froglet posted:

What's people's thoughts on the drought over east?

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

People used to scoff at the idea of Dutton ever being elevated to anything.

Don Dongington posted:

I'm still not convinced the entire home affairs ministry isnt just Turnbull and allies setting him up to soak up all of the damage when they get slaughtered nationally, and the ALP start finding (literal) bodies, so it doesn't damage the party. They know they sold their soul to keep a lie going, and now most of the poo poo is going to land on Dutton alone.

Although as usual, the libs are shortsighted idiots with a bad plan, because we know Morrison is going down with him if it ever happens.

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

People used to scoff at the idea of Dutton ever being elevated to anything.

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

https://twitter.com/orgelhaus/status/1024604656758972417

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

https://twitter.com/orgelhaus/status/1024604656758972417

Megillah Gorilla posted:

How could you find yourself anywhere with George Pell and not spit on him?

Megillah Gorilla posted:

I've used to work in Kew, and it's exactly the sort of place where people think themselves too cultured to spit on one of this country's greatest monsters.

EoinCannon posted:

I passed him in the street once, he's big and imposing and I would be scared to spit on him

bell jar posted:

If not, I don't think he abuses adults

EoinCannon posted:

I passed him in the street once, he's big and imposing and I would be scared to spit on him

Kommando posted:

quote:

In recent years there has been a trend away from diversity as a priority for media. This wasn't a result of last year's legislative changes; parliament mostly follows rather than leads public debate (and this pretty much discredits the "theatre critic" model of political coverage, but I digress).

The press gallery has led this with its governing principle that there can only ever be one story, and one narrative for reporting that story. John Howard couldn't be beaten, until the day he couldn't win. Kim Beazley was tomorrow's man, until he was yesterday's man. Barnaby Joyce was a top bloke, until he was a cad and an incompetent minister. They even boast about the conditions that create the samey-sameness of political coverage, and the inability to snap out of it; a magic land of sharing and caring, where what they think of as competition is the narcissism of minor differences.

quote:

he press gallery, through its easily gamed One Story One Narrative policy, decided in Fairfax's final week that there would be two stories:

* the byelections of 28 July, of which Our Malcolm would win at least one because #balance, and
* Emma Husar

Taking the second first: I've worked for some crap bosses and I'm glad I never worked for Emma Husar. That said, in the great annals of graft and bludging in Australian politics, Husar's dog-walking and child-minding simply do not rate. And the more experience you have observing politics, the less excuse you have for slavering over every twist-and-turn in this non-story, the less credibility you have when you claim you'd love to do Serious Journalism, oh my goodness did you see what Emma Husar just did ...? Press gallery who disdained going after Barnaby Joyce (and who still regard his story as a sex scandal rather than rorting or policy incompetence) are hogwild for all things Husar.

Emma Husar's domestic incompetence recalls Queensland Labor MP Leanne Donaldson. Another unmarried mother who became a Labor MP, Donaldson hit the headlines for antics like driving a car while unregistered and not paying council rates. Anastacia Palaszczuk sacked her from the ministry and at the last state election, Donaldson lost her seat. Donaldson has spoken of her struggle with depression, and Husar may yet do likewise; but while two anecdotes do not form a pattern, it might be worth investigating whether political parties could do more to support women in politics, and that such support might be the necessary price for all that easy talk about attracting more women to public office.

In the Coalition, unmarried women are all but excluded by dint of sexism. What those parties lose in crushing the aspirations of capable young women and appealing to a broader constituency, they save themselves the embarrassment of a Husar or a Donaldson. Those women who break that rule (e.g. Marise Payne, Gladys Berejiklian, Julie Bishop) spent decades studying the factional tectonics of the party and leveraged it with overwhelming support, overriding any objections about their domestic circumstances. Bronwyn Bishop only ran for preselection after her children were adults and her marriage ended: her far-right constituency would never have backed her if her husband and children were an issue, or had she never married at all. The key is to attract candidates who aren't fixtures of the party landscape and to give them an inkling that they just might have a chance, but that key turns no lock in the Coalition. They'll endorse a man at face value but won't consider a woman they don't know intimately.

Husar isn't a member of the government. In two of the four byelections on 28 July (the two seats where the main competition came from strong Liberal candidates), the Labor candidates were women. The clear implication of the Murdoch jihad against Husar is that those candidates are just like her: a vote for the Labor woman is a vote for Gillard/Jordan Peterson chaos. As it happens, those two women are headed back to Canberra, and it is entirely possible that Husar won't. She might become another victim of a brutal system, she might lash out at her entire party and the journalists. She hasn't entered Lindy Chamberlain territory for weird and prurient media coverage, but you can see it from here.

bell jar posted:

What are you, a child?

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

https://twitter.com/orgelhaus/status/1024604656758972417

kirbysuperstar posted:

lol I listened to the radio like an idiot

Anidav posted:

Reclines Obesily posted:

Anidav posted:

It really makes you wonder if Shorten is actually unpopular

Reclines Obesily posted:

rebrand the greens as the democratic socialists of australia and pretend the DSA social media engagement is all theirs

Anidav posted:

So ultimately the question is useless. And polls should not ask it.