Pauline Hanson's popularity soars to 16% as Malcolm Turnbull’s support slumps – with Labor leading the Coalition in EVERY state

It looks like the conservative vote is holding steady but is increasingly going to minor conservative parties rather than the coalition.  Given Australia's systems of preferential voting and proportional representation, that is more a strength than a weakness. 

The party switches are presumably due to the perceived inertness of PM Turnbull, which is somewhat unfair -- as he has had quite a lot of success in getting his legislation through a difficult Senate.  His apparent lack of enthusiasm for any conservatyive cause is however a big strike against him.  Voters in all parties like to see enthusiasm in their leaders.  He has no real "message"


Pauline Hanson's popularity is increasing as voters turn away from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in every state of Australia.

The Queensland senator's One Nation party has 16 per cent support in her home state, the latest Newspoll shows.

Across Australia, the Turnbull Government continued to trail Labor 47 per cent to 53 per cent after preferences, which means it would lose an election held now, with the Coalition's primary vote support dropping six percentage points since last year's election.

The backlash against the prime minister was most pronounced in Queensland and South Australia with his Coalition government also behind Labor in every state, the poll published in The Australian found.

Mr Turnbull has already lost 14 Newspolls in a row and the latest analysis of poll averages, from April to June 2017, is more bad news for the prime minister, who lives in Sydney's ritzy eastern suburbs.

South Australian voters have turned against the government more than in any other state over the past six months, putting Labor ahead 56 to 44 per cent in two-party terms.

This is the state where Holden is winding up local car manufacturing later this year.

The Coalition has also lost 10 percentage points in Queensland since last year's July election to drive its primary vote down to 33 per cent, as One Nation wins over 16 per cent of state voters.

Labor's primary vote support in Western Australia has surged almost 10 percentage points since last year's election to 42 per cent while the Coalition's support has fallen by nine percentage points to 40 per cent.

However, the Turnbull Government has lifted its primary vote in Victoria by three percentage points over the past three months, where African Apex gangs are hitting the popularity of the state Labor government.

After preferences, though, the Coalition still trails Labor 47 per cent to 53 per cent in Victoria.

The survey of 6843 voters from April to June shows Labor leading the Coalition by 53 per cent to 47 per cent in two-party terms at a national level, marking a 2.6 per cent swing against the government since it was narrowly re-elected last year with a one-seat majority.

Nationwide, both Labor and the Liberal-National Coalition have a primary vote of 36 per cent, but the ALP would be likely to win an election with preferences from the Greens who have nine per cent support, compared with 11 per cent for One Nation.

The Coalition's primary vote support has fallen by six percentage points since last year's election.

Mr Turnbull was regarded as the better prime minister with 44 per cent support compared with 32 per cent for Labor leader Bill Shorten.

SOURCE






Cory Bernardi strikes again, luring another MP to his Australian Conservatives

Cory Bernardi is poised to announce a Victorian MP is joining his Australian Conservatives party just days after applying to register the party in Victoria ahead of next year's state election.

Fairfax Media understands the South Australian senator will on Monday reveal the Victorian upper house MP Dr Rachel Carling-Jenkins will defect to the Australian Conservatives. And further defections in Victoria and possibly NSW are anticipated, according to party insiders.

With Senator Bernardi set to gain thousands of members, finances and two state MPs, how will the new conservative marriage between him and Family First impact the federal political landscape?

Fairfax Media can reveal Senator Bernardi's party has broken the 10,000 mark for memberships nationally. By contrast, the Victorian division of the Liberal Party is understood to have about 13,000 members and the NSW  division about 10,500. Support has fallen since the 2015 leadership change from Tony Abbott to Malcolm Turnbull, but senior sources have scotched internal party claims made by disaffected members that the number in NSW has slipped below 10,000.

Dr Carling-Jenkins represents the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and her defection will spell the end of the troubled party's representation across the country. It also follows the federal Coalition's successful passage last week of a schools funding formula, which short-changes Catholic schools by up to $3 billion. The DLP's last federal representative John Madigan also defected to set up his own John Madigan's Manufacturing and Farming Party. It flopped when he was booted out of the Senate in the double dissolution election last year and he has since joined the Australian Country Party.

Senator Bernardi and Dr Carling-Jenkins were put in contact by a mutual friend about two months ago. Dr Carling-Jenkins wanted to join the Australian Conservatives because she believed conservatives needed to unite nationally to effectively prosecute their causes. She spent two decades working in the welfare sector and held a PhD in social sciences.

In her first speech to the Victorian Parliament in 2015, she described herself as a social justice campaigner, committed to raising awareness about gender selection abortions, cracking down on the sex-industry, and rights and care for the disabled and elderly. She will become the Australian Conservatives first female MP.

Ms Carling-Jenkins' defection is the second major coup for Senator Bernardi, who dismayed colleagues with his own defection in February when he said he was creating his own conservative movement, in part to keep his former Liberal Party accountable to its founding principles, including lower taxes and lower government spending.

His critics, including the Victorian Liberal Party state president Michael Kroger and former premier Jeff Kennett, derided his breakaway movement and predicted it would flop but it has already exceeded 10,000 members and will now have acquired three sitting MPs.

In April, Senator Bernardi announced his party was absorbing Family First and gained the South Australian upper house members Robert Brokenshire and Dennis Hood. Senator Bernardi has gone on to register the party in Victoria and NSW. He recently held a lunch with several high-profile NSW Liberals whose attempts to democratise the party's internal processes were being continually frustrated. The gathering, involving close allies of former prime minister Tony Abbott, is considered a threat to the NSW division of the Liberal party amid fears members will defect if the moderates' grip on the state party continues.

Sources said more defections of sitting MPs were likely, but they would not reveal the identities of any considering leaving

SOURCE






Willunga High School lockdown after student fight; police called to control foul-mouthed teens

The school has a substantial Aboriginal population

PRIMARY students visiting Willunga High had to be put into lockdown as police were called to control foul-mouthed teens roaming the campus after a lunchtime fight.

A Year 9 boy needed medical treatment for facial injuries after brawling with a Year 11 boy on Wednesday.

A group of boys ranging from Years 9 to 11, hyped up by the fight, then roamed the campus being “verbally revolting” to staff and refusing to come inside.

Police were called and in some cases drove the students home if parents were not available.

Principal Anthony van Ruiten said the whole school was put into a lockdown called an “invacuation”, including a visiting class of Year 7s from Aldinga Beach B-7 School, to ensure more students “didn’t join in”.

“We had a group of students who were walking around the school that were agitated and had heightened emotions,” he said.

“They were being verbally revolting to teachers. Staff were trying to get them into a place they could de-escalate and calm down, so they could get them back into the classroom.”

But Mr van Ruiten said it was difficult for staff because they are not allowed to touch students, so could not force them to follow instructions.

“The police were called because they have powers that we haven’t and they can de-escalate that sort of situation very quickly. The students view them quite differently (and) tone their behaviour down. Unfortunately kids don’t automatically have respect for teachers these days.”

Mr van Ruiten said rumours of a student wielding a knife were false. He said the injured boy had received medical treatment for minor injuries, but was unsure whether his mother had taken him to hospital.

The two boys in the fight, and the “four or five others” who caused the trouble afterwards, had been disciplined with “quite severe” penalties including suspensions and “longer term exclusions”.

Some parents complained on Facebook that they were not notified of the incidents until late in the afternoon. The school replied: “We certainly realise we need to review our communication processes and will ensure this does not happen again.”

Mr van Ruiten said the behaviour of “five kids out of a thousand” should not taint the whole school.

The Education Department said: “Any form of school violence is unacceptable and the school will work with the students involved and their families to reinforce this, in line with its behaviour management policy.”

Police have been contacted for comment. Aldinga Beach B-7 School declined to respond.

SOURCE





Rising power bills force Australian families to switch to candles, cold water: welfare expert

Power bills are such a struggle for some Queenslanders, they are using candles to light up their homes.

Queensland Council of Social Service chief executive officer Mark Henley said cost of living was one of the biggest pressures facing families.  "It is about keeping the lights on," Mr Henley said.

"Some are using candles at night to cut back on electricity costs, turning off hot water systems or turning them down because they think it will save costs - that's not the life that we want for people."

Mr Henley said 64 per cent of Australian householders were in financial stress.  "We need to make sure that we really address all of the cost-of-living pressures that are out there and see these prices being driven down but also making sure that there is a better safety net in place," he said.

QCOSS held a Cost of Living Showcase in Brisbane on Tuesday morning, with Energy Minister Mark Bailey addressing the conference.

When asked if cost of living would be the number one issue for the coming state election, Mr Bailey said it was a substantial issue in the community.

The government is increasing the electricity rebate, which is available to health care card holders, asylum seekers, pensioners, veterans and Queensland seniors card holders, from $330 to $340. [Big deal!]

Mr Henley said $330 provided an "enormous amount of relief" for people on small incomes, but he said different ways of working out concessions based on the size of a household would be more appropriate.

A program called Switched on Communities is being run with energy company AGL, QCOSS and the state government, with $500,000 from AGL going to nine community organisations to support disadvantaged people to make sure they get the best deals with retailers and access to concessions.

"We've seen, through this program, people reduce their energy consumption, some of them by over $1000, sometimes because they're actually starting in debt and reducing those figures, but some of them they're talking about saving hundreds of dollars now," Mr Henley said.

Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said not enough was being done to reduce power prices.

"Despite all their smoke and mirrors, Queenslanders will still see power bills going up," Mr Nicholls said.

SOURCE

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