The train wreck that is Tony Abbott

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was always a political train wreck in slow motion. However, it now appears that the crash may be imminent.

January 2015 Galaxy Poll, 1 February 2015:

ABC News, 1 February 2015:

The rout of the Liberal National Party in the Queensland election is being described as "catastrophic" by federal Coalition MPs, with some claiming the Prime Minister is now terminally wounded.

"All we are talking about now is the timing and method of execution," one Queensland MP said.

"This is catastrophic, unimaginable," said another.

Labor looks set to pull off a stunning victory in a cliffhanger election, after securing a double-digit swing that has ended the political career of Premier Campbell Newman…..

The Age, 1 February 2015:

Mr Abbott's grip on power suffered a series of devastating body blows on Saturday, but things got worse late in the evening when Jane Prentice, a Queensland-based federal Liberal National backbencher, warned on live TV that Mr Abbott could face a leadership challenge if he did not nail a critical address to the National Press Club on Monday.

Asked on the ABC whether Mr Abbott was the right person to lead the Coalition to the next election, Ms Prentice replied: "Well, that's a discussion, isn't it? We need to look at where we're going."

"Tony has said he has listened and learned. He is making a keynote speech on Monday at the press club [and] we can't continue as we are. We are not taking the people with us. We are getting bad feedback."

Ms Prentice predicted the Coalition would suffer the same fate as Campbell Newman's first-term state government if "we don't change what we're doing".

Ms Prentice agreed Monday's speech was "make or break" for Mr Abbott.

Asked whether the Queensland result would trigger a leadership spill, Ms Prentice hesitated and replied: "Look, I think our discussion... I think the members will look at the results tonight and they will take those to Canberra." When pressed again about the likelihood of a showdown, she said MPs would "see what he [Mr Abbott] says on Monday"…..

The Courier Mail, 1 February 2015:

THE anti-LNP electoral tsunami in Queensland has set the clock ticking for Tony Abbott.

While state issues, particularly Campbell Newman’s style and asset sales, were dominant in the savage ballot box backlash, federal issues disrupted the LNP campaign and contributed to the swing.

Talk of a GST hike, Medicare rebates, cutting penalty rates and a knighthood for Prince Philip all consumed oxygen the LNP needed to get its message across and gave voters one more reason to vote against the Government.

Now Abbott has to wear some of the blame – and he’d be advised to take it on the chin, to borrow a phrase he used after the knighthood fiasco.

Queensland Coalition MPs around Brisbane and along the coast, all the way to Cape York, will be looking nervously at the towering swings this weekend and wonder if they can stick with Abbott.

They will worry that the sentiment shown against asset sales and service cuts will be repeated at the federal level in reaction to harsh budget measures such as health, pension, welfare and education changes.

Other Coalition MPs around Australia will look at Labor’s January juggernaut and have similar nervous jitters.

The Australian, 31 January 2015:

THE Prime Minister will face the next wave of wrath from his colleagues and the electorate…..

For Abbott there is no doubt his thoughtless and ideologically blind decision to appoint Prince Philip an Australian knight will have played some part in Newman’s loss in Ashgrove.
Federally it will increase the sense of panic and trouble making from Queensland, encourage leadership destabilisation and limit Abbott’s options generally.
Realistically the size of the swing against LNP in Queensland can’t be sheeted home entirely to Abbott but when there is a disaster anyone on the bridge is blamed.
Abbott’s attempts to right his own ship, clumsy and barnacle-busting as they were, will suffer a huge hit from this Queensland State election result.

The Daily Telegraph, 31 January 2015:

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott would lead the Liberal Party to a historic defeat that would deliver a primary vote of just 36 per cent and terminate the careers of more than 40 Coalition MPs if an election was held today.

In a poll that will send shock waves through the Coalition party room, support for the Abbott government has plunged to 57-43 on a two party preferred basis, according to a new Galaxy poll.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Julie Bishop has offered a personal assurance to the Prime Minister in private talks she was not undermining him or campaigning for his job.

However, she was not asked to provide nor did she offer a personal guarantee that she would never challenge in the future.

“We are willing the Prime Minister to succeed,’’ a Liberal MP said.

“But if he can’t succeed, all bets are off.’’

It comes as former Howard Government minister Mal Brough yesterday refused to deny he had been asked by Queensland MPs to challenge for the leadership as a circuit breaker.

Liberal MPs say Ms Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull have assured the Prime Minister they are willing him to succeed as nervous backbenchers warn he has until the end of the year to prove he can take the party to the next election.

Support for Mr Abbott has plunged to just 27 per cent when voters are asked to nominate their preferred prime minister. Support for Bill Shorten has increased to 44 per cent….

The Age, 31 January 2015:

Fairfax Media revealed on Saturday that former Howard government cabinet minister Mal Brough was being urged to challenge Mr Abbott for the prime ministership.

Such a challenge would effectively see Mr Brough act as a stalking horse for an alternative leader such as Julie Bishop or Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Brough did not deny approaches had been made to him when contacted by Fairfax Media. He said only that: "Clearly people are talking to each other because we are all interested in doing what's best for the nation."

A tilt would act as a leadership circuit-breaker for government backbenchers, who are furious with Mr Abbott for a series of recent missteps and misjudgments, culminating in the decision to knight Prince Philip last Monday.

The 2009 leadership contest that saw Mr Abbott replace Mr Turnbull was precipitated by Victorian Liberal MP Kevin Andrews mounting a similar surprise challenge. 

Several sources told Fairfax Media, before polling booths closed on Saturday afternoon, that Mr Brough's next move would depend, in part, on the result in the Queensland election.

News of Mr Brough's surprise leadership aspirations came just a day after Fairfax Media revealed that Ms Bishop and Mr Turnbull had been approached to take the leadership from Mr Abbott but had refused to do so….

Meanwhile anticipation grows……

Industrial Relations: if you thought Tony Abbott could not sink much lower....

Australian Government Productivity Commission media release, 22 January 2015:

Productivity Commission release issues papers on workplace relations

The Productivity Commission has today released a suite of five issues papers relating to its current public inquiry into the performance of the Australian workplace relations framework.

The issues papers are intended to canvas all the big questions about Australia's workplace system. The Commission has asked Australians — employees, employers, unions, people not in work and others — to give their views about the best system for the future. While the Commission seeks detailed responses from key stakeholders, people can also make brief comments and can do so by going to its web page.

The Australian Government asked the Commission to undertake the wide-ranging inquiry into Australia's workplace relations system in late December 2014.

The chair of the Commission, Peter Harris, said: 'We know people hold passionate views about workplace relations. I'd like to emphasise that the Commission is open-minded, and our approach will be evidence-based and impartial. We know that a workplace relations system goes beyond its important economic impacts, and will take account of the human and social elements of what is at stake. We are required by our legislation to account of benefits to the community as a whole, and not any particular interest group'.

The Commission's five issues papers cover all the key aspects of the system: its objectives; the safety net provided by minimum wages, awards and the national employment standards; how people bargain in the system, the protections it provides employees, its compliance costs and its institutions.

Peter Harris said that 'The system is complex and interlinked, so the inquiry must be broad ranging. But just because we raise an issue does not mean we will recommend change in that area. We plan to undertake the analysis and hear what people think, and based on that we will reach conclusions. There will be substantial opportunity for public comment on any proposals'.

The Commission has indicated that it will entertain fresh ideas. The first issues paper says that the Commission 'is open to lateral suggestions so long as they are practical, beneficial and backed by solid evidence and argument'. It also asks for lessons from other countries' workplace relations systems.

The Commission is due to report by the end of November 2015, and will produce a draft report midyear, hold hearings after the draft and seek two rounds of submissions over the course of the inquiry. It is also looking at ways to make it easier for regional Australia to participate in this process.

The Commission is seeking initial public feedback on its issues papers by 13 March 2015.

Background information

Ralph Lattimore (Assistant Commissioner) 02 6240 3242

Requests for comment / other

Leonora Nicol (Media and Publications) 02 6240 3239 / 0417 665 443

It takes minimal research to realise that the Abbott Government hopes to use The Workplace Relations Framework: The Inquiry In Context: Issues Paper 1, January 2015 as a first step in introducing Work Choices Mark II, because none of those in the ranks of neo-conservative politics or self-interested business can wrap their minds around the fact that it is the effort of workers (more than average annual investment in a business) which sees owners garner both business and personal wealth.

Make no mistake Prime Minister Tony Abbott & his merry band of fascisti are intent on attacking the basis of a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay by dismantling minimum wages, the award system (which includes penalty rates) and National Employment Standards.

ABBOTT'S AUSTRALIA: Is a public service fire sale on its way?

The Canberra Times 20 January 2015:

Tens of thousands more Australian  public service jobs are to be sized-up for potential privatisation as the Abbott government begins work on its "contestability program".

One public sector expert has warned the program is the beginning of a "slow bleed" of the federal bureaucracy that could ultimately see more than 30,000 Commonwealth government jobs lost in the coming years.

The Finance Department has confirmed that  "portfolio stocktakes" are underway with government departments being assessed to see if their work can be farmed-out to either the private sector or the  commonwealth's growing  "shared services" operation.

Departmental bosses will also be ordered to replace their public servants with technology wherever they can and ICON, the high-tech secure communication network linking government departments in Canberra is also being scoped for sale…..

The government has already shown it will not shy away from privatisations with scoping studies for sell-offs of the Australian Mint, Defence Housing Australia, Australian Hearing Services and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission registry already underway.

Medicare, Centrelink and some Veterans Affairs payment services may be taken over by private players and the Finance Department is also looking at the sale of ICON, the point-to-point fibre connection system that links 80 government agencies at 400 sites around Canberra.

2015 Queensland State Election - 31 January live cover links

Queensland Electoral Commission 2015 State General Election - Election Summary – polling results should begin to display after 6pm QLD time.

ABC Radio 612 ABC Brisbane – live cover on election night from 6pm to 10pm QLD time.

Televised Election Night Coverage: Queensland Votes - 6:00pm QLD time (on ABC in QLD only) and 7:00pm AEDT on ABC News 24.

ABC digital platform News & Analysis here on election night.

The Courier Mail Queensland Votes - newspaper cover today.

The riotous history of Lismore, New South Wales

Papers Past:

Quotes of the Month

In fact, the speeds promised by Malcolm Turnbull’s current NBN plans of 25 megabits per second will soon be defined by the US FCC as the bare minimum requirement of a broadband connection. [News.com.au 16 January 2015]

How times change for Tony Abbott, once the Jay Z of the party, he has been relegated to dad band status: everyone says they love it but don’t seem to want be anywhere near it. [The Guardian 18 January 2015]

“I’m a Liberal Voter through and through…and I’ll always vote Liberal. But I have to be honest and truthful with you Mr. Prime Minister, you’re on the nose with Liberal voters and that’s a real concern to me, because I don’t want to see you give the keys to Bill Shorten at The Lodge….and the way you’re going it’s going to happen…. "You're the world's worst salesman, Prime Minister….It’s the way you do things like the Medicare thing…education…all the backflips."
[“Andrew” a Liberal Party voter to Prime Minister Tony Abbott during a recorded 3AW radio Mornings segment]

[@FightnIgnorance 21 January 2014]

Only serious illness could explain this statement by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott

The stress of this country’s top political position appears to be seriously affecting Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s health.

An inability to cope under sustained pressure is the only reason I can conceive for this badly-timed and impolitic statement made earlier in the day and quoted in the Brisbane Times on 30 January 2015:

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he will "absolutely" lead the government to the next election and has described the strong performances of potential leadership rivals Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull as the result of their "good captain".

Visiting Colac in Victoria on Friday, Mr Abbott was peppered with questions about his leadership, the future of his chief of staff Peta Credlin - and whether he would stand aside for Ms Bishop or Mr Turnbull.

Mr Abbott responded by praising his "strong colleagues" and "strong team" but said they benefited from his leadership.

"One of the reasons why so many members of the team are able to perform so well is because they have got a very good captain," he told reporters.

"It takes a good captain to help all the players of a team to excel," he said.

One Queensland LNP state MP takes media lessons from Tony Abbott?

This is the most revealing political response to media questioning since Tony Abbott's silent head bobbing incident.

Here is Queensland LNP MP Ray Stevens in the Brisbane Times on 22 January 2015:

Seemingly unaware he was being filmed, Mermaid Ray flapped, waved and bopped his way through a reporter's question about his investment and consulting involvement in a $100 million Gold Coast cable car project.

Video by Independent Australia (Ray’s antics start at 2min 2sec point):

http://youtu.be/093UhTuZmPA?t=2m2s

Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for Tony Abbott?

The Australian 29 January 2015:

NORMALLY, opposition parties are forced to cope with life in the wilderness. Not now. Today, and for almost 18 months, we have endured, enjoyed or been bewildered by government in the wilderness.

More disturbingly, the man in charge, so brilliant as opposition leader, so flawed as Prime Minister, shows few signs he is capable of leading his government out of it, and every sign the job is beyond him: that he is not up to it and might never be up to it.

The situation is that dire. Not because of a hostile media, a restless backbench or an effective opposition leader brimming with conviction or ideas, but because of the Prime Minister’s own actions.

Frontbenchers as well as backbenchers are realising it’s time to stop criticising staff and start directing the blame for the government’s predicament where it really belongs. With him. They now accept they have to convince him to change and if they can’t they will be forced to consider changing him. If their survival depends on his elimination, eliminate him they will. Count on it.

That is because ultimately Tony Abbott is responsible for all of it. He decides what is done, as well as who does it, he signs off on it or cedes the authority which ­allows it to happen, or simply turns a blind eye to it.

There is no guarantee the Prime Minister will perform better if he is forced to sack his chief of staff, Peta Credlin. Government insiders fear he has become psychologically dependent on her, a view supported by the private comments of friends who worry he would feel bereft without her.

Publicly his colleagues grappled with formulations to distance themselves from him after his decision to award a knighthood to Prince Philip without stabbing him in the front. Privately there was sorrow, anger, humiliation and as one said “utter utter disbelief” that he could do this to himself and to them. It will never be forgotten nor readily forgiven. Some were already doing ­numbers, apparently intending to impress upon him how much trouble he was in. After Monday, it acquired a deeper, more urgent focus.

According to one Liberal MP, the most obscure backbencher game enough or riled enough to put their hand up today would get 15 to 20 votes. Imagine what Julie Bishop could do if she wanted to…..

Excerpts from letters to the editor and published comments

The Australian (National Edition), 29 January 2015, page 11:

# I AM a long-time Liberal supporter and monarchist, and one of the barnacles you've just removed, Mr Abbott -- along with a million or more others. You don't seem to realise that where a lot of people will be prepared to go ahead with you, they won't be prepared to be dragged back into the past. Maybe you should have taken more notice of the reaction to your foray into the knights and dames debacle, among other things…..

# I PREDICT Tony Abbott will be rolled as PM by the end of this year. Due to his plummeting personal popularity, Liberal powerbrokers, with the exception of Peta Credlin, know it is highly unlikely the conservatives will retain government at the next election with Abbott as PM. He is seen as a private-school, university, Oxford-educated elitist more at home in the 1950s than today.

# the current PM is not suited to the job and the Liberal Party needs to replace him. The more successful PMs such as Bob Hawke and John Howard prided themselves on running inclusive governments where decisions were made by cabinet and then endorsed by the partyroom, not by the PM's office. How the cabinet allows his chief of staff to attend meetings shows a lack of collective spine. The PM is supposed to be "the first among equals", not an elected dictator.

# After what benighted Tony Abbott has done to her husband, one can only say "God save the Queen", because nothing can save the PM.

# Now that Tony Abbott has worked out the democratic principle of consulting before the event, perhaps we could have Australia Day over again? It rained, and I was laughing so much that I never got really patriotic, and what with the shark scare in Newcastle, things were dull in the harbour. Let's just call last Monday a trial run, a kind of rehearsal for the real thing?

The Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Queensland), 29 January 2015, page 19:

# Tony Abbot's autocratic bestowal of a knighthood of the Order of Australia on Prince Phillip turns the clock back to colonial times ("I say, old chap, how about three cheers for the Empire?"). Tony needs to realise that most of us have moved on from those Empirical times. The awards given out on Australia Day are for "ridgy-didge" Aussies who have contributed to our country in some way (often by sacrificing much of their own time to assist their fellow countrymen (women) in some beneficial way). Even the lowliest recipient of an award on Oz Day would have contributed more to Australia than Prince Phillip (God bless him). What Tony has done in this instance is to totally devalue the worth and the significance of these awards both past & present. Let's hope Phil declines the award!

Herald Sun (Melbourne, Victoria), 29 January 2015, page 25:

# AS if it's not astonishingly dumb of Tony Abbott to confer knighthood on the Duke of Edinburgh, he then dismisses negative comments on social media as "electronic graffiti" and says the regular media are silly to devote any attention.

Wrong again, Prime Minister, social media are the voices of the people you were elected to serve but you seem to have trouble grasping that simple fact.

Please, Governor-General, do your job and dismiss him before he does any more damage.

# I VOTED for the "mad monk" thinking economic sense and good governance would prevail. Giving "Phil the Greek" a gong has shown he is out of touch with the populace of Australia.

The Advertiser (Adelaide, South Australia), 28 January 2015, pages 18 & 20:

# TONY Abbott was born in England and obviously that's still where his true heart lies, again illustrated by the ridiculous knighthood awarded to a member of British royalty on Australia Day.

As with some (not all) other English migrants living in Australia who love to think of our country as still a colony of the British and can find little in comparison that brings Australia out on top, perhaps he should pick up his photos of the Queen and take his love for snobby titles back to the "green and pleasant land" of his birth where the class system is still appreciated and in force.

The best we can hope for after this Abbott gaffe extraordinaire is that the move towards an Australian republic is reignited and our country adopts the courage of the Canadians who rooted out the Poms and now proudly fly their own national flag without a hint of the anachronistic Union Jack symbol of outdated British dominance.

# WILL the next two Abbott knights be The Pope and Alan Jones? 

# WHAT has the mad monk done now? Making Prince Philip a knight is like sending shoes to Imelda Marcos. By creating this knight, Tony has sped up his good night to the prime ministership.

# AS if it's not astonishingly dumb of Tony Abbott to confer knighthood on the Duke of Edinburgh, he then dismisses negative comments on social media as "electronic graffiti" and says the regular media are silly to devote any attention.

Wrong again, Prime Minister, social media are the voices of the people you were elected to serve but you seem to have trouble grasping that simple fact.

Please, Governor-General, do your job and dismiss him before he does any more damage.

The Canberra Times (Australian Capital Territory), 28 January 2015, page 2:

# I'd always thought that the republic issue was an insignificant one, an unnecessary change to our constitutional framework in the hope of some marginal symbolic benefit.

Then I saw the Prime Minister's announcement that an Australian knighthood was to be granted to Prince Phillip, and I reconsidered.

Isn't it ludicrous that Prince Phillip is deemed more worthy of an honour than any of the 22 million Australians who the Order of Australia knighthoods were (apparently) meant to have been reserved for?

What does it say about the Prime Minister's opinion of Australians as a people, and our nation's image of ourselves, if he could not find a single worthy recipient in this entire country, besides Angus Houston, to give this honour to?

And don't these questions only arise more forcefully when considering who should be Australia's head of state, which is surely the greatest honour this country can grant to anyone? What does it say of Australia that such a position is inherited by foreigners, with no input from the Australian people?

I am therefore proud to say that, as of Australia Day 2015, I am a republican. My thanks to Tony Abbott for coming up with such a persuasive example to show me how wrong I have been for so many years.

The Advertiser (Adelaide, South Australia), 27 January 2015, page 17:

# MANY Australians will see the award of the KOA to Prince Phillip (The Advertiser, yesterday) as an act of supreme toadyism by the PM. What a sublime own goal in favour of the Republicans!

The Daily Telegraph (Sydney New South Wales), 27 January 2015, page 23:

# Woke up on Monday thinking it was January 26. Then I heard Prince Phillip has been made an Australian knight and felt it must be April 1.

The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania), 27 January 2015, page 15:

# I HAVE just heard that Prime Minister Tony Abbott has recommended to HRH, Queen Elizabeth II, that the Duke of Edinburgh be made a Knight of Australia. HRH is reported to have accepted.

As my wife exclaimed: "Tell me this is the First of April." My immediate thought was: "Is this bloke (Abbott) in touch with real Aussies?" My next thought was to go outside, find a rather large rock and hide underneath it for some time. Our Prime Minister, in my humble opinion, is a national embarrassment.

# Hilarious TONY Abbott has gone barking mad. So now we have His Royal Highness, Sir, Duke, Prince, Phil the Greek. What a hoot!

# WITH Tony's Abbott's selection of Prince Philip for a knighthood, are we expected to take the Prime Minister seriously any more?

The Guardian, First Dog on the Moon, 27 January 2015:

CSIRO updated climate change projections for Australian - east coast zone covering NSW North Coast

CSIRO Climate Change Projections 2015

EAST COAST SOUTH PROJECTION SUMMARIES

RAINFALL

Decreases in winter rainfall are projected with medium confidence. Other changes are possible but unclear. On annual and decadal basis, natural variability in the climate system can act to either mask or enhance any long-term human induced trend, particularly in the next 20 years…..

TEMPERATURE PROJECTIONS

…..There is very high confidence in continued substantial increases in projected mean, maximum and minimum temperatures in line with our understanding of the effect of further increases in greenhouse gas concentrations.

For the near future (2030), the annually averaged warming across all emission scenarios is projected to be around 0.5 to 1.3 °C above the climate of 1986–2005.

By late in the century (2090), for a high emission scenario (RCP8.5) the projected range of warming is 2.9 to 4.6 °C. Under an intermediate scenario (RCP4.5) the projected warming is 1.3 to 2.5 °C.

EXTREME TEMPERATURE

More hot days and warm spells are projected with very high confidence. Fewer frosts are projected with high confidence.

Extreme temperatures are projected to increase at a similar rate to mean temperature, with a substantial increase in the temperature reached on hot days, the frequency of hot days, and the duration of warm spells (very high confidence).

Frost risk days (minimum temperatures under 2 °C) are expected to decrease across the cluster (high confidence).

Some areas could experience around two to three times the average number of days above 35 °C under intermediate emission scenarios by late in the century.

EXTREME RAINFALL & DROUGHT

Increased intensity of extreme rainfall events is projected, with high confidence.

Understanding of the physical processes that cause extreme rainfall, coupled with modelled projections, indicate with high confidence a future increase in the intensity of extreme rainfall events, although the magnitude of the increases cannot be confidently projected.

Time spent in drought is projected, with medium confidence, to increase over the course of the century.

MARINE & COAST

Mean sea level will continue to rise and height of extreme sea-level events will also increase (very high confidence).

For 1966 to 2009, the average rate of relative sea-level rise for Australia, from observations along the coast, was 1.4 mm/year.

There is very high confidence in future sea-level rise. By 2030 the projected range of sea-level rise for the cluster coastline is 0.09 to 0.19 m above the 1986–2005 level, with only minor differences between emission scenarios. As the century progresses, projections are sensitive to concentration pathways. By 2090, the intermediate emissions case (RCP4.5) is associated with a rise of 0.30 to 0.65 m and the high emissions case (RCP8.5) a rise of 0.45 to 0.88 m. Under certain circumstances, sea-level rises higher than these may occur.

Late in the century warming of the East Coast coastal waters poses a significant threat to the marine environment through biological changes in marine species, including local abundance, community structure, and enhanced coral bleaching risk. Sea surface temperature is projected to increase in the range of 2.8 to 5.7 °C by 2090 under a high scenario (RCP8.5). The sea will also become more acidic, with acidification proportional to emissions growth.

OTHER

A harsher fire-weather climate in the future.

FIRE WEATHER: There is high confidence that climate change will result in a harsher fire-weather climate in the future. However, there is low confidence in the magnitude of that change because of the significant uncertainties in the rainfall projection.

EVAPORATION: Potential evapotranspiration is projected to increase in all seasons as warming progresses (high confidence).

HUMIDITY: There is little change in relative humidity for the near future, but medium confidence in a decrease later in the century.

 East Coast Cluster Report (2.7 MB)

Liberal Party State of Play (Part Two): Tony Abbott, Prime Clown of Australia

Taking a second twirl around the Australian reaction to Anthony John Abbott’s latest political gaffe and cultural cringe - discovering howls of laughter alongside expressions of disgust.

The newspaper front page mocking the Prime Minister:

The political cartoons:

The Twitter response:

Abbott’s response to the public response in The Age on 28 January 2015:

But when Mr Abbott was asked on Wednesday if he owed Mr Newman an apology for creating the knighthood distraction with his captain's pick during the last week of a tight state election campaign, the Prime Minister shifted the blame elsewhere.

"He wants to focus on his strong team with a strong plan," he said.

"I suspect it's the questioners that have stopped him from doing it.

"My focus is on jobs and families and I'm looking forward to getting back to that as quickly as I can."

His principal media ally’s response:

Banned BTEX chemicals found at AGL coal seam gas drilling site

The NSW Government prohibited the use of BTEX chemicals in coal seam gas activities on 6 March 2012, yet it may have been used in 2015 or alternatively the gas industry is allowing naturally occurring underground benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene to escape into the above ground environment:

NSW Environmental Protection Agency

AGL operations suspended and EPA investigating after BTEX chemicals detected in Waukivory well

Media release: 27 January 2015

                            

AGL operations at Gloucester have been suspended and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is investigating after the company informed the authority that it had detected BTEX chemicals at its Gloucester coal seam gas project.

AGL suspended operations today after announcing BTEX chemicals were found in samples from its Waukivory operations, said EPA Chief Environmental Regulator Mark Gifford.

“AGL informed the EPA that it was aware of these elevated levels of BTEX chemicals on 15 January, but it did not make these results known to the EPA or the public until today,” said Mr Gifford.

“The EPA is very concerned at AGL’s lack of timeliness and transparency in informing us of these results and we will be conducting a full investigation.

“The EPA can confirm that fracking fluid additives used at the Waukivory operation were sampled and analysed by Government environmental officers in November 2014 before fracking activities were allowed to commence.

“These samples were analysed for BTEX chemicals, which were not detected. Identifying the source of the elevated levels of BTEX chemicals found in AGL’s samples will be part of the EPA’s investigation.”

BTEX is a group of chemicals known as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene. These chemicals can occur naturally in coal seams. The Government banned the use of BTEX chemicals in hydraulic fracturing and are prohibited in Environment Protection Licences issued by the EPA.

Contact: EPA Public Affairs

UPDATE

Newcastle Herald 29 January 2015:

AGL will not be allowed to resume work at its Gloucester coal seam gas project until it can prove its operations do not pose an environmental threat.

The state government ordered the company cease operations at the pilot project on Wednesday until joint investigations triggered by the presence of toxic BTEX chemicals have been finalised.

Office of Coal Seam Gas and Environment Protection Authority investigators are working to determine whether the toxic chemicals found in water samples from wells are naturally occurring or were introduced by the company.

‘‘I want to know exactly what has happened,’’ Energy and Resources Minister Anthony Roberts told a parliamentary inquiry that is looking into gas supplies in NSW…….

Steve Cansdell avoided humiliating defeat at the ballot box by not nominating

Disgraced former Nationals MP for Clarence, Steve Cansdell, attempted to spin his second thoughts in The Daily Examiner on 21 January 2015:

Click on image to enlarge

In the end when nominations closed there was only one candidate, so the by-election was cancelled and, the only nominee was elected by default.

Popular opinion is that people were not putting up their hands to serve as an elected councillor because democracy had finally died within Clarence Valley Council in October 2011 and, no-one wanted to be involved with what is perceived locally as dysfunctional decision making.

Labor and Liberal-Nationals voters really are like chalk and cheese

It would appear that the average Labor voter does have a different view of the world from his/her Liberal or Nationals counterpart.

Labor voters have a higher than average trust in the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC). Liberal-Nationals supporters have more trust than the average in all news sources - except possibly the ABC.

Labor voters have a higher than average trust in environment groups and trade unions. While Liberal-Nationals supporters have more trust than the average in institutions such as the Reserve Bank, Parliament, religious organisations and, in business groups.

Essential Report 20 January 2015:

Q. How much trust do you have in the following institutions and organisations?

Note: ‘Total Trust’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘A lot of trust’ and ‘Some trust’

There have been few significant changes since this question was asked in July last year.

Respondents had most trust in the ABC (53%), the High Court (53%), the Reserve Bank (49%) and charitable organisations (44%). They had least trust in political parties (14%) and religious organisations (22%).

The main changes since the last poll were for TV news media (down 7% to 25%) and religious organisations (down 4% to 22%).

Compared to the average, Labor voters had more trust in the ABC (61%), environment groups (42%) and trade unions (33%).

Liberal/National voters, compared to the average, had a little more trust in the Reserve Bank (59%), religious organisations (29%), newspapers (38%), TV news (33%), Federal Parliament (39%), State Parliament (35%) and business groups (33%).