http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/polling/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/flying-the-flag-for-lazy-gotcha-polling/ So a crack commando unit of researchers from the University of Western Australia has found that people who place Australian flags on their cars are more likely to express racist attitudes than people who don’t. The team of researchers discovered this through a comprehensive census of a vast crowd of 102 car-flag-bearing Austrayans havin’ a rip-roarin’ Oz Day barbie in Perth last year. It’s an incredibly groundbreaking and revealing set of data. Except for the fact it’s a load of codswallop. And we’ve beaten them to the punch, if you’ll excuse the pun. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/flying-the-flag-for-lazy-gotcha-polling/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/flying-the-flag-for-lazy-gotcha-polling/#item7595 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ... http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/to-gillard-a-guide-to-getting-back-your-mojo/ The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ... feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/to-gillard-a-guide-to-getting-back-your-mojo/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/to-gillard-a-guide-to-getting-back-your-mojo/#item5330 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ... http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/most-think-our-leaders-have-it-about-right-on-afghanistan/ When should Australia wage war? Has anyone asked you? Have you given it much thought or is that a job best left to the government? Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that twenty one Australian men lie dead, lost on the battlefields of Afganistan. Each of them is easy to admire - young, supremely fit, highly trained, brave soldiers. It’s pretty clear they all possessed courage and commitment to their task, their training and their mates most of us would struggle to emulate. They all have families and friends - even more tragically, a number of them have young children who will never see or know their dads. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/most-think-our-leaders-have-it-about-right-on-afghanistan/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/most-think-our-leaders-have-it-about-right-on-afghanistan/#item4314 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ... http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stop-the-presses-the-media-arent-that-crap/ Sometimes a response to a polling question comes along that makes you re-evaluate your preconceived ideas, where the public’s refusal to confirm your gut instincts forces you to have a fresh look at the evidence before you. Asking people to cast stones at the media’s reporting of the federal election seemed like a simple enough exercise, the public would confirm the media did a poor job and we could all wring our hands about democracy once again denied. But hold the presses. Something is amiss. Fewer than a quarter of respondents to the Essential Report join the party.  One third rate the coverage at election time ‘good’, a further 40 per cent ‘average’. And far more say the media ‘gave fair coverage of all parties’ than thought they favoured a particular side. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stop-the-presses-the-media-arent-that-crap/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stop-the-presses-the-media-arent-that-crap/#item4080 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ... http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-election-was-not-the-ranga-revolution-predicted/ When the political history of 2010 is written, every element of the closest election in a generation will be rightly scrutinized. The winning side will get home by a hair’s breadth ­ but could it be hair that determines the result? Because there is a minority group whose natural connection with their chief advocate did not translate into votes on August 22 ­ Australia’s rangas turned on Julia Gillard at the moment she needed their support most. Exclusive hair-based research from the Punch shows that redheads turned their locks away from Gillard, being the least likely hair coloured group to support the ALP. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-election-was-not-the-ranga-revolution-predicted/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-election-was-not-the-ranga-revolution-predicted/#item3933 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ... http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-greens-should-look-at-replacing-leader-bob-brown/ It was one of the funniest exchanges on television since Homer Simpson was interviewed by Kent Brockman on Smartline about his decision to form a vigilante gang. Simpson: “Oh, Kent, I’d be lying if I said my men weren’t committing crimes.” Brockman: “Well, touché.” On The 7.30 Report on Tuesday night, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown came under some fairly routine questioning from Kerry O’Brien about asylum seekers. O’Brien asked Brown whether he thought that any of the people who arrived illegally in Australia should ever be sent back to any of the countries they had fled. Brown had a “this does not compute” moment and blanked out, and then shot back at O’Brien to ask him whether he thought that any of them should be sent back. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-greens-should-look-at-replacing-leader-bob-brown/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-greens-should-look-at-replacing-leader-bob-brown/#item3503 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ... http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-angry-fish-that-could-change-australia/ There is a wildcard hanging over the upcoming election, a factor outside the control of the any politician – it resembles an angry fish, and it is looking for someone to bite. It is the long-term trend line on people’s economic confidence, and it shows that after we sounded a collective sigh of relief last year, we are beginning to fear the worst again, a sense of economy insecurity that can affect our work, our home lives - and the way we look at politics. The story of the fish charts the highs and lows of first term Labor, it also offers some tantalising clues about what happens next. Why a fish? As the graph above shows, the competing stories of confidence and despondency have taken a wild journey over the past two years.  With fear surging as the GFC hit, curtailing as stimulus stabilised the economy, but now rising again. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-angry-fish-that-could-change-australia/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-angry-fish-that-could-change-australia/#item3482 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ... http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Campaign-countdown-it-just-got-a-lot-worse-for-rudd/ UPDATE 8.05am: Kevin Rudd has just appeared on AM saying “We’ve got a huge amount of work to do to explain my plans”... saying Tony Abbott’s plan is clear, cuts to health and the return of WorkChoices. “The key challenge for the government is to explain very clearly what our plans are for the future…” He refused to acknowledge that he’s broken any promises. He also said the RSPT was about “making our companies more competitive globally.” Another week, another shocking poll result for Kevin Rudd’s Government. This time it’s in the Fairfax papers, who are now reporting that the Rudd Government would be “wiped out” if there were an election held now. According to a Nielsen Poll published in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age the Coalition leads Labor 53-47. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Campaign-countdown-it-just-got-a-lot-worse-for-rudd/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Campaign-countdown-it-just-got-a-lot-worse-for-rudd/#item3252 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ... http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/parental-leave-the-moment-abbott-jumped-the-shark/ Tony Abbott’s foray into progressive social policy has backfired, with his conservative base rejecting has plan to tax big business to pay for improved parental leave. In the first serious signs that the Mad Monk’s honeymoon as leader is over, this week’s Essential Report finds the Liberal leader has cashed in his credentials as an economic conservative for no real gain, with little support for this family plan. After watching the polls narrow to within striking distance over the summer, the Coalition heartland must now be wondering whether Mark Latham has returned to politics in a different set of Speedos. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/parental-leave-the-moment-abbott-jumped-the-shark/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/parental-leave-the-moment-abbott-jumped-the-shark/#item2625 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ... http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australians-want-a-tougher-stand-on-boatpeople/ The debate around the Sri Lanka asylum seekers is beginning to spiral into Tampa territory with the Australian public ready to support tough action over compassion and prepared to believe the boats are harbouring terrorists. For the PM it is a diabolical political dilemma, with this week’s Essential Report showing his attempts to play tough cop are failing to translate into public approval for his handling of the issue. Given the bind, I reckon his only option is to follow the lead of his predecessor John Howard – not in sending in the troops, but by shifting debate through invoking the nation’s obsession with sport. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australians-want-a-tougher-stand-on-boatpeople/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australians-want-a-tougher-stand-on-boatpeople/#item1630 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 The Prime Minister has been strutting her stuff in the Oval Office, but back home, her popularity has gone pear-shaped. There has never been a poll plunge so swift as this week’s Newspoll. So what can she do to rediscover her mojo? is there any way back? Here’s what The Punch team thinks ...