The senator said he was not on leave, contrary to Shoebridge’s comments last week, and that he had been pressured by the leader to request leave on Thursday as Nine’s story was breaking.

“I feel that he used those meetings to repeatedly pressure me to say that I would take leave,” Steele-John said.

The senator said “survivors of family violence are entitled to make decisions about their own lives and the Greens have always said so”.

“It was a bad call from David. We’ve all made those in politics. So, to be clear, I am not on leave and did not agree to the inclusion of that line within David’s statement.”

C'mon Ken, lets all make sure the gas industry makes lots of money! Unlike electricity which is generated by renewables and doesn't profit mining billionaires.

Australia’s budget would remain mired in deficit for more than 10 years under One Nation’s plans for lower migration, delivering an economic blow that would drive up national debt by an extra $275 billion.

As political parties of all stripes come under pressure to appease public anxiety about immigration, a 10-year analysis of lower migration scenarios using Parliamentary Budget Office tools exposes the economic and fiscal consequences of blunt measures to bring fewer people to the country.

According to the analysis, Pauline Hanson’s three-year negative migration scenario would also reduce Australia’s economic output by $212 billion by the middle of next decade, when there would be 820,000 fewer taxpaying workers in the economy.

Former Coalition finance minister Mathias Cormann, now head of the OECD, on Saturday warned against setting “arbitrary migration caps” without thought to their impact on businesses, hospitals or universities.

“An ageing country that chooses to shrink its working-age population while promising to spend more on health, care and defence has not developed a plan. It has put forward a contradiction,” he said in a speech.

Full article. PW bypassed.

Took my family out on weekend and went to a Cafe in Bondi. Didn't think twice re surcharges and paid bill for weekend food. But once home got a notification for my bank that the price was higher I paid than I was quoted verbally when I paid. Rung up Cafe to be told they apply 10% on Saturday and 15% on Sunday. Most venues don't tend to charge 10% on Saturday. Sure they gotta cover costs but we thought it was mentioned to be clear the amount charged this particular Cafe have the menu online and it olos shown in small print at bottom of menu but not clearly at top we were under impression cafes/restaurants have to be up front and clear about fees... also turns out prices charged for meals were not prices on menus and then claimed their menus were correct but we looked at old prices. Thoughts please?

I'm currently in the market for a wagon and I can't believe the lack of options in this sector.

Nearly two-thirds of all new vehicle sales are SUVs which is fucking insane. Can anyone ever see this stupid trend ever reversing? Will SUV owners ever wake up to how obnoxious their cars are to other drivers, the road toll, the lack of room in car parks etc.?

You don't buy that? Ask Sean Penn, 2001, I Am Sam.

Source: E L I C I A B A R N E S

An Australian lawmaker has condemned racist stickers targeting Indians that were put up in Cessnock, a town about 150 km from Sydney, saying such material did not represent the local community and would not go unchallenged.

Dan Repacholi, a member of the House of Representatives for the Hunter electorate in New South Wales, said in a social media post on Wednesday that the stickers were "disgusting" and urged people to report their locations so they could be removed.

"Racism isn't welcome in Cessnock. It isn't welcome in the Hunter. And it won't go unchallenged," Repacholi said.

Repacholi shared an image of one such racist sticker depicting a man defecating on a street, alongside the message, "Is this your culture? We don't like it".

The image also claimed that 32 per cent of Australia's population was foreign-born, asserted that India was "at the top of that list" and called for "REMIGRATION NOW!"

"Enough of this," Repacholi said in his post, adding that those spreading such material did not represent the community.

"We're better and stronger than the hate and division these people are trying to spread. If you've seen one, let me know where it was located so it can be reported and removed. Don't give these cowards any more publicity than they deserve," he said.

source

In two weeks, Donald Trump faces his moment of truth; transformational midterm elections that will drastically influence the rest of his presidency, for better or for worse.

Assuming that he cannot find a way around the constitutional ban on him running for a third time in 2028, he now has a limited time left to make sure he leaves office the most consequential president ever. Again, for better, or worse.

Motivated deeply by fame, that could make for an (even more) volatile ride than we’ve seen so far as his administration enters its final stages.

Whatever happens in the House and Senate elections, he remains commander in chief of the US armed forces with the power to unleash conflict, perhaps with even less restraint than he’s shown in his intemperate and economically reckless decision to go to war against Iran.

More in article.

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has spoken with Yahoo News about why she urged parliament to no longer use the word "invasive" when referring to introduced species.
Wild horses, pigs, deer, cane toads, cats, and foxes are among the biggest threats to native species, and she agrees they need to be managed. 
But she argues this doesn't negate the need to treat them humanely.
And she worries that the language we use to describe an animal can have real-world consequences.
"Language does matter, because how you label animals is how people view them," she said.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation cartoon series has used Jacqui Lambie’s health battle as a running gag while skewering the Albanese government’s Digital Duty of Care bill.

Jacqui Lambie’s prolapsed vagina has become the unlikely punchline in the latest Pauline Hanson cartoon.
Pauline Hanson’s latest cartoon, targeted the Albanese government’s Digital Duty of Care bill which is designed to regulate online safety, algorithms and digital platforms.

Relevant excerpts:

The pro-Palestine movement, in Australia and around the world, is winning more than its opponents want anyone to know.

Antoinette Lattouf beat the ABC in the Federal Court. The racial vilification case against Mary Kostakidis ended without a finding against her. Randa Abdel Fattah’s exclusion from Adelaide Writers’ Week brought the festival down and put an alternative in its place. Police dropped every charge they laid against me at Bondi. The NSW permit regime that threatened everyone’s right to assemble was taaken away by a court.

None of this happened in isolation. The same pattern is unfolding in Madrid, Dublin, London and Washington. Spain has imposed an arms embargo. Ireland has banned settlement goods. Forty United States senators voted to block military sales to Israel. Voters in Michigan and New York elected Israel critics.

The lobby’s best weapon has always been the belief that resistance is pointless. That belief is collapsing both here and abroad.

More in article

Source: milligram96

The amount of hate that unions nowadays is crazy. "Unions are just greedy and corrupt, they just want to hold some control over government and companies."

The CFMEU (specifically construction bit) has been a scapegoat for the media to attack unions. Construction has ALWAYS been an industry sector that has somewhat involved criminals. What kind of job doesn't need high level security tests, drug tests etc. What sort of job doesn't ask for your criminal records.

It's construction jobs. They want to know if you have the licenses, skills, and have enough common sense. Then you get the job. Skills may be questionable these days with defects, but you get the idea.

Also its mainly the construction side of the CFMEU that has been hammered with the drugs, bribes, intimidation.

In Aus we have the NTEU (for uni staff), ACTU, HSU (Health services), TWU (Transport), USU (United Workers Union) etc.

Are they bad? NO.

In my opinion the construction sector of the CFMEU is bad, the rest, not bad at all. Anyone who says so is being dishonest. The standard 40-hour (and later 38-hour) work week in Australia was won through decades of campaigns, strikes, and legal arguments led by Australian unions

​

Labor's sprawling backbench has been a sight to behold ever since the 2025 electoral bushfire that consumed the Coalition, leaving behind a lot of empty stumps and toasted tussocks.

The view from the press gallery seats drives this home. Below the viewer sprawls the government's 94-seat majority. It dominates the green benches of the lower house, spilling across the chamber's centre line deep into what is normally opposition upholstery.

It's the literal embodiment of political weight. All those bums on seats.

But for the first time in this parliament's life — and we're pretty much at the half-way mark — those rows upon rows of Labor MPs this week looked more like one of those forests where too much fuel has accumulated.

A lot of wood ready to ignite.

When I was going through the process of learning to drive and doing driving tests I was unemployed. So that became my entire life for a few months and it made me naturally quite curious about what it would be like to work as a driving instructor or examiner

I think that of the two I would prefer being an examiner. Instructor would be an incredibly rewarding job but you’re likely going to consistently have students who are driving for the very first time in your car and the thought of that is terrifying whereas at least with the examiner they have to have done a certain number of hours and have likely gone through the lessons. Crashes/mishaps less likely. I’m sure they no doubt happen but I’d much rather have a more experienced driver

But yeah I feel like if I was an examiner I’d be one of those fake angry guys that keeps a straight face at all times and then when the student is passed pretend they’ve failed and then go “congratulations legend”

I looked into the process of becoming one out of curiosity. Definitely sounds like a pretty grueling process but worth it in the end I imagine!

Has anyone here gone through the process before? And for those who have ended up working as driving instructors what was it like?

Matthew Collins, the party’s candidate for Melbourne in the upcoming Victorian state election, says in campaign material he “wants Melbourne restored to its former prosperity and security”, adding the state has been “mismanaged” and noting his “signature passion and resolve”.

Crikey has obtained access to many additional posts made by the account, which has since been made private, and paint an even starker picture of the range of views expressed.

The X account matthewsright posted a recording of Bunurong elder Mark Brown being booed at ANZAC Day dawn services in April this year, calling it “the sound of patriots”. It later emerged the booing of Welcomes to Country were in part organised efforts from far-right organisations, and at least one person convicted in relation to his booing of a Sydney ceremony was a member of a neo-Nazi group.

The same day, the account wrote: “Identity politics has no place in our national commemorative days of mourning and solitude. Remove the disrespectful ‘welcome to country’ from all ANZAC Day services…”.

There are also responses to posts by Muslim New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, including images of the 9/11 attacks, and reference to him as having a “resting jihad face”. Another post saw the word “deport” above a photograph of Muslim Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi. In July 2026, one post described deporting Faruqi as the “only good use of our taxpayer dollars associated with her”.

In February 2026, a post said: “opposition to Islam is a national security matter and a duty of self-preservation”.

James Massola

The Greens created and maintained a secret dossier that catalogues allegations against Senator Jordon Steele-John and set out ways to shut down media coverage and monitor members who raised concerns on social media.

The crisis communications strategy obtained by this masthead reveals that as far back as 2016, before Steele-John was parachuted into the Senate in 2017, the party was managing complaints. The document reveals that one senior Greens official quit her role because Steele-John was reinstated as the WA branch’s volunteer co-ordinator, even though two women had lodged complaints alleging Steele-John had made inappropriate remarks while working with them.

The 47-page dossier, stored on a Google Drive folder accessible to Western Australian Greens and national Greens staff for close to a decade, was first drafted in 2016 and has been updated in the years since. It sets out ways to shut down media coverage of allegations about Steele-John, while also instructing taxpayer-funded Greens staff to monitor social media discussions and take screenshots of comments posted by party members.

This masthead has confirmed with four former Greens staffers that the dossier was real and that it was used by the WA Greens and the national leader’s office to manage stories about Steele-John.

Steele-John on Thursday took leave from the Greens party room after leader David Shoebridge received a letter from seven active Greens members demanding an independent investigation into allegations from party members that the WA senator made multiple inappropriate comments to women over the past decade.

The senator referred the matter to the WA Greens for an independent investigation, while rejecting the allegations.

“I utterly reject this characterisation of me, which tries to assert I am someone I am not,” Steele-John said in a statement provided to this masthead.

“These claims are made without specifics, any allegation of this nature is extremely serious and must be treated accordingly. If someone has made an allegation, I am prepared to address it.”
On Friday morning, Shoebridge confirmed Steele-John would take a leave of absence from parliament during the investigation.

cont in comments

I’m genuinely curious how people reconcile the Bible being treated as a symbol of truth, morality and justice with some of the things actually written in it.
And I’m not talking about obscure interpretations. These are actual biblical passages:

Leviticus 25:44–46 – Permits buying slaves from foreign nations, treating them as property and passing them down to your children.

Exodus 21:7–11 – Establishes rules for a father selling his daughter as a female servant.

Numbers 31:17–18 – Moses orders the killing of male children and women who have slept with men, while sparing the virgin girls.

Deuteronomy 21:10–14 – Provides rules for taking a female war captive as a wife.

1 Samuel 15:3 – God commands the Israelites to kill the Amalekites, including men, women, children, infants and livestock.

Deuteronomy 22:28–29 – Describes a man being required to marry a virgin after seizing and having sex with her, with the interpretation of the circumstances disputed.

Deuteronomy 25:11–12 – Commands cutting off a woman’s hand for grabbing a man’s genitals during a fight.

Exodus 21:20–21 – Provides different penalties for beating a slave depending on whether the slave dies immediately or survives.

Deuteronomy 13:6–10 – Commands putting even your own family members to death for encouraging worship of other gods.

Judges 19:22–29 – A concubine is handed over to a mob, sexually abused throughout the night and subsequently dismembered. This is a horrific event described in the Bible, rather than a command from God.

2 Samuel 5:13 – David takes additional wives and concubines.

Deuteronomy 21:18–21 – Provides for the stoning of a persistently rebellious son following a legal process.

That’s slavery, ownership of women, sexual violence, killing children, religious executions and concubinage, all appearing in a book that millions regard as a source of divine morality.
I
If we can recognise these things as morally unacceptable today, aren’t we using our modern human values to judge the morality of the Bible rather than getting our morality from it?

Why should a book containing these passages retain such symbolic authority in a modern, secular justice system?.

Kind of seems they're scrapping treaty to appeal to the racist vote without even explaining why. And as it shows, the Liberal candidates aren't very well versed in Victorian history when it comes to first nations peoples.

Maybe if they had some more policy ideas other than trying to be One Nation lite, and fixing potholes, they might actually be a decent opposition.

People care about cost of living, healthcare and education. Just making life worse for first nations peoples doesn't fix anything.

Former Victorian labor advisor kos samaras newest article.

What is everyone's thoughts

"The first politician who has an honest conversation with Australians about the world they actually live in will win. Not the best slogan or the biggest promise. The truth.

The truth is this. The 30 years after the war were never normal. One wage bought a house, raised a family and funded a retirement. That happened in a few dozen countries, once, for about three decades. Growth per person ran at 3.8 per cent a year, after nearly 40 years it’s now at 1 per cent. Seven workers for every retiree. The West had the world's factories almost to itself and cheap oil. Every one of those conditions is gone and no government can bring them back. Some are actually accelerating the decline of prosperity in the west, like Trump. Yes, a note to some of you Trump fans, please stay away from any job that requires economic skills.

The new world has now become the old world. It has more in common with 1930 than with anything in the last 40 years. Slow growth. An ageing country. A fair share that has to be chosen on purpose rather than delivered by the tide.

In 1930, a workers wage was mostly consumed by basic material needs, food, fuel and a roof over one’s head. Hello 2026.

Which brings me to immigration.

Blaming migrants for the end of the boom is the laziest, most empty-headed response available to Australian politics. It requires no thought, no plan and no courage. There is no migration cut that makes a house cost three times a wage again. A smaller intake does not restore seven workers for every retiree. It drives the ratio towards two, faster. It makes the problem worse while pretending to solve it. Anyone selling it is not offering an answer. They are offering a scapegoat so they never have to explain the arithmetic because explaining it and actually working towards a solution means one thing - empowering employees.

Link below."

There has been a myth going for decades that unemployment is a personal failure due to not trying hard enough or improving your skills or experience.

According to this ideology, the only way to fix unemployment is to keep the welfare payment low to incentivise employment, punish welfare recipients into compliance and put them through activities that fix their personal failures. If people somehow stay unemployed, it's all their fault. This system has been an abject failure, and multiple reviews have confirmed this.

I think something like 40% of people on JobSeeker are disabled, and maybe 10% homeless. Nonetheless, it's assumed everyone is fit for work but is choosing to stay addicted to welfare.

The RBA governor admitted it's her job to manage the economy by keeping a minimum level of unemployment to put downward pressure on inflation. The problem isn't corporate greed; no, it's too many people have jobs. This has been the policy for three decades.

It's an anti-worker policy because it takes away people's jobs and disciplines others not to demand too much of their employer or they'll be next. This is supported by both major parties, even the LABOR party.

When I point out what a scam the welfare system is, people don't believe me, they make up weak excuses or um and er as if there is something more to it.

When will people wake up?

Sources: Algorithm studies 

Government education framework

Non-gov education toolkit  

...we all win.

Original

The Gas Tax keeps getting brought up, even in discussions it is not directly relevant. Here is why it is not a good idea, and the idea should be put to rest:

1st: We are trying to pivot away from fossil fuels. Creating and relying on tax funding from a finite resource, which is globally being phased out, and is also a secondary to oil and coal, is a terrible idea. Nobody will be buying gas in 20-30 years. Anybody arguing that this money can be used to fund things like healthcare, eldercare or social care need to provide how these services will be funded once gas is no longer being bought. Or do we just allow that deficit and watch these services crumble? Remember, countries like Norway and the UAE are entirely reliant on their FF. Workforce and public funding. It is existentially reliant for them. Pulling it would be detrimental.

2nd: These contracts were signed by the LNP, not the ALP. The ink has dried and now they are set. What this means is unless we wish to show the world we are unserious trading partners, who retroactively change the terms of the deal, then we have to live with what was agreed upon. The importance of this point will feed into point No 3, but understand it is by choice of voting that has caused this situation in the first place. The only person so flippant and disregarding of global trade agreements is Donald Trump, so unless you wish for a Trump-Tariff style trade dynamic, then changing the deals is a bad idea.

3rd: During the Iran crisis, what we experienced was the greatest oil crisis in history, second to none. Blink and you may have missed it, because we barely saw price changes in the goods that relied on fuel, and the prices at the pump. That is because the ALP negotiated in good faith with our Asian partners, and also introduced a fuel excise. A combination which means that, Australia, which is an internationally irrelevant country, rode out the biggest oil crisis in history with negligible outcomes. This extra fuel was negotiated based on the good faith Australia has exhibited as a trading partner. That level of trust is invaluable, and to trade it away for a relative pittance would be laughable.

4th: It was algorithmically popular to push the gas tax. Punters Politics, David Pocock, and TAI benefited heavily from pushing this narrative. PP and DP were literally unknown before they pushed this narrative. Now they have big followings on SM, people listening to what they say, and yet they both have seemed to pivot away from gas tax. Why? Because it is not algorithmically popular anymore. It is gambling reform, or whatever else performs well. Opportunists.

I would love to hear how the gas tax is good idea. But against better reasoning, it just does not stand up to any scrutiny. Had we lived in a different time when these contracts were signed with Australians in mind, it would be a different story. The only way I would support the gas tax is if it directly funded the green energy transfer, which is a point nobody is discussing.