Tag Archives: oceania

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Albanese's disapproval rating jumps in major opinion poll

After a tumultuous first two weeks on the campaign trail, neither major party can point to a significant change in fortune among two of the nation's leading opinion polls.

The Coalition has gained ground on Labor in a few metrics across both The Australian Financial Review's Ipsos poll and The Australian's Newspoll, both released last night. But they were almost all minor shifts, within the margin of error. 

Ipsos had Labor's primary vote down one point to 34 while the Coalition rose one to 32, as the Greens rose two points to 12 and the number of people planning to vote for other minor parties remained steady.

READ MORE: Veteran tells true story behind classic Australian anti-war song

On a two-party preferred basis — based on 2019 preference distribution — the results were almost unchanged from the last poll carried out at the start of the month. Based on the latest survey, Labor would get 50 per cent of the vote, down one point, and the Coalition would receive 42 per cent, with the rest undecided. 

That gap expanded to 55-45 in favour of Labor when respondents were forced to pick a side.

A few more of those polled were able to decide on a preferred prime minister this time around, with 40 per cent opting for Labor leader Anthony Albanese, up from 38, and 38 per cent choosing incumbent PM Scott Morrison, up from 37.

There was only one statistically significant change among the 2302 voters polled from Wednesday night to Saturday.

Following a fortnight that began with his failure to name the unemployment rate and ended with his COVID-19 infection, Mr Albanese's disapproval rating increased three percentage points to 35 per cent.

Both leaders' approval ratings increased by one point and Mr Morrison's disapproval rating remained stable.

READ MORE: Man arrested after four people stabbed to death in London

Scott Morrison Anthony Albanese April 11, 2022.

The poll's margin of error is 2.2 per cent.

Newspoll also had Labor in the lead (53-47, same as the last two surveys) on a two-party preferred basis and a tight primary vote. 

The Australian's pollster of choice had the major parties taking a point each off minor parties in their primary vote, with Labor up to 37 per cent and the Coalition on 36. The Greens fell a point to 11 per cent and One Nation lost a point to 3 per cent.

Mr Morrison widened the gap as preferred prime minister with a two-points increase to 46 per cent, as his rival remained steady on 37 per cent.

This was despite a statistically significant shift in his net approval rating thanks to a one-point fall in approval, to 42 per cent, and a two-point increase in disapproval, to 54 per cent.

The fall came after a week in which the Morrison government was intensely criticised for its failure to stop the Solomon Islands signing a security deal that could allow a Chinese military presence in the Pacific nation, less than 1800km from the Queensland coast. 

Mr Albanese's fortunes were reversed with a one-point improvement in both measures for a 38 per cent approval rating and a 50 per cent disapproval rating.

The Newspoll surveyed 1538 voters from Wednesday to Saturday and has a margin of error of 2.9 per cent.

READ MORE: Labor plan for training of Pacific armies to deter China

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World's oldest person, Kane Tanaka, dies in Japan aged 119

Kane Tanaka, the world's oldest person, has died in Japan aged 119, according to a statement released by the country's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Ms Tanaka, who was born on January 2, 1903, died on April 19, the ministry said on Monday.

Guinness World Records said it was saddened to hear of Ms Tanaka's passing, and said the news of her death had been confirmed by senior gerontology consultant Robert Young, who also helped confirm her record as the oldest person alive back in 2019.

READ MORE: Veteran tells true story behind classic Australian anti-war song 'I was only 19'

Kane Tanaka world's oldest person

"She became the oldest living person in January 2019 at the age of 116 years and 28 days," Guinness World Records said, in a tweet.

"She is also the second oldest person ever recorded, behind only Jeanne Calment who lived to the age of 122."

https://twitter.com/GWR/status/1518586957156298753?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Ms Tanaka's family said in a tweet earlier this month that she had been frequently sick recently and "in and out of hospital".

Ms Tanaka married a rice shop owner at the age of 19 and worked in the family store until she was 103.

She twice survived cancer and lived through a multitude of historical events, surviving two world wars and the 1918 Spanish flu — as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

CNN previously reported on Ms Tanaka during her preparation to participate in the Olympic torch relay ahead of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

The plan had been that she would take the flame as it passed through Shime, in her home prefecture of Fukuoka, but ultimately she did not participate, because of concerns about COVID-19.

Japan's Kane Tanaka has taken out the title of oldest person on Earth, celebrating her 116th birthday.

Ms Tanaka had been living in a nursing home in Fukuoka. Her family said she kept her mind and body engaged by doing math and remaining curious.

Her great-granddaughter Junko Tanaka set up a Twitter account in January 2020 to celebrate the supercentenarian's life.

She tweeted photos of her great-grandmother enjoying treats such as cake and soda pop, and shared her achievements and the exchanges she had with her relatives.

https://twitter.com/tanakakane0102/status/1479812035177480195

"I might be biased because I'm related to her but I think it's kind of amazing — I wanted to share that with the world and for people to feel inspired and to feel her joy," CNN previously reported Junko as saying of her grandmother:

In 2020, one in every 1565 people in Japan was older than 100 years old — more than 88 per cent of them women.

Government figures released in July 2020 showed that women have a life expectancy of 87.45 years compared with 81.4 for men.

Announcing Ms Tanaka's death on its website on Monday, Guinness World Records said "the titles of oldest person living and oldest person living (female) are currently being investigated" and that further details would be announced in due course.

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'Shocked and angry': RSL targeted by thief on Anzac Day

Members of an RSL in regional Victoria are "shocked and angry" after a burglar broke in and stole a number of goods, just hours before many attended dawn services to commemorate Anzac Day.

CCTV footage, released today, shows the thief allegedly stealing four bottles of alcohol worth $200 from the Traralgon RSL just after 3am this morning.

The man ran from the scene and was wearing a grey hooded jumper, grey track suit pants, black hat, black shoes and a mask covering his face.

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Traralgon RSL senior vice president Robert Holdsworth said it was very disappointing to hear the news.

"It's very sad (this happened) on Anzac Day," he said.

"A lot of people who heard about it were shocked and angry that it was today because today is very important."

Mr Holdsworth said the offender also allegedly broke some glass to gain access to the property.

"I am very sad for the club," he said.

"It makes you more nervous about our security, but we haven't had much trouble with in the past.

"It's unsettling now."

Detectives from Latrobe Crime Investigation Unit are calling for public help, with anyone who recognises the man urged to come forward.