in that state, I think not a few posters are there already, then they could get about their business of reducing our Australia to rubble unhindered and unquestioned, and we would be none the wiser, with our brains reduced to pulp.
Indigo Gap:
10 Jun 2015 9:20:51am
For an experienced, fair minded honest leader with no agenda other than to do what is truly best for this beautiful country, I think we Australians should seriously consider putting Dick Smith into a major leadership roll in running this country.
IF he is mad enough to take it on ??
If not ..... I believe we are 'snookered'.
gerard oosterman:
10 Jun 2015 9:30:59am
Australia will never get anywhere, no matter what party is in power, till we can say sorry to the asylum seekers. You have seriously mishandled that issue, Australia.
In Europe they are saving thousands of people from drowning and Italy calls asylum seekers 'our brothers and sisters'. Children throw flowers at them.
Here we push them back, demonise them, and if they survive, lock them up in detention under barbaric conditions, even children.
10 Jun 2015 9:41:28am
Thank you Gerald. It is very good to know that there are still Australians with a social conscience.
10 Jun 2015 9:43:27am
Not everyone does gerard, just most of the people who live in marginal seats.
The Concerned Citizen:
10 Jun 2015 10:23:36am
Such as people who actually live in places that were arbitrarily chosen to house refugees you mean?
spacey 101:
10 Jun 2015 2:44:40pm
To the concerned citizen, I somehow question you level of genuine 'concern'.
I live in one of the areas you speak of. What a wonderful place! We have frequent festivals where the community gets together, we sample each others food, music and culture, for those open minded enough to attend the friendships that can be made surprises.
Of course there are those that have a preconceived viewpoint and dont attend, stay home, then complain that people dont get out and socialise anymore.
My kids school is represented by 65 different countries. The children play and laugh, play soccer and rugby and cricket. We have an active P&C, with a bigger than average attendance, where we all, regardless of race, colour or creed work together to get the most out of the school on behalf of our children.
Oh, and ask any of these kids what nationality they are, and the vast majority give you a strange look, like you've just asked the stupidest question, and say 'Aussie'.
10 Jun 2015 10:39:42am
"gerard oosterman: 10 Jun 2015 9:30:59am"
Well said Gerard... Europe hasn't forgotten the 30's and 40's and they way certain countries treated minority groups.
10 Jun 2015 9:35:29am
Help us Di Natale. You're our only hope.
10 Jun 2015 10:06:43am
Four more elections and we may have a Green government.
10 Jun 2015 10:26:13am
"barsnax: 10 Jun 2015 9:43:27am
Help us Di Natale. You're our only hope."
I like his style much more than the previous greens leader. I think he will appeal a to a lot more voters.
10 Jun 2015 1:52:10pm
Very nice reference, well done!
10 Jun 2015 9:39:28am
I think knee-jerk removal of citizenship is not on. I have no doubt we have a few dangerous idiots amongst us but they are our dangerous idiots.
On the other hand we have two people who (for better or worse) have survived the (our) scarifying process of achieving political leadership in our democracy, who represent (for better or worse) the primary votes of 75% of us and and probably the second preference of 90%. Who know, if they know only one thing at all, it's which way the wind blows.
Greg is a lovely bloke I'm sure but I don't recall him testing his ideas against the electorate. Nor or course have I, and few of us here are ever likely to.
We either have a democracy or we do not. If our democracy throws up people and decisions we don't like it is time for long hard look in the mirror.
10 Jun 2015 11:24:08am
We also have a Federation and another house the Senate that is undemocratic.
In these circumstances governing becomes more difficult than Alice in Wonderland.
spacey 101:
10 Jun 2015 2:45:52pm
Please prove your assertion that the senate is 'undemocratic' maynard.
10 Jun 2015 9:40:52am
Greg you are so right it seems we the voters don't like either Leader and i find it hard to fathom the other Ministers standing by a Leader who is not liked, maybe they should both make their move for a change before next Election
10 Jun 2015 9:45:49am
We don't need better politicians, we need better voters.
Helvi :
10 Jun 2015 10:01:04am
tonyup, that has been mantra ever since Abbott got elected to the top job.
Well educated population tend to elect better leaders, just look at the countries that value good free education for all.
10 Jun 2015 9:57:11am
The best outcome at the next election would be for both Abbott and Shorten to lose their seats - it ain't never gonna happen but it's about the only chance Australia has.
R Supwood:
10 Jun 2015 9:59:47am
We are at a low level; this old historian would suggest it is the poorest political scene since federation. Little talent seems about to emerge as leadership material. The government is dominated by Howard era leftovers, unpalatable and ranging from mediocre to repulsive. The ALP needs to get a few fighters who master the requirements of combative opposition.
My old classmate Howard has led this decline with his inadequacies, especially a lack of broad decency to serve the nation properly. Under the words and actions, Howard was as he was at fifteen, a self focussed, obsessive nagger and stirrer of no positivity or merit, a mother-in-law type of rejected old humour, a caricature of a debater in self admiring triumph.
When we remember that such men as Casey, Hasluck, Evatt, Spender, Hayden, did not succeed to the top of the greasy pole, we must feel dismayed, even betrayed, by a system that allowed backstabbers to rise like foul weeds. Bowen and Turnbull are perhaps the only candidates for a future where Australia has a chance to avoid national depression in all forms, economically and psychologically. We face a decade or far more of marking time, floating back or sinking down.
10 Jun 2015 9:59:55am
Yep... they are both terrible.
We need a few politicians on either side of the house to keep above the nonsense and try to stay elevated... on the Libs side it has to be Turnbull and on the ALP side I think Penny Wong has to maintain her faith in her intelligence and ability and resist harder the temptation to slide into mediocrity.
Lehan Ramsay:
10 Jun 2015 10:11:39am
Of course they find it hard to be natural. Of course they do. That is pretty normal these days. Take off your makeup, they probably have to wear that in the Parliament too. Take off your civility. Take off your geniality. You'll find it pretty difficult to do that. We're all pretty plastic now, how could we have avoided that, we're assaulted every day through advertisments, television, music, everything to be better than we are. As if being better is something that can be bought.
Lehan Ramsay:
10 Jun 2015 10:13:40am
I suppose both Mister Abbott and Mister Shorten still believe that the people can be bought and in the case they can't be bought they can be pressured.
10 Jun 2015 10:21:25am
The legacy of the two most successful PM's in recent history lives on, the positive attributes that made them successful are sadly lacking in the modern incantations.
Keating had his historic war strategies, policy, wit and a cutting tongue,his cruelty in despatching foe has been mimicked ever since.
Howard had patience, experience guile and Murdoch with the lowest[modern] fear campaign we've seen.
Murdoch and his ailing news media empire is still pouring his money into a fitting outcome[for him] making sure the dumbing down and disenchantment with politics for the public is alive and well.
Labor unless they play to Murdoch are at a disadvantage, there is no single equivalent in Australian media any where near as powerful.
The ABC remains objective in its conservative framework as usual, unwilling to take News corp to task believing it is not their role, except in passing.
The opposition leader has the advantage of not having the distraction of actually run the country yet being positive is still seen as a weakness giving the government and its media allies a target.
Last night an adviser to Rudd /Gillard years stated something like "shoot at everything you see and don't stop"
Adversarial politics is one thing, not being willing to work on positive outcomes is another,it is not a weakness to give the govt. some ground ie tax,well done Labor. The hair trigger of terror/refugee is the Howard/Murdoch legacy and should always be explained as such.
Lehan Ramsay:
10 Jun 2015 10:21:52am
Governments have always spied on us. We know that, it was always pretty obvious too. There were things always in the news about how people were cheating this and cheating that, and it's a kind of reality we've lived with for a long long time, that's why there are fairy tales, that's why there were writers like Shakespeare, because it was through mockery that they were kept somewhat with their noses in their work rather than in our lives. We know that the Russians put up with it for years and years and years before they finally gave up trying to be different to the rest of the international economy. So they accepted a change and then got back into line. It would have been very naive of us to assume that if Facbook, Twitter were being used to sift our information the government wasn't doing that too, why would they do that, they're generally looking for a lot of small bits of money rather than a few large sums.
Lehan Ramsay:
10 Jun 2015 10:22:49am
But this is the thing. The best minds have also been serially kept down. If you ask me, brilliance is being bred out of us.
10 Jun 2015 10:22:49am
"Anyone who raises a gun or a knife to an Australian..." I think that covers most people who are convicted of murder or homicide, or attempted homicide or even threatening behaviour. So why not strip them all of citizenship? We could save a lot of dollars in the judicial system by just letting the Minister decide who those people are and then outsource the treatment of them to other countries. Problem solved and money saved. Magna Carta is way outdated anyway, let's shove it aside.
10 Jun 2015 12:34:37pm
I have some bad news for you.
There have been a number of deportations of people ( with dual citizenship ) who have been convicted of murder in Australia.
The reason the others are not deported are because they are home grown Australians.
10 Jun 2015 10:24:30am
I know of no one in my wide circle of friends who are from many walks of life who have ever been approached to respond to a poll apart from those polls that are available online.
So....... how valid are they?
Are contributors confined to who reads what newspaper?
Is there background political involvement despite the frequent use of the word 'independent' in the poll results?
It would be helpful to understand how these 'polls' are managed.
10 Jun 2015 2:26:05pm
Patricia, many years ago I worked as a Newspoll surveyor. I rang random people from the telephone book and asked questions like: "if there was a federal election, who would you vote for?" I can assure you that the participants were randomly selected. I haven't worked on Newspoll for a long time so things may have changed. However, one of the big changes that I can say would affect results is the use of landlines vs mobiles and on-line surveys. I imagine that older, more conservative people cling to landlines longer than younger, progressive people. Likewise, younger and more "progressive" people spend more time on-line and probably more likely to do on-line surveys. I studied surveying at uni: it is a very serious business. Newspoll takes it very seriously.
spacey 101:
10 Jun 2015 6:16:56pm
The problem I have with newspoll is their consistent bucking the trend (towards the Libs) of just about all of their polls.
Now with computers running the show I can hardly wait to see what the results will be. Despite their years of existence you still see people struggling to use the keypads for eftpos or the atm machine.
Newspoll: If Tony Abbott is your preferred PM, please press 1. If Bill Shorten is preferred PM please press *6285#657#*
Me: *6285#657#*
Newspoll: Sorry your answer does not register or is incorrect. If Tony Abbott is your preferred.....
10 Jun 2015 10:32:36am
What is it about the polls? Why can't people do their own reading and make up their own minds about who to vote for?
I can remember reading a Don Martin cartoon strip in Mad Magazine forty years ago. The strip depicted a father lecturing his teenage son on how to vote. He describes his analysis of candidates, parties, and policies. He goes on to stress that the final piece in the puzzle were the polls, and concludes with the punch line "and in thirty years I have never voted for the losers!"
10 Jun 2015 10:34:45am
Bill Shorten, no offence to the man, isn't the sort of person who's going to win an election or at least not win it on his own merit. I'll give him credit for helping Labor recover from the last election, but if Labour wins the next election (which to me seems like a coin toss at the moment) would be due to Tony Abbott's incompetence in governing more than his own leadership ability. I'd say now is the perfect time for him to step aside and allow someone else with a better chance of win an election be the Labor leader because it would allow enough time for the public to get familiar with any new leader just before the next election.
10 Jun 2015 11:38:44am
"now is the perfect time for him to step aside and allow someone else with a better chance of win an election be the Labor leader"
Ah, so you're saying if you want to win an election, get a good leader who's popular with the electorate. Why do I think you've been hanging out with Joe Hockey?
10 Jun 2015 3:51:51pm
I've done nothing of the sort, if I had Joe Hockey would have a black eye (only joking). I'm just repeat the process between the 2004 and 2007 elections Latham quit after losing, Beazley stablised the position and Rudd took over after most of the post election fallout was done and subsequently won. A similar process made Abbott head of the Liberal party and he very nearly won the 2010 election and obviously did win the last one. I'm just saying it's a decent political move for an opposition.
10 Jun 2015 3:31:29pm
"I'll give him credit for helping Labor recover from the last election"
I'll give him credit for taking a Frankenstein Monster and turning it into a Zombie, but not much more than that!
10 Jun 2015 4:42:08pm
It can't hurt for the person with the good job of being the opposition I guess.
Thing is: Australians vote for their local representative and preferred party in parliament. Who the leader is, or their own beliefs, ultimately come second to party policy, and thus it really only matters to the electorate of the assigned leader - however long that lasts.
Bizarrely I've noticed some in my own electorate have trouble comprehending that we don't work like the USA does. Maybe making it compulsory learning in schools would help with that in the future.
10 Jun 2015 5:38:47pm
While everything you wrote is true, it is also true that most people don't know who is up for election in the electorate (not all of them at least), but they do know the parties and the leader is the face of the party and presumably has more influence in the party room than anyone else (most of the time) therefore the choice of leader is a highly strategic decision for the electoral chances of the party in question.
10 Jun 2015 6:26:40pm
True enough, and I get the logic, grew cynical enough after years watching politicians strut around as they do, tactics, tactics, tactics.
Doesn't help by the way that some places don't bother with proper campaign attempts.
We can only hope for the best, yes?
10 Jun 2015 10:45:45am
yep i dont like either of them.
10 Jun 2015 10:47:51am
Labor have made real inroads into economic management and responsible opposition by offering to work with the government on tax and superannuation. It is disappointing that this 'objective ' article has not acknowledged this, pointing to the general malaise of Australian media.
Security/refugees should always be traced back to weapons of mass destruction and Tampa, when the modern approach for these issues was first made.
Labor must recognise just how destructive this is to our culture and make every effort to draw attention to its nefarious nature.
Bill Shorten has time and less pressure, his team of advisers need to stop shooting at everything and look around.
Yes they are critical issues bursting with emotive power but look at the cause politically speaking and the cynicism of using these issues to political/MSM advantage.
End this horrible approach to winning votes , clearly identify its origins, sell the message and drag our politics back to decency in doing so. Please
Mike (the other one):
10 Jun 2015 11:03:13am
No doubt about it, our politicians are truly lost. For the most they don't have any idea where Australia is headed, they are simply too preoccupied with playing politics. If there is any policy backed by a constructed philosophy it's simply not going to suit everybody.
One way to alleviate the stagnation is for our political system to go back to the people and ask them what they want for the future of Australia. Ask the really big questions, and then put together a public document, a charter if you like, a map of where we are going. The pollies can then argue over the details.
No map, no way forward - expect to get lost.
10 Jun 2015 11:21:55am
Seeing these two, face one another across the table, is like watching an Accountant facing a Dentist both in full flight.
However, anyone who believes these two people are just a dull pair of guys, are kidding themselves. Underneath their unspectacular outward appearances lurks a pair of well educated, ambitious, driven individuals.
Whether their first consideration are for the rest of us is debatable but doubtful.
10 Jun 2015 11:40:32am
Well there you have it, politics by popularity. Isn't it a recipe for disaster to judge our countries policies on the personalities presenting their party platform. The chiseled jaw, the perfect dental work, the charming personality and the warm and fuzzy feeling of being led by a charismatic leader. Perhaps "Hillsong" could provide a suitable leader in the future?
10 Jun 2015 3:54:17pm
Both major parties are all but identical in their policies. Identical enough to barely have any. No sweeping reform. No major changes. No vision for the country. Instead, we have more of the same heaped upon business as usual, layered with the status quo.
In the absence of the Monster Raving Loony Party, voters are deserting the majors (particularly the Labor Party who have become another Liberal Party, but one encumbered with the baggage of their Union "ex"). The rise of independents, the rise (and fall) of PUP, the rise and rise of the Greens. People are voting for someone, anyone that's offering a lickspittle of change.
And when grey is the new grey, the only mark of differentiation, the only unique selling point is personality. Those that don't have one shouldn't knock those that do
10 Jun 2015 11:48:13am
Thanks Greg, You have articulated why thoughtful Australians are very concerned for their country (If they haven't given up). It is timely for all to re-read Hannah Arendt on the Banality of Evil. How ordinary citizens can approve of and do the most awful and evil things. Australia is rapidly becoming a very fascist country and the political class has utterly failed the people of Australia.
The attacks on Gillian Triggs by the Government have in my view disqualified the Government. The people who took the oath of office are not my government. They forfeited that privilege some time ago.
It is the reckless and wilful repudiation of the social contract that amazes me. Well, I along with many citizens think this contract is void precisely because of the actions of the Government. The irony is rich; the government are ignorant fools, the opposition not much better (trapped in self-interest and corruption) but when they are called out for their dishonest failures they launch ad hominen attacks that demonstrate the citizens were right. The government has no legitimacy save for the flimsy process that saw it elected. That contract is not invoilable. The fact is it is rather delicate. Oh look, its in a thousand pieces on the floor...
10 Jun 2015 11:54:30am
When the choice you have is the lesser of the evils you are still stuck with an evil.
The smart and gutsy thing to do is to deny the evil power.
To find the solution you must first identify the problem- and the problem is the fiat monetary/economic system we have allowed to be created out of lies and thin air.
10 Jun 2015 12:00:35pm
Sorry Greg, your article is overblown to say the least vis a vis stripping of citizenship. And, by the way, so is Amanda Vandstone, currently appearing as the darling of the Left.
Your suggestion that it is somehow utterly wrong for a Minister of the Crown to be able to make a decision on citizenship retention is, as usual, only half the truth. It is proposed that any decision by the Minister can be challenged by appeal up to the High Court, so exactly why this is a bad thing is not explained in your article, and, dare I suggest it, is unlikely to hold water. I doubt very much that anyone holding dual citizenship who merrily heads off to ISIL to butcher their opponents, enslave women and act like 13th Century morons would be surprised at having their Australian passport withdrawn. The question of withdrawing citizenship from a single passport holder is considerably more nuanced, but as I have said in the past anyone proven to be guilty of serving in the armed forces of Daesh should simply be tossed in jail for a very lengthy period.
And why, I ask myself, did Vandstone as a Minister withdraw the citizenship of Skase when he fled Australia? This apparently has not weighed on her conscience too much since, and I doubt that the average Australian citizen gave a stuff. Except for you of course, so I expect you to immediately protest her duplicity. Agreed?
The rest of your article essentially rests upon several pedestals. First, you manage to somehow infer that stating the facts is palpable nonsense. Kindly explain to me why someone murdering innocent people abroad deserves to keep his citizenship, and why exactly this proves that Abbott is in a dick measuring contest with Shorten. Your conclusions are bereft of logic. The commentary from Turnbull was quite sensible and frankly I thought you would have applauded it.
Secondly, if articles like this are going to be endlessly published under the guise of logical commentary, then we are in for a very thin time indeed. Your clever clever dialogue shows you to be nothing more than a partisan hack, and I urge you in the future to replace your tart commentary with at least a sprinkling of logic.
Warm Lettuce:
10 Jun 2015 12:06:26pm
Labor got it wrong when they appointed Shorten as leader.
It should have been Tanya Plibersek.
Penny Wong should be Deputy.
That team of Plibersek/Wong would squash any talk of leadership incompetence and totally annihilate the Liberal Party.
Claudius Pseudonymus:
10 Jun 2015 12:52:59pm
Hahahaha ...doncha worry! Plibersek will be "MOVING FORWARD" soon enough....
Wouldn't that be ironic for BS (nah, I mean Bill Shorten) He was the assassin-kingmaker for 2 Labor PMs and now he himself is gonna get knocked off by his own deputy?
Watch yer back, BS! July National Conference is approaching fast. What better way to commemorate the even than a new Leader?
rowland brickles:
10 Jun 2015 12:32:08pm
I know this article concerns political leadership in Australia, but i wonder if we don't simply reflect the Lack of quality leaders around the world.
The next Presidential election in the USA is likely between Jeb Bush and Clinton both people with a lot of questions to answer. In the UK Cameron after winning a referendum to hold Britain together is plunging into another one which is likely to rip the country apart.
The Prime Minister of New Zealand apparently is a bully who likes to pull women's hair; while the French President zips around in disguise to visit his mistress on his moped.
Not a very savory bunch of World Leaders at the moment.
10 Jun 2015 1:03:20pm
Right n RB- there is not one honest one among them.
Honest enough that is to tell it as it is- 'there is no way you can grown the economy sufficiently to provide jobs for all who need them in a finite over indebted world facing the challenges of growing inequality. climate change and robotics"
They know that in order to even have a go at fixing it they will need to break the unhealthy and one sides relationship they have with those that fund them- financial capitalism and corporatism.
So we have them fiddling the figures-creating little and big wars-serve the US and friends' commercial interests= as we slide into a world of the few global wealthy and multitude of poor and working poor.
If anyone has a different opinion I would love to see it-and the reasoning behind that opinion.
Nausea In Over Supply:
10 Jun 2015 12:37:24pm
Pretend tough guy AKA pm penance giver is a fool follower of backward beliefs. Nothing more.
Democracy is in panic mode, the headless chooks are in charge.
Yawns at repartition being news btw. Govt is incompetent, we now that, solutions?
10 Jun 2015 12:45:49pm
The LNP are the ones to blame, they are the ones who are wrecking our economy and spending more rather than saving.
If Labor had accepted every policy that the Liberals wanted, then Australia would've already been in a recession.
If the Liberals had stuck with forcing the multinationals, big mining companies and big end of town to pay their full taxes, then cowering down to them like they've always done, then the government would be receiving lots of money to pay for the infrastructure, health and education.
But the reason why they won't do that, is because they are the LNP's biggest money donors to their party.
10 Jun 2015 12:55:47pm
Well it looks like Tony Abbott hasn't done anything to pick on lately so might as well bag both for something to whinge about. Surely wouldn't consider Shorten to have done anything wrong on his own. Well not from this site.
10 Jun 2015 1:23:34pm
Perhaps we need Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the Opposition?
10 Jun 2015 4:49:45pm
"Perhaps we need Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the Opposition?"
Malcolm, as a center right politician, would be far better suited to be the leader of the ALP. It would be a good combination as Malcolm as leader would see the ALP shift a little towards the center from the right!
Mike (the other one):
10 Jun 2015 1:58:37pm
Blue politics, red politics, green politics.... I just want to be one of John B. Calhoun's 'beautiful ones'.
Hate and Fear:
10 Jun 2015 2:34:23pm
Any government who can listen to any ones, any citizens private conversations unlimited 24/7 at any time can as a matter of fact stay in power for hundreds of years...
It is really amazing!
We all love that, don't we?
No where to run and nowhere to hide.
A magic century!
10 Jun 2015 2:41:21pm
Greg, in respect to the affordability of housing in this country, the PM & Treasurer are simply ignorant of the facts. Have they considered just how many families are doing it tough out there living from one weekly 'wage' to another without having the ability to save for a housing deposit? Have they also considered the fact that the real problem with the housing market is the distortion caused by 'negative gearing'. Maybe not but it is time they start listening to economists who know what is happening in the real world.
Rough Passage:
10 Jun 2015 2:45:38pm
There is simply no problem in choosing leaders. One is led by unions and thugs and the other although, not perfect, is trying to fix the dreadful mess left by Labor. This needs to happen quickly as the next financial bust is close now. This is not about who we like its about who will do the best job.
10 Jun 2015 4:28:14pm
Yea because giving tax breaks for carpenters and shop keepers to buy laptops in harvey normans is going to power us through the next financial bust.
Undoing the dreadful mess that backwards policies like Fibre Optic infrastructure, taxing a mining boom, using tax to guide consumption towards sustainable energy sources caused..
10 Jun 2015 2:53:25pm
Australia has too much government costing the country too much of its revenue....GET RID of the golden handshakes, free offices and travel for ex PMS and long serving pollies. Reduce the number of Elected members...they have umpteen staff to handle the work anyway...this is why they never know anything when called on mistakes etc...blame it ion their STAFF. Get rid of all the consultants, and the parliamentary committees that get paid extra and rarely have proposals agreed to anyway.
Just SORT yourselves out Australian Government!!!!
People in the real world, when they have given 20 years or more to their employee are often delegated to the scrapheap as they are TOO OLD/WORN OUT THEIR USEFULLNESS to the organisation they have been loyal to. Gold watches are a thing of the past. Unless you are the executive, then you can vote bonuses etc to yourself. Great world we live in.
Please do not decry the Senate...It is our one true opportunity to put a stop to stupid ideas that get through a majority House of Reps. Look at the disasters that Qld ended up with, from last State Govt.
Hockey thinks folks should go get a better paying job....WRONG Wrong Wrong Joe. Lucky to get any job at the moment, let alone secure work to be able to apply for a mortgage with the banks.
Have seen time and time again in these forums, Churches and Banks and Intnl companies should be paying their share of tax.
Both sides of politics are incapable of such reform.
Maybe Shorten will be overrun by the Royal Commission into Unions and we can be rid of him
Maybe Dick Smith may run against Abbott in next election and get rid of him.
Maybe one day we may have some leadership in this country.
10 Jun 2015 5:31:19pm
And witness the soft coverage given in today's (Wednesday) The Australian on Hockey's ''rich twit'' comments on housing affordability. Abbott got a very soft run up to the last election, but unfortunately it has continued in some quarters after he got into government. Yes, Abbott is back in opposition mode - formulating a positive and equitable program for the nation is beyond him.
A pity we do not have a Keating as opposition leader. It is difficult to go against Abbott on anything to do with national security as it risks being portrayed as soft on terrorism. Abbott has beaten up the issue so much that the national interest has long ago been lost - he has really sacrificed our interests for the sake of his own political survival.
10 Jun 2015 6:13:24pm
"Why, he rushed to let it be known that he agreed "in principle" with Tony Abbott. That would be the principle that Peter Dutton should have the say on who can be an Australian citizen?"
Says it all really, if Labor loses the next election and you want to know why the answer will Shorten, no leadership, no principles, stands for nothing and leads from behind. Some people may think that it is sound political strategy to avoid being wedged by Tony Abbott but surely not on every issue?
If he had to "agree in principle" why wasn't it with Turnbull?
10 Jun 2015 10:33:20pm
With graphs like that, you should be a climate "scientist" (homogenizer).
I look forward to your graphs following the next election showing us that 85% of the population voted for the government and the opposition.
Comments for this story are closed.


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Transatlantic Digital Agenda: Bridging the Gap
April 5th, 2017
ESMT Berlin
Schlossplatz 1, 10178 Berlin
The common set of values between Europe and the United States form the basis of our contrat social that guarantees our citizens freedom, equality, democracy, openness, and the rule of law expressed in the U.S. Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of Human Rights in 1789. In the UN, Bretton Woods institutions, Geneva Convention and NATO, Europe and the U.S. forged an international system based on these shared values. Now these values must be adapted to the digital age – a sort of contrat social digital.
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- John Frank, Vice President for EU Government Affairs, Microsoft
- Thomas Jarzombek, MP and CDU/CSU Spokesperson on Digital Agenda, Bundestag
- Cameron Kerry, former General Counsel and former Acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce
A full updated agenda can be found here.
This event is for invited guests only.


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The facts relating to Thangjam Ningol Manorama alias Henthoi are well known. A posse of soldiers from Assam Rifles, including Havildar Suresh Kumar, Riflemen Ajit Singh and T Lotha and unidentified others entered the house of Thangjam Manorama, a 32-year-old woman, in Imphal, together with others at midnight on the night of July 10 and 11. Their names are known because they gave her family a kind of receipt for taking her away. They first bolted the door of the house so that the family could not interfere, and beat her outside the house for three hours. Then they took her away. At 5 PM the next afternoon, her corpse was found naked and riddled with bullets. Whether she had been raped or not could not be ascertained because she had been shot through the vagina.
The official spokesman of Assam Rifles said that Henthoi was shot when she tried to escape while leading the soldiers to a PLA hideout. He said that when she was arrested, a wireless radio, a hand grenade and incriminating documents were found on her. Her family, from whom she was snatched away, denies it, and the receipt it was given does not mention any of these possessions.
Incidentally, Assam Rifles is a paramilitary force which is officered by the army but used for static duties like guarding sensitive places and operating against local insurgencies. It was raised as Cachar Levy in 1835 when the British were penetrating the north-eastern hills and facing hostility from local tribesmen; it set up armed encampments and guarded caravans. After independence, India has raised huge paramilitary forces for anti-insurgency and support to state police. Assam Rifles has been expanded to 33 battalions? Over 15,000 men? And been deployed for static duties in the northeast. It is Assamese only in name; a high proportion of the men are north Indians. Manipur has been up in arms ever since the abduction and killing of Henthoi.
Women stripped their clothes and demonstrated, daring the soldiers to rape them. In the days that followed, there were demonstrations every day. Government offices were attacked; in return, the police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. People defied curfew and came out and formed human chains. They boycotted Indian goods. Hospitals had treated 415 injured people till August 17. On Independence Day, Pebam Chittaranjan Mangang, set himself on fire against the atrocities of the armed forces and killed himself.
The major demand of the agitators is the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which gives the soldiers and the police arbitrary powers to arrest and torture people. For AFSPA to be applicable for now, the state government has to declare a certain place a disturbed area. On August 12, the government declared that the Imphal municipal area was no longer disturbed. The Central government can still apply AFSPA to Imphal. But Ikram Ibobi Singh, the chief minister, sent Rishang Keishing, a former chief minister, to Manmohan Singh, and asked the Prime Minister not to act in haste. Till now, the Prime Minister has not acted at all.
At 4 AM on June 15, the police shot up a car travelling from Bombay towards Ahmedabad and killed all four passengers. One was a 19-year-old college girl from Mumbra near Bombay, Ishrat Jahan Raza. Another was a 32-year-old Malayali born a Hindu but converted to Islam, Javed Ghulam Sheikh. The other two are unidentified; no one claimed their bodies. The Gujarat police claimed that the four were going to assassinate Narendra Modi, and that the two unidentified persons were Pakistanis.
At this point I run out of words for unlike in Manipur, the killing of the four did not cause even a ripple in Gujarat. No human chains were formed, no strike was declared, no policemen were attacked, no one asked for the powers of the police to be curbed. And yet what happened in both places is uncannily similar. Security forces killed people, and claimed ex-post that they were terrorists. Let us not ask whether they were right or not; for the answer must inevitably be a guess, and the guess will be highly correlated with our political beliefs. If we think that Manipur is rife with terrorists who want to secede from India and must be confounded at all costs, we will believe Assam Rifles in Manipur; if we think that Gujarat is a frontier state facing a grave threat of covert action from Pakistan


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Judith S. Kaye joined Skadden in 2009 and focuses her practice on appellate litigation and arbitration. Before joining the firm, she served as chief judge of the State of New York and chief judge of the Court of Appeals for 15 years, until her retirement in 2008. She was appointed to the court in 1983 by Governor Mario Cuomo, becoming the first woman ever to serve on New York's highest court.
Judge Kaye gained a national reputation for both her groundbreaking decisions and her innovative reforms of the New York court system. She wrote notable decisions on a wide variety of statutory, constitutional and common law issues, including rights for gay couples and the death penalty. Judge Kaye also left her mark on New York's courts as a creative reformer, streamlining New York's jury system and establishing specialized courts to focus on issues such as drug addiction, domestic violence and mental health issues. In addition, she created the Adoption Now program that has produced more effective procedures for children in foster care and their families. Her reforms have been implemented by many other state courts. Before her appointment to the bench, she practiced law at Sullivan & Cromwell, IBM and Olwine, Connelly, Chase, O'Donnell & Weyher, where she became that firm's first female partner.
Judge Kaye is the author of more than 200 publications, including articles on legal process, state constitutional law, women in law, juvenile justice, professional ethics and problem-solving courts. She frequently speaks on these topics, as well as those that pertain to international arbitration. She has acted as an arbitrator or panel chair in a broad spectrum of international and U.S. commercial disputes.
She has received numerous awards recognizing her judicial and scholarly accomplishments, such as the New York State Bar Association's inaugural Distinguished Jurist Award, New York State Bar Association's Gold Medal, the ABA Justice Center John Marshall Award, the National Center for State Courts' William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession's Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Adoption Excellence Award, the New York Law Journal's Lifetime Achievement Award and the New York University School of Law's Judge Edward Weinfeld Award. In 2014, Judge Kaye also was selected by Harvard Law School as an honoree for its inaugural International Women's Day Exhibition.
Selected Publications
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Use this form to apply to perform at the 2019 Alsager Music Festival.
Please be aware that this is a free festival, completely run by volunteers. It is widely regarded as one of the best festivals in the area, but due to the incredibly large number of performers, we are unable to pay at this time.


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I don't know what took me so long, but I am an official convert to chlorophyll. Yes, it's the stuff that makes green vegetables green and thus it's completely amazing for you. It all started when we found out that my daughter's colon was so inflamed she was experiencing all the symptoms of colitis at the age of five. In addition to the well-advised supplements prescribed by our doctor, I did a ton of research on my own and found out that chlorophyll is amazing for not only colitis sufferers, but for pretty much everyone with blood running through their veins. Why is that? Because it literally cleans your blood by helping to chelate heavy metals and it stimulates red blood cells to improve your oxygen supply.
Let's Talk Chlorophyll
GFCF Valentine's Day
I'm not sure if it was always this way, but nowadays stores are literally filled with holiday candy from Halloween through Easter. This is no doubt annoying to everyone, but especially to families (and children!) with food restrictions. And nothing pulls at my heart strings like Valentine's candy – bright and pink and happy in all its heart-shaped glory. Last year, I made my daughter chocolate-covered treats, which she loved, but she still didn't get the all-important heart-shaped box. So this year, I took matters into my own hands. I bought a colorful heart-shaped box filled with non-GFCF chocolates, cleaned the container out and filled it back up with her favorite GFCF goodies.
Product Review: Heavenly Organics Honey Patties
I will admit that candy-filled holidays like Valentine's Day used to intimidate the heck out of me. There are few safe candy options that contain no gluten, dairy or soy and while we love everything Yummy Earth has to offer, sometimes a kid just wants chocolate. Even better if the chocolate has a surprise creamy filling that is totally delicious.


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The Phoenix (Phoenix arabica), rarest of the fabulous beasts,is incredibly clean, often relieving itself of parasites by rubbing its foreclaws together to set fire to its nest and bathing in the flames. Contrary to popular belief, they remain quite healthy afterwards.
They are 4 feet long and two feet high. They never attack and eat most fruit, expressing a preference for dates. A Phoenix will only nest in the top of cinnamon trees. Ashes from their nests prolong life if kept near you, though they should never be ingested. Helpfully, Dr. Ernest Drake included some in Monsterology alongside one of their prehistoric parasites, trapped in amber. Phoenix chicks need to have a flame bath every three months to remove fire leeches.