Kevin Rudd

Polls show privatisation hurting Bligh, and Rudd

Larvatus Prodeo - March 11, 2010 - 1:41pm

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Possum has obtained the polling conducted by UMR for six Queensland unions on the impact of Anna Bligh’s privatisation plans on Labor’s vote. It’s not good news for Bligh, and he suggests, not good news for Kevin Rudd either:

These figures suggest that the Bligh government’s asset sale plan will reduce the ALP’s two-party preferred vote share at the federal election in Queensland by up to about 2%. That is a significant impediment to Labor winning and retaining seats in Rudd’s home state.

His conclusion is interesting: Read more »

Indonesia: SBY struggles to live up to expectations

East Asia Forum - March 10, 2010 - 10:01pm

Author: Hal Hill, ANU

When Prime Minister Rudd talks with President Yudhoyono this week, they will be able to reflect on what a fickle, mean and unpredictable business politics is.

Four months ago, the mood in Indonesia was extremely positive: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (universally known as SBY) had been installed for a historic second term. He had chosen Dr Boediono, the country’s most respected technocrat, as his vice president. His Democrat Party had emerged as a major force in the DPR, the country’s parliament. Read more »

Opposition leader Tony Abbott on prime minister Kevin Rudd, Lateline :"I...

The Orstrahyun - March 9, 2010 - 12:08am

Opposition leader Tony Abbott on prime minister Kevin Rudd, Lateline :

"It is pretty clear he is a guy who is all announcement and no follow through. He is, t coin a phrase, 'All Hat And No Cowboy'."

Abbott didn't coin the phrase. It's been in use in Texas for decades :

"It is not a compliment in West Texas to be referred to as 'All hat and no cowboy'. It is a term of derision used to indicate the person has little real character beneath the very thin veneer of appearance."

It's a good line, but it doesn't sound very Australian.

There is argument that the correct West Texas historical phrase is actually "All Hat, No Cattle", which certainly sounds more local.

Or perhaps Abbott knows this phrase, too, and decided not to use it to attack Rudd, because it was popularly attached to George W. Bush from the late 1990s. Read more »

Abbott’s (grey) army

Larvatus Prodeo - March 8, 2010 - 12:33pm

Via Possum, a couple of interesting charts to ponder.

These graphs below the fold show the movement in the net approval rating of Kevin Rudd and the Opposition Leader (Turnbull, then Abbott) over the last six months. As Possum notes, the youngest demographic is most disinclined to change their positive view of Rudd or their negative view of the Liberal leader, and the oldest demographic most inclined.

So, what’s going on here?

For a start, the ‘Gen Y sees through Kevin Rudd’s spin’ narrative is clearly wrong.

The US–Indonesia–Australia triangle – Weekly editorial

East Asia Forum - March 8, 2010 - 10:30am

Author: Peter Drsydale

The flurry of leaders’ visits — by Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Canberra this week and American President Barack Obama to Canberra and Jakarta a little over a week later — signals an elevation in the triangular relationship between the United States, Indonesia and Australia, not merely the growing depth of their bilateral relations. Indonesia is one of the world’s newest democracies, a secular state with a predominantly Muslim population, of immense importance to Australia and America in securing Southeast Asian stability and openness. Indonesia and Australia are members of the new G20 group and have deep and common interests in working with America to entrench the G20 as the pre-eminent and enduring forum for global economic governance. Indonesia, with its pivotal role in ASEAN, and Australia, an anchor in trans-Pacific security, are close confidants on America’s re-engagement with Asia under the Obama administration. Read more »

A frontline report from the health reform battlefield: Rudd Vs burokratz

Croakey Health Blog - March 11, 2010 - 9:10am

One Croakey reader evidently thought we have been all getting way too serious and bogged down in health reform. And that it was time for a larf.

Thanks to our correspondent for filing this report from the frontline.

Anonymous writes:

“On a smoky battlefield somewhere between the badlands of Politics and Policy, our hero emerges through the gloom: “Whack, whack, coming through! Biff! – what would you know Brumby, kapow! – out of the way, Keneally. Whack! Whack! factions to the left of me, factions to the right of me; push Julia, push Nicola, got to crash through this sh*tstorm with EVIDENCE BASED POLICY.” [Off the record] Not the bloody evidence on tax hikes you stupid girl! God can’t you f**ing interns and waiters do anything right! [On the Record] Read more »

Abbott, paid parental leave and the ghost of Bob Santamaria

en Passant - March 9, 2010 - 10:38pm

Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave scheme is more generous than Kevin Rudd’s.

Details are scarce but Abbott says it will cost about $3 billion a year to pay for six months’ full replacement of wages up to $150,000.

The Government’s scheme comes into effect on 1 January 2011 and provides the minimum wage (currently around $543) for a maximum of 18 weeks. It will cost $300 million.

At 46 percent women are now almost half of the workforce.

The proportion of women working has doubled since the 50s, with women’s participation rate increasing from 29 percent in 1954 to 46 percent in 1985 to 58 percent today. Men’s participation rate is 72 percent.

While most women work full-time they are more likely than men to work part-time. 38 percent of women work part-time, compared to 14 percent of men. 70 percent of the part time workforce are women. Read more »

Health and hospitals and the polls

Larvatus Prodeo - March 8, 2010 - 12:50pm

We’ve had close to a week of public debate on Kevin Rudd’s health and hospitals plan, and today’s Nielsen poll shows resounding majorities among every demographic and voters of all parties for the proposition that the Commonwealth should take more responsibility for funding hospitals. Over the fold, I’ve borrowed a table from Possum to illustrate the results.

What should be of most concern to the Opposition is the very large number of their own voters who support such a policy. It might, of course, be objected that support is soft, but that ignores the fact that this plan was launched on the basis of reinforcing well entrenched public attitudes about the failures of the states in hospital management; attitudes Tony Abbott would have been well aware of when he frequently proposed a Commonwealth takeover as Health Minister. Read more »

Nielsen Part 2 – Health Plan and Issue Management

Pollytics - March 8, 2010 - 12:21pm

Continuing on from Part 1 where we had a look at the vote estimates and win expectations, we now move on to the additional questions that were asked on greater federal government involvement in the hospital system and a question on which party is best to handle a number of issues.

The hospital question and its results – including cross-tabs – came in like this:

Nielsen Part 1 – The Vote Estimates

Pollytics - March 8, 2010 - 8:02am

Today’s Nielsen via the Fairfax press has the Coalition up 1 on the primaries and Labor steady to come in at 42/42, washing out into a two party preferred of 53/47 to Labor – a one point gain to the Coalition since last month. The Greens are on 9 (down 1) while the broad “Others” are on 5 (down 2). This comes from a sample of 1400, giving us an MoE that maxes out around the 2.6% mark. You can see the full demographic tables here.

We’re going to do something a bit different today and look at approval ratings, preferred PM and win expectations by party vote. To start with, approval ratings for both Rudd and Abbott.