Tony Abbott would lose federal election if held today, new poll says

27 February, 2013
 

New poll shows reverse in polling trend

A new Soapy Poll released today shows 100 per cent of voters would not vote for a Tony Abbott lead LNP if the election was held today.

The Soapy Poll, conducted yesterday on behalf of Rachel’s Soapbox, showed startling results that have been named the ‘funeral notice’ of the LNP according to unnamed sources from within the Party ranks. 

The extreme unpopularity of the Leader of the Opposition, dubbed Negative Tony, is a wakeup call for the LNP say some anonymous insiders. As one pollster commented, "It has gotten to the point where I have to mute him from the news when he comes on. He has nothing positive to say, and he is doing nothing to build up his credibility with forward thinking Australian women."

"As far as I can see, Tony Abbot just continues to damage the Liberal Party brand, and his relentless negativity, as well as his poor communications towards the current Prime Minister, are just cementing my vote for Labor," one anonymous voter said. 

Recent polls have shown that Malcolm Turnbull is a more popular choice for opposition leader, and according to the unnamed sources Turnbull has the numbers needed to topple the unpopular Abbott. 

The Soapy Poll clearly shows that the LNP would have a better chance of winning at the September election if Turnbull was in charge. 

This poll result is backed up by a recent QandA program, whereby the audience expressed a view to see Malcolm Turnbull in the top job under any party. In recent correspondence from the author to the Federal Member for Wentworth in regard to the question of LNP leadership, Mr Turnbull replied "Thank you", clearly indicating that he was not putting the idea in cryogenic storage.

According to the poll, 100 per cent of responders think Julia Gillard is doing a good job as the Prime Minister, despite ongoing reports from main stream media that everyone thinks she is the worst Prime Minister ever. 

This is the view espoused especially by veteran political journalist Michelle Grattan. And far right wing columnist and antagonist Andrew Bolt, and ostracised shock jock Alan Jones. And News Limited. And Sky News; who all go on and on and on about the leadership speculation despite actual news taking place all around them.

However, speculation as to the LNP leadership has been growing within the media ranks since the release of this most recent poll, where 100 per cent of respondents agreed the ALP policies were better than the LNPs, which they occasionally heard about on ABC News and more often from independent online media outlets.

Of the one person polled by Soapy, 100 per cent said they believed Australia would be worse off under an Abbott lead opposition. 

Following the release of the poll, Rachel’s Soapbox asked Mr Abbott if he was concerned about his tenure as Leader of the Liberal Party at today’s presser, but he said he was not taking questions from the media. 

Written in sarcasm font for Rachel's Soapbox on behalf of unbalanced media reporting and question-shy opposition leaders. The views expressed in this article don't necessarily represent the views of the author. Much.

STOP THE BOATS

Things in the news today that annoy me #1

Stop the boats...???

Oh yes, the off-shore processing monster has been very busy recently. It appears we finally have agreement from both major parties to push through parliament the processing off-shore of those evil, queue-jumping asylum seekers.

The agreed legislation has passed the Lower House of Federal Parliament and is likely to pass the Senate by tomorrow, to be enacted within the next month. 

As mentioned in a previous blog, approximately 2000 boat people sought asylum in Australia in 2009 compared to 50,000 people each year that come legally on visitor visas and then over-stay those visas. 

HELLO??? I feel like swearing, but will refrain. 

I’m sure all those fleeing appalling and/or life-threatening conditions or living in refugee camps are glued to their big-screen plasma TVs waiting to hear what is going on in Australian politics before deciding if it is worthwhile taking a life-risking trip to Australia so they can be imprisoned for up to five years or more, even though likely are not criminals, nor have broken the law by seeking asylum.

That's right - seeking asylum is NOT ILLEGAL. These people have a legal right to seek asylum if they are genuine refugees. Get it through your heads! When did the term ‘asylum-seeker’ become a dirty word? Are we a country of red-necks?

Now it’s reported that the Immigration Department plans to create videos featuring Naura and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island to discourage asylum seekers from coming to Australia by boat. 

Yes, you heard me. It's laughable. 

I wonder, will these mucky asylum-seekers be watching these videos on You Tube from their computers using their high-speed internet connection from the side of the road? Perhaps they’re watching on iView from their wireless iPads? GET REAL AUSTRALIA. 

It doesn’t matter what we do. People are not going to stop seeking asylum, or better lives for themselves, as long as the dreadful circumstances they are fleeing from no longer exist. For F**K sake (I compromised on the swearing). 

At the end of June, Opposition leader Tony Abbott Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott offered crossbench MPs to increase Australia's refugee intake from about 14,000 to 20,000 within three years in order to get their support for a coalition amendment on asylum seeker legislation.

However he has now retracted that stance, saying such a move would be a magnet for asylum seekers. Hard to keep up with all the lies and back-flipping in politics these days, isn’t it? 

If we’re all so concerned with our immigration intake, perhaps we should focus our attentions on over-stays? Just a thought…

****************************************************

UPDATE 28 AUGUST 2012

from the GetUp team 

The SBS TV show, Go Back to Where You Came From returns to our screens tonight, Tuesday 28th August, at 8.30PM.
 
This morning, the horrid news of 17 Afghans reportedly beheaded by the Taliban is an acrid reminder of the circumstances that drive so many desperate asylum seekers to our shores. We've produced a new infographic showing the conflicts and crisis that drive asylum seeker movement. Click here to view it.

Leadership Speculation – AGAIN???

WARNING - Major rant ahead.

I saw a tweet a little while back. It said retweet if you are NOT one of the 27% who believe News Ltd is responsible for the current Labor polling (which was at its lowest at the time of the tweet – according to News Limited's Newspoll - for what that’s worth).

It was from an anti-Labor Twitter Group.

I didn’t re-tweet, but I did reply. You see, as you already know, I have an opinion on everything. And if you read my previous blog about media integrity, then you know I am a dubious ex-journo fed up with the irresponsible, inaccurate reporting in Australian journalism these days. 

And with all the negative press – oppressively so – that Labor has been receiving, I had already formed an opinion that something was dodgy in Dodge Town. After all, let’s not forget that Australia is doing a helluva lot better than most of the rest of the western world post-GFC.  And yet the Labor Party are - day after day - receiving bad press after bad news story after negative spin in the media.

Everyone seems to forget that, along with all the forward motion the government is making in policy and announcements, unemployment is under five per cent nationally, interest rates are down, inflation is under control, and there is a budget surplus - albeit a small one. 

But we don’t hear much about the positive Gillard government achievements in the mainstream media. 

And the only press Tony Abbott and his Liberal cohorts have been receiving is from their negative comments about the Gillard government. 

Forget saying anything positive, coming up with a better alternative, or even mentioning a policy or two of their own that the Liberal Party might have come up with. Nothing like that from the man that touts himself as the alternate PM. Just negative spin-doctoring.

So needless to say, for me, I was just thrilled that 27% of people that came across that poll  could also smell a media rat against Labor. That makes me less conspiratorial and more your average, astute media and political junky. :-)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not 100% a Labor – or Julia – fan. But I do think she is getting a rawer deal in the media than any PM before her. And now, yet again, we are back to the leadership speculation story. 

Is there really a story here, or is it the media again creating a story where none exists; all of the outlets jumping on the same copy/paste bandwagon in an attempt to further deflate the popularity of the current Labor government?

Well let’s have a brief look at just the recent history. 

In February there was a challenge by Kevin Rudd for her leadership (and I could argue the challenge was a result of constant media speculation about a challenge.) Julia received overwhelming support of her Party, 71 – 31. Kev moved to the backbench and made it very clear that he wouldn’t challenge Julia for the leadership again. Both vowed to set aside internal party squabbles to focus their efforts on beating Tony Abbott in the 2013 federal election. 

So that’s the end of that. Right? Oh no…

The media started up again in March. And it wasn’t even induced by anything happening in federal politics, but at the state level, following Labor’s resounding loss in the Queensland elections. 

Again, in April. “Herald-Sun sources” in the Victorian ALP and union (funny how there are never any names) apparently voiced a fresh leadership challenge against Julia Gillard could be mounted by August, with Kevin Rudd still considered the best option. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/kevin-rudd-a-favourite-to-challenge-julia-gillard-again/story-fn7x8me2-1226338306825

 

"There is a growing realisation that next year's election could turn out like the catastrophe of Queensland," one source said. 

“Another senior party figure said…” the article goes on and on, quoting unnamed sources. And I could continue to dig up examples.

And now, in May, Kevin is seen having a coffee with good friend and Member for Hunter and government whip Joel Fitzgibbon, and the speculation is back on - in every media outlet. 

That’s all it takes. 

Fairfax and News Limited papers reported, and other media outlets reported their reports, that Mr Fitzgibbon had been openly canvassing for votes to return Kevin Rudd to the party leadership. And not one direct quote supporting the story.

“Mr Fitzgibbon’s open canvassing of a leadership change last week – reportedly telling MPs 'the hung Parliament is killing us’’ – followed a ‘‘catch-up’’ between the two men at Singleton’s Coal Rock Coffee Bar on Friday, May 18.” says the Newcastle Herald, for one. 

Reportedly? Reported by who?

On Twitter, Mr Fitzgibbon responded ‘‘I thank my colleagues for the publicity but no one does more to support the PM and the government than me!’’. But it didn’t stop the speculation. 

Nor did the denials of all the senior Labor pollies rallying around behind Julia. Foreign minister Bob Carr dismissed the leadership rumblings as a "non-story". "I think there is less to this story than meets the eye. I think this is a revival of leadership speculation without justification," he said. 

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said he had spent Friday with Mr Fitzgibbon, who had mentioned nothing about his support for a leadership change. 

Leader of the House Anthony Albanese said the leadership question was settled in February. 

Finance Minister Penny Wong said, "She has my full support and she has the strong support of caucus and I think this sort of speculation is unhelpful."

In a nice little twist, the latest Newspoll shows a four-point surge in the Prime Minister's popularity, with Julia's rating as preferred prime minister now at 40 per cent, while Tony Abbott's popularity is down three points to 37 per cent. 

The Prime Minister now leads Mr Abbott as the country's preferred leader, while Tony Abbott has suffered an increase in his dissatisfaction rating, up to 60 per cent - his highest figure ever recorded. 

Perhaps it is Tony Abbott’s leadership that the media should be speculating about?

I think the ABC said it best… Weekend reports that chief government whip Joel Fitzgibbon was canvassing numbers for a possible Kevin Rudd leadership challenge have thrown the spotlight back on Ms Gillard's leadership.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-28/discontent-simmers-amid-more-pressure-on-gillard/4036382

 

Yes, the spotlight is back on Julia’s leadership. Again. And my point is; that’s the whole point of this speculation circus.  

Media Integrity

It’s time for a media rant.

Once a journalist many years ago, I have viewed the degrading standards of the media over the decades with much distaste. More and more our news centres are becoming "American-ised" - that is, flimsy, opinionated and superficial. 

With the advent  of 24 hour news networks, the need to speculate, anticipate and add commentary has become common place, and more and more often we are subjected to opinions and sound-bites, rather than fact-reporting and intelligent, in-depth looks at world and local affairs.

Then there's the copy/paste mentality of online news. Online news media - in the rush to get their stories out - often merely quote other news sources, who have invariably quoted other news sources, and no one actually takes the time to verify the facts for themselves.

This is particularly disturbing for online media, as once something incorrect is published online, it is there forever, searchable out of its context at a time beyond its currency. The historical facts forever distorted.

And that’s not to mention the poor editing standards.

Then there is the increasing power media tends to have in politics, leaning one way or another, and unleashing opinions and sensationalistic views and cherry-picked arguments disguised as news to an easily-lead readership. The Australian and The Gold Coast Bulletin are good examples of this.

Then there are the sensationalistic headlines that often have nothing to do with the true content of the story they announce.

And that’s just in Australia - not even touching on the recent Murdoch News International scandal! But who amongst us was surprised that journalism would stoop that low? For many years now I have turned to Murdoch’s American Fox News network to get my comedy fix.

Yes, I find Fox News hilarious! Especially that over-bearing and bullying O’Reilly, who can not let an opposing opinion see light. Fair and Balanced is the Fox News catch-cry. LOL. And they say it with a straight face, while single-handedly trying to get the Republicans back into power. Or at least destroy the Democrats. Amazing!

Yes, standards of journalism are slipping more and more all the time. Maybe it’s not the pollies we have to keep honest any more, it’s the media! Read with caution, I say!

I tend to stick only to the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), but even they have been a little disappointing at times since the advent of 24 hour news channels. Thank goodness for Media Watch. We need more outlets prepared to name and shame those media outlets that continually and deliberately resort to poor quality - and biased – news and current affairs reporting.

And if you haven’t found it, try watching the APAC channel sometime (Australian Public Affairs Channel). It can be illuminating to hear a full interview with a politician, and then compare it to a station-edited version. A sentence taken out of context can make a big difference to the meaning.

So keep your opinions to yourself, journalists. Just report the facts, and let your audience form their own opinions. You are in a privileged role with public responsibilities and you should be accountable.

Remember the journo Code of Ethics? Yes, there is one, and the first code states; Report and interpret honestly, striving for accuracy, fairness and disclosure of all essential facts.  Do not suppress relevant available facts, or give distorting emphasis.  Do your utmost to give a fair opportunity for reply.

There are eleven more points in the code, all asking for honesty, fairness, independence and respect for the rights of others. It’s time we all expected more from our media, and it’s time we let them know!

Media watch

APAC