We’ll let Barrie Cassidy blow Newspoll’s trumpet

Also, Aunty’s following The Oz’s lead on Clive Palmer, and The Daily Mail is clutching at hair.

Also, Aunty’s following The Oz’s lead on Clive Palmer, and The Daily Mail is clutching at hair..

Mark Kenny in The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday:

But now, as the polls reveal (Malcolm Turnbull’s) honeymoon has not just ended but descended into name calling, Liberals are wondering if he’s taken the everything-is-on-the-table thing too far — if a penchant for endless consideration is just a mask for being decision-averse.

Which polls? It didn’t look tot­ally catastrophic in the SMH on March 13:

Fairfax-Ipsos poll: Coalition support holds up at 53-47 as Malcolm Turnbull slides.

Let’s turn to Aunty for an answer. Barrie Cassidy on The Drum website yesterday:

So often the politicians say there is only one poll that counts. That blithe statement is a useful though essentially inaccurate rhetorical tool when they’re under pressure. There are two polls that count — elections and Newspoll.

Cassidy continues:

Obviously elections are the ultimate decider. But Newspolls matter ahead of any other poll because politicians take them more seriously than others. They impact on the psyche, alter ­perceptions, influence media reporting and, most importantly, even at times change policy direction. That is why this week’s poll — with Labor hitting the lead for the first time since Malcolm Turnbull became Prime Minister — is more than a symbolic setback to the Coalition government. It is a mood-changing event, given even more resonance because, when he challenged Tony Abbott, Turnbull referenced the fact that Abbott had lost 30 consecutive Newspolls.

ABC plug for next Monday’s Four Corners:

Clive Palmer: The rise and fall of a business empire and political career. On Monday night, Four Corners charts the rise and fall of the mercurial Clive Palmer, examining how he made his money, friends and bitter enemies along the way. With Palmer’s political influence plummeting and serious questions hanging over his companies, reporter Hayden Cooper talks to political players, former ­colleagues and the workers left sacked at the now-closed Queensland Nickel refinery in Townsville. Many are speaking out for the first time.

From Four Corners’ promotional video:

Unmasking a mogul ... “There’s been a lot of stuff going on out there that should be investigated.”

Back then. James Carleton on Radio National Breakfast, June 10, 2014:

Page 1 in The Australian is where you see every single day a story — a negative story — about Clive Palmer. And obviously, by definition, some of those stories just have to be beat-ups — just no one can have that much bad news …

Leading the witness. Tanya Plibersek’s press conference yesterday:

Journalist: Just on Scott Morrison, I don’t know if you heard him on Radio National getting pretty personal about Bill Shorten, saying that he wears ill-fitting suits. What does that say about Mr Morrison and the Liberal government in particular?

Plibersek: Look, I’m very, I’m very surprised that just a few weeks out from a federal election Mr Morrison is not concentrating on the most important task he will ever face professionally, which is bringing down a budget that invests in Australians, that secures our future as a nation ... We want a Treasurer that’s focused on our interests as Australians, not making ­personal comments about people.

Journalist: It’s a pretty tacky low blow, isn’t it?

The Daily Mail on Wednesday (and, somehow, updated on Thursday):

Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy pulls a HAIR from her mouth as she walks along a London street after dining with friends at a Mayfair restaurant.