Another day, another set of terrible housing data. The number of dwelling commitments was down 0.8% in trend terms; value of dwelling commitments down 0.3% in trend terms; number of dwelling constructions down 3.8%. At least the issue was raised at yesterday’s debate between Wayne Swan and Joe Hockey. Swan said Labor had begun to […]
August, 2010
Crikey Says: Campaign Crikey morning edition: Day 24
“There are some things that can’t be measured.”
Turnbull is not connecting with broadband realities
Malcolm Turnbull’s recent claim that Australians don’t want Labor’s proposed 100Mbps broadband connection is a load of hogwash. ABS stats clearly reveal Aussie households and businesses continue to crave faster speeds and more data, says Trevor Clarke.
60 Minutes of morbid intrigue
This election crazy old Mark lambasting Latham is out in force, attacking Gillard, Rudd and others with the kind of vitriol bound to fuel ratings for the former Labor leader’s premiere as a journalist on this Sunday’s 60 Minutes.
Will the election health debate move beyond sickening?
Most of Australia’s disease burden is driven by preventable risk factors, yet prevention is virtually nowhere to be seen in this election campaign. Time to make it an issue during this week’s health debate, writes Professor Boyd Swinburn.
Aarons: Too many factions, too many focus groups
Spinning deals and generating funds form the heart and soul or lack thereof of NSW Labor, and its role in making and breaking Kevin Rudd provides more evidence that the ALP place far too much emphasis on factions and focus groups, says Mark Aarons.
Theatre review: Do Not Go Gentle…, a play to remember
Melbourne play Do Not Go Gentle… is a flawed but beautiful work, referencing Dylan Thomas’ famous exhortation that old age should rage at close of day, writes Jason Whittaker.
Pyne: faceless Labor freefalls off a derailed train wreck while eating poisonous pudding
The shadow education minister, Christopher Pyne, has taken metaphor mixing to new heights.
Essential: Flight to the Liberals narrows the gap
The Greens are the big losers from today’s Essential Report poll, which has cut the gap between the parties dramatically and has stripped the Greens of their strong support.
Bennelong dispatch: relevance takes a back seat in JA’s campaign
In the battle for Bennelong, Liberal candidate John Alexander was the star of a two and a half hour brain-bleeding session dominated by klutzy questions.
Who won the news cycle? A Sunday Labor win
It’s quite difficult to turn a policy launch into a losing campaign day but the Coalition managed that on Sunday.
Mungo: a farcical plot line with heroes and villains interchangeable
This election campaign is not really dull at all. Depressing, maddening, infantile, an insult to the voters’ intelligence and a travesty of the democratic process, but not dull.
Election mantra ‘more hospital beds’ not what we need
he two major political parties cannot seem to muster any prevention policies to save our health system, let alone the planet, writes Professor Boyd Swinburn, director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University.
Behind the one sided mirror of focus groups
As a long term practitioner and teacher of research methods, Eva Cox wants to set the record straight by pointing out the apparent gross misuse of a very useful tool — focus groups.
Get reporters off the bus and onto some decent news coverage
There are times when one wonders whether this bizarre election campaign is actually about anything. Of course it is - but it’s hard to get the information we need to determine what the issues are.
Jubilation, expectation and a whole lotta nuthin’ — the Liberal launch
The Liberals believe they have the election within their grasp and don’t have to take any risks to clinch it. Thus, yesterday’s policy-free launch.
HP chief quits after sexual harrassment probe
Six weeks after David Jones terminated its former CEO for alleged sexual misconduct, Hewlett-Packard forced out its highly admired CEO Mark Hurd after an incident with a female HP contractor.
A carbon price beats throwing cash at new car owners
Populism and procrastination reign in Australian climate policy, and what new policy proposals there are consist largely of spending taxpayer dollars for little gain., writes Frank Jotzo, deputy director of the ANU Climate Change Institute.
Maloney’s Marginalia: Marvellous Melbourne
For 106 years, the seat of Melbourne has been Labor. But the old working class suburbs are now desirable inner-urban locales, the progressive middle-class is worried about climate change and the rank-and-file have withered on the vine, writes Shane Maloney.
Daily Proposition: Toast marshmallows, the no-fail tried-and-tested candle-lit way
I am making it my personal mission for toasting marshmallows to be an accepted indoors activity over candles. No special event needs to be held for melty marshmallow to be consumed.
Does misogyny really resonate with the electorate?
With a Prime Minister who is not just a woman, but a childless atheist as well, the Opposition and its media allies have had a field day.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The sorry state of politics in this nation
Crikey readers have their say about the election and the current state of Australian politics.
Morning Market Report: Local markets up, US interest rates expected to hold
The market is up 11. The SFE Futures were down 14 this morning. Wall Street closed down 21 on Friday. The Dow was down as much as 160 before rising in the final hour to close down just 21. It was disappointing jobs data that did the damage. The US unemployment rate remained at 9.5% […]
Media briefs: What was David Gyngell thinking? … Devine goes national for a song
How did Latham even end up at Nine? Plus, is Miranda Devine earning more than $240,000 with her new move to News’ and other media tidbits of the day.
