US ELECTION
Donald Trump’s foreign policy has not been well-received internationally.
Citizens of US-aligned countries overwhelmingly want Joe Biden to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election, numerous opinion polls have shown.
In his first term as President of the United States, Donald Trump has alienated the US from much of the world, including several of its closest allies. Notwithstanding his administration’s achievements in the Middle East, Donald Trump’s foreign policy has caused him to become highly unpopular in much of Europe, South America and the Asia-Pacific.
This year, polls have confirmed that former Vice President Joe Biden is the world’s preferred presidential candidate.
Europe Prefers Biden
CLIMATE CHANGE
A report by the WWF has ranked Australian jurisdictions by their renewable energy achievements.
The World Wide Fund for Nature has released its Renewable Superpower Scorecard 2021, identifying achievements and potential areas of improvement for Australian jurisdictions in the race to become a renewable energy ‘superpower’.
The report estimates that governments in Australia invested more than $7 billion in ‘clean energy stimulus measures’ last year. “Although significant,” the report acknowledges, “it’s a fraction of what has been spent in other countries.” WWF warns that “no jurisdiction is doing well when it comes to sharing the benefits of the energy transition.” It’s one area that warrants “substantial attention from all governments,” according to the report.
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POLITICS
The extent of Labor’s massive election victory has consequences for democracy, climate action and electoral reform in Western Australia.
Labor, as expected, has won the Western Australian state election. The party will retain and increase its majority of seats in the state parliament’s lower house, allowing incumbent Premier Mark McGowan to continue as the state’s head of government.
The biggest news, however, comes from the oft-overlooked upper house results. Labor is set to win a majority of seats in Western Australia’s Legislative Council for the first time ever. With control of both chambers of parliament, Mark McGowan’s Labor government will be able to wield enormous power in Western Australia.
Labor will be able to pass bills unilaterally
In the previous term of parliament, Labor had a majority…
2020 ELECTION
Ding-dong, the witch is probably dead.
Last week, those of us outside the United States watched from afar, attentive but powerless, as you cast your vote in one of the most pivotal elections in living memory.
As the results came in, we were glued to our screens, nervously awaiting developments.
If you’ve ever wondered why the rest of the world is so fascinated by a presidential election in a foreign country, you need only consider the influence the President of the United States wields across the globe.
On 4 November, the United States formally withdrew from the Paris Agreement, a crucial accord on climate change mitigation…
2020 ELECTION
A timeline of possible developments, hour by hour.
This is one of the most pivotal elections of all time, and with everything that’s going on in 2020, it’s also a bit unpredictable.
And yet, there’s a lot that probably can be predicted. I’ve trawled through various sources of information to create a timeline of what will or may occur, based on poll closing times, election forecasts, the times at which states were ‘called’ in 2012 and 2016, and the potential effects of the increase in early voting (including by mail) in 2020.
Consider it your somewhat unhelpful guide to a potentially chaotic presidential election filled with ‘red mirages’…
EXCLUSIVE POLL
Labor appears likely to win the two-party-preferred vote.
An exclusive Australia Zone opinion poll of 300 Queenslanders aged 18 and over has found that Labor is likely to win the popular vote in today’s Queensland state election.
The Liberal National Party, led by Deb Frecklington, is seeking to win government from Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Labor Party, which has been in power since 2015.
Women, young people and Brisbanites were overrepresented in the poll’s sample, while middle-aged and elderly men — particularly those in regional and rural areas — were undersampled. To negate this, respondents have been weighted by location, age and gender to more accurately reflect Queensland’s voting-age population.
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LAW
Do you know more about the law than a judge?
Often, we hear about the outcome of a criminal trial through the nightly news, or through social media, and we’re bewildered — outraged, even — by either the verdict or the sentence.
The footage of the alleged crime is right before our eyes, played over and over again on our screens. We can plainly see the alleged perpetrator doing wrong, and we’re convinced that the judge, magistrate or jury (whichever is applicable) must have made a mistake.
But before we begin composing a furious rant about the state of the criminal justice system, there are some things we should consider…
EXCLUSIVE POLL
Approximately half of US Americans have not heard of Scott Morrison.
An Australia Zone poll of 400 US adults has uncovered a startling statistic.
Asked whether they had “ever heard of Scott Morrison, the current Prime Minister of Australia,” 44% of respondents answered that they had not, whereas just 39% responded that they had. The remaining participants were unsure.
The margin widens when the sample responses are weighted by age and gender to more accurately represent the population. The ‘post-stratified’ results indicate that only 34.7% of US adults would recall hearing of Scott Morrison. …
SOCIAL MEDIA
Is pro-government sentiment being stirred up by astroturfers?
The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as one of the most polarising events in Victorian political history.
The controversy surrounding the Victorian government’s handling of the pandemic has created two sets of ultra-partisan zealots. One, a cult-like collection of staunch Labor voters unwilling to concede that Premier Daniel Andrews could ever do wrong. The other, an array of right-wing fanatics obsessed with name-calling and mudslinging.
In the middle, caught in the crossfire, are the sensible folk. Those who acknowledge that Victoria’s devastating second wave was largely caused by hotel quarantine failures; those who accept it was wrong to impose a curfew…
EXCLUSIVE POLL
Voters who consider foreign policy are more likely to vote for Joe Biden.
Yesterday, Australia Zone exclusively published the results of an opinion poll regarding US politics and relations between the US and Australia. Asked about the upcoming presidential election, respondents emphatically chose Joe Biden over incumbent Donald Trump. Among likely voters, Biden recorded 49% support and Trump registered 39% support — each figure has a margin of error of ±5 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.
The results also revealed several other findings of interest to those following the election campaign. 73 of the 400 respondents answered that they had already cast their vote in this year’s presidential election. …
Alex Adcock
Editor of Australia Zone, contributor for The Bigger Picture, The Polis, Politically Speaking, Dialogue & Discourse and Extra Newsfeed.
