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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2016/feb/22/newspoll-shows-labor-neck-and-neck-with-the-turnbull-government-politics-live
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| Newspoll shows Labor neck-and-neck with the Turnbull government – politics live | Newspoll shows Labor neck-and-neck with the Turnbull government – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 9.49pm GMT | |
| 21:49 | |
| What double dissolution? | |
| Shalailah Medhora | |
| The employment minister, Michaelia Cash, has also been hitting the airwaves early making the case for industrial relations reform. | |
| She says current laws “are not acting as a deterrent” for bad behaviour in the building industry, and has urged the Senate crossbench to pass legislation that re-establishes the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). | |
| “My goal is to get the ABCC legislation through,” Cash told Radio National. She denied that the government would prefer it if the Senate did not pass the bill, making it a double dissolution trigger. “As the prime minister said, this is a government that will be going full term.” | |
| 9.47pm GMT | |
| 21:47 | |
| Two other issues to bookmark quickly. | |
| Senate reform is well and truly on Monday’s political agenda. Cabinet is apparently looking at some options on this front today. I’ll come back to this chunky topic in a minute. | |
| Issue number two to bookmark is defence: there are some reports about suggesting the defence white paper isn’t too far away. | |
| 9.40pm GMT | |
| 21:40 | |
| Let’s get across the other major developments in the news cycle. | |
| Over this past weekend Brisbane folks rallied to the cause of baby Asha after there were signs the child may be about to be removed from hospital and returned to immigration detention on Nauru. | |
| While folks were rallying for Asha, the president of the Australian Medical Association, Brian Owler, was making a significant public intervention against Australia’s policies on immigration detention. I’d encourage you to read that speech in full when time permits. | |
| Until that happy time, here’s a short sample of Owler: | |
| Australia, to me, represents democracy, freedom, openness, and accountability. A fair go and honesty are sources of national pride. The reality is that children, and adults, are being subjected to physical and emotional harm. People are being moved in the middle of the night without notice; under a cloak of secrecy and intimidation. Denying people access to the legal representatives. Threatening to forcibly remove a baby from hospital against medical advice. Our colleagues are being intimidated. It is being done by the Australian government, and it is being done in our name. | |
| With the hubbub about Australia’s extreme acts of state sanctioned cruelty reaching eleven on the Spinal Tap amplifier scale, the immigration minister Peter Dutton confirmed over the weekend that the child would go to community detention in Brisbane, not to Nauru. | |
| At least not yet. | |
| Queensland Health has confirmed Asha is now out of hospital. | |
| We can confirm that baby Asha has been discharged from #LadyCilento hospital. Maybe if she visits again it will be as a doctor or nurse. | |
| Dutton has done a couple of radio interviews this morning. This formulation gives you something of the difficulty associated with the government’s contorted formulations on this subject. | |
| Peter Dutton, on Radio National: | |
| She has gone into community detention, as you point out. That has been the case for 83 other people including women and children – families – and when I have been on the show before, Fran, I said I wanted to be the minister to get children out of detention. | |
| I want to make sure that we can stop the boats and for 83 people already who have come from Nauru to Australia – they are in community detention already. | |
| This family has been treated no differently to the families that we have treated before them. | |
| So let’s translate that PDuddy segment. I’m very tough and I certainly haven’t done anything special for this child, but I’m also a softie because we allow people to be detained in the community and I want the kiddies out but I’m not at all soft because I’m hard because ... #StopTheBoats. | |
| Yes, it makes no sense. It’s not just you. | |
| If you want my thoughts on this subject: I don’t think that baby was going to be sent back to Nauru despite the rumours that sparked the protests outside the Lady Cilento Hospital on Saturday. I think the politics of sending that baby back would be untenable for the government, notwithstanding the fact that most Australians want the boats stopped, apparently at any price. I don’t see the weekend developments as a great and specific victory for people power – but I also absolutely agree with Brian Owler, this policy is a disgrace and the only way it will change is if enough people raise their voices in opposition. | |
| I’ve been saying this policy completely stinks for years. No one listens. But the folks in this building do listen to you people. | |
| Updated | |
| at 9.49pm GMT | |
| 9.04pm GMT | 9.04pm GMT |
| 21:04 | 21:04 |
| Good morning good people | Good morning good people |
| Hello everyone and hold onto your unicorns. Welcome to another parliamentary session where way too much of everything will be nowhere near enough. I do hope you’ve had a moment this morning to consume your morning muesli, extra fruit. | Hello everyone and hold onto your unicorns. Welcome to another parliamentary session where way too much of everything will be nowhere near enough. I do hope you’ve had a moment this morning to consume your morning muesli, extra fruit. |
| Hyper connected political tragics will know the results of the latest Newspoll have been thundering through the digisphere since late last night. Consequently, a number of broadcast types have informed us in sonorous tones at thirty minute intervals from the sparrow’s wind explusion that the Turnbull government’s honeymoon may be over. | Hyper connected political tragics will know the results of the latest Newspoll have been thundering through the digisphere since late last night. Consequently, a number of broadcast types have informed us in sonorous tones at thirty minute intervals from the sparrow’s wind explusion that the Turnbull government’s honeymoon may be over. |
| Over. Over. Over. | Over. Over. Over. |
| This morning’s poll published in The Australian shows the major parties in a dead heat in two party preferred terms, because of changes (within the margin of error) in each party’s primary vote since the last survey. The Coalition’s primary vote is down three points since the last poll, and Labor’s up one point. | This morning’s poll published in The Australian shows the major parties in a dead heat in two party preferred terms, because of changes (within the margin of error) in each party’s primary vote since the last survey. The Coalition’s primary vote is down three points since the last poll, and Labor’s up one point. |
| As Phillip Hudson notes, the Newspoll sample is also pursing its lips slightly at the prime minister. “Satisfaction with Mr Turnbull’s performance as prime minster fell five points, to 48 per cent, and is down 12 points since peaking in mid-November. Dissatisfaction with Mr Turnbull jumped seven points to 38 per cent, the highest level since he became prime minister.” | As Phillip Hudson notes, the Newspoll sample is also pursing its lips slightly at the prime minister. “Satisfaction with Mr Turnbull’s performance as prime minster fell five points, to 48 per cent, and is down 12 points since peaking in mid-November. Dissatisfaction with Mr Turnbull jumped seven points to 38 per cent, the highest level since he became prime minister.” |
| There’s also reasonable news for Labor in this poll about its proposed changes to negative gearing. 47% of the Newspoll sample were positive about Labor’s negative-gearing plan (which would restrict the concessions to future investments in new housing stock) – with 31% opposed and 22% undecided. That affirmation is higher than I would have predicted. | There’s also reasonable news for Labor in this poll about its proposed changes to negative gearing. 47% of the Newspoll sample were positive about Labor’s negative-gearing plan (which would restrict the concessions to future investments in new housing stock) – with 31% opposed and 22% undecided. That affirmation is higher than I would have predicted. |
| What I’ll say next is probably obvious. | What I’ll say next is probably obvious. |
| This is just one poll, and we really shouldn’t make sweeping analytical declarations on the back of it. Some of the recent evidence from polls suggests a tightening between the combatants, but you would expect that given the government is flat out telling us to brace for an election .. well .. any minute now. You’d also expect the government’s recent, less than convincing performance, to raise eyebrows among the voters of Australia: the whole controversy concerning Stuart Robert (really bad), the clear ‘we’ve got absolutely no idea what we are doing here’ on tax reform (somewhat perplexing), and Labor’s decision to fill the mildly chaotic void with actual policy (enough to make a seasoned political reporter dare to hope.) | This is just one poll, and we really shouldn’t make sweeping analytical declarations on the back of it. Some of the recent evidence from polls suggests a tightening between the combatants, but you would expect that given the government is flat out telling us to brace for an election .. well .. any minute now. You’d also expect the government’s recent, less than convincing performance, to raise eyebrows among the voters of Australia: the whole controversy concerning Stuart Robert (really bad), the clear ‘we’ve got absolutely no idea what we are doing here’ on tax reform (somewhat perplexing), and Labor’s decision to fill the mildly chaotic void with actual policy (enough to make a seasoned political reporter dare to hope.) |
| The bottom line of this survey? Interesting, but a distance short of definitive. | The bottom line of this survey? Interesting, but a distance short of definitive. |
| Loads more on the go already, so let’s get into it. The Politics Live comments thread is wide open for your business, and Mikearoo and I are up and at ‘em on the Twits. He’s @mpbowers and I’m @murpharoo | Loads more on the go already, so let’s get into it. The Politics Live comments thread is wide open for your business, and Mikearoo and I are up and at ‘em on the Twits. He’s @mpbowers and I’m @murpharoo |
| Fill up your water bottles, and jog lightly on the spot, here comes Monday. | Fill up your water bottles, and jog lightly on the spot, here comes Monday. |