China setting its sights on landing people on the moon by 2030 will be something to watch closely. Guaranteed they’re not going to fuck around.

Worth noting as the government goes through the process of proposing changes to the NDIS and employment services, the starting point for these changes isn't: "How do we ensure basic dignity and quality of life for every Australian?", but it should be.

Am going through the NDIS bill. @markbutlermp.bsky.social is bringing in changes that are the precise definition of cruel. Just a sick joke of a "progressive" government. The cuts to social, economic and community participation will destroy lives.

David has many very good posts, but his best posts are carbon removal political economy posts, yet somehow they never get the RTs they deserve

We need many more stories like this to normalise a change that *is* happening “Batteries have outgrown their initial niche role as a grid stability service and are now core infrastructure designed to store excess daytime electricity and release it in the evening”. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...

I completely understand why some pharaohs had their names and likenesses erased from everything they’d built. “He’s gone and we never want to speak of him ever again” resonates.

The number one thing on my list of employment services reform is the end of mutual obligations. Closely followed by raising the rate of benefits; and ending private, for-profit service providers.

Inflation came in at 4.2% - you can see the impact of the fuel excise discount with transport costs dropping 7% from March. www.abs.gov.au/media-centre...

Inflation data is due out this morning at 11:30 AEST, covering April and the previous year. Inflation was 4.6% in March, although the trimmed mean was flat at 3.3%. I suspect today's result will see 5%+ as the headline, with the trimmed mean still fairly steady, but we'll all find out together!

A reminder that gas is not a vital industry to Australia. As Polly Hemming explains, if anything, it costs the Australian economy. Some more gas myths debunked here: https://thepoint.com.au/factchecks/251111-does-the-gas-industry-really-support-215000-jobs

If you were to pick a 200-300 year period and jumped into the future, which do you think would be the most jarring transition? Waking up in the first city? The Renaissance? Industrial England? Today?

Collie was going to be revitalized as an active tourism hub but this is way better www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...

Renewable energy finally overcoming the structural inertia associated with fossil fuels. This trend will continue unless we allow data centres to run on gas.

I read this as 'mice' and I thought "The ABC's coverage of the mouse plague has really taken a dark turn" www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...

My chances of becoming NACC Commissioner have just increased slightly...

My Human Rights Bill tabled today spells out in plain terms, the rights and freedoms that everyone in Australia is entitled to. It requires that fairness, respect, dignity and compassion must be put at the centre of all government decision and polices. #auspol #politas

This is a great book, by the way. Written in the aftermath of the 2022 federal election, Tim does a fabulous job of tracing the rise of community-backed independents, and looks ahead to what it might mean for Australian democracy and politics.

Happy Monday! Sydney is forecast rain every day this week, so don’t bother hanging out your washing! April inflation data is due out this week - the full effects of the attacks on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will be there to see.

John Schofield of York University on the value of archaeology - it’s not just about the past. theconversation.com/six-reasons-...

The choice of a gym session yesterday ahead of today’s bike ride was really not my best idea. In absolute agony this evening.

The US is apparently close to finalizing a deal to end the war against Iran. The US gets nothing; Iran gets a lot. Southern Lebanon is the real loser. It is a strategic withdrawal to save face from the US.

If the individual members can use the party structure to provide support and efficiency of scale, without compromising the community-backed independent ethos & voting autonomy, this could be a very interesting development. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05... I wonder what @timdunlop.bsky.social thinks

MY LATEST: Australia & its Future Fund could be defending themselves in The Hague/High Court after #GazaGenocide opponents started looking at high-stakes court action. They could be compelled to (reluctantly?) address human rights before propping up a pariah state. #auspol tinyurl.com/33r5zsmt

The US has been at pretty much a constant state of conflict since it entered the Second World War, which is also the last conflict you could argue they didn’t enter by choice. 80+ years

Interesting headline, ABC www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...

We still seem to underestimate prehistoric human populations and their abilities. Having just discovered evidence of dentistry 40,000 earlier than previously known, we say declare: "Enduring such a torturous, anesthesia-free root canal required staggering willpower." Or they took drugs.

Imagine where we'd be if the Greens received as much free validation in the media as ON is receiving.

With unemployment hitting 4.5% in April the RBA has achieved its target. This is what they've wanted for nearly 18 months now, and they've finally achieved it. Why? So that working Australians don't ask for too much for fear they'll also end up unemployed.

The $1.8bn slush fund will be forgotten by Sunday

Somebody put the chocolate mint slices in the same jar as the Tim Tams and I'm on my to see HR to protest

The fact that UTS is even considering defunding 2SER-FM, & contemplating its demise, looks even more absurd when you read about community radio's massive benefits. theconversation.com/community-ra...

Add this to the list of things I didn't know I didn't need, but now I do know, and I definitely don't need... www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... "ARN signs Karl Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire amid Kyle and Jackie O stoush"

I'm engaged in the design industry equivalent of "One Battle After Another" with this current project. My god

Had a great conversation with Martin McKenzie-Murray about first responders (paramedics, police, firies) and his brilliant new book Sirens. Listen here:

Here's @ronnisalt.bsky.social. "Where One Nation lies".

If you missed Richard Kingsmill and moi on the first installment of Aloha Freaky Alumni last night, on 2SER-FM. Fear not, you can find it here..👇 We had a lovely time. Next week's guest is the delightful Sarah Macdonald. www.2ser.com/programs/alo...

Excellent companion pieces in @australiainstitute.org.au's The Point thepoint.com.au/opinions/260... - Louise Morris thepoint.com.au/news/260418-... - Tegan George

Question: why is a product that is known to be harmful allowed to continue operating without calls for additional safeguards *built into the product*? www.abc.net.au/news/science...

That $1.7bn slush fund will grow a lot over the coming 2 and a half years. If it's not at least an order of magnitude larger by the end of this term I'll be stunned. Maybe the mid-term results will turn things around. Maybe.

Has the market been manipulated yet?

The US is taking some big strides towards becoming an authoritarian theocracy this month. Six months until the mid-term elections, if they go ahead, and then a lot of work to do *if* Democrats can gain majorities in both houses. All with a hostile Supreme Court.

The US sharemarket is trading lower today on fears of a resumption of hostilities against Iran. There'll be an announcement tomorrow before the market opens that a deal is close. Manipulation at a grand scale.

This got lost a little last week in the post-Budget flurry, but wages growth has been steady for 18 months www.abs.gov.au/statistics/e...

Quoting @georgemonbiot.bsky.social in our new book on reducing the material intensity of developed economies. The best way to promote a sense of prosperity is through our shared luxuries, not what individuals can afford and consume.

This week’s #SundayShot is up! @grogsgamut.bsky.social and Cheek Media’s Kalila Welch join @davemilbo.bsky.social and me to talk all things Budget. Plus expert analysis on what the cuts mean for the NDIS from @bluntshovels.bsky.social. youtu.be/n1iGu5kr30U?...

Planned ride for tomorrow is to the north of Sydney - the popular 3 Gorges route. It will be around 115-120km; first time riding it in 7 years for me.

Get used to being disappointed by Democrats in power in the US, if you’re hoping for justice post-Trump. Look at Colorado: that’ll be nationwide come 2029.

My quick analysis of Taylor’s Budget reply: - Labor with a majority government until at least 2034; - Liberal Party declines to < 10 seats through attrition and defections by 2031 - ON gains a few members through defections and elections, but never enough to lead an opposition…

It is difficult to convey the gulf in capability and experience in statecraft, negotiation, and strategy that exists between the highest echelons of the Chinese government and the current US administration. This is like Chelsea playing your local U7s Div4 team. Trump may come home without Alaska

I pride myself on writing the sort of political analysis you just cant get from the Gallery. open.substack.com/pub/aliensid...