Unexpectedly 👇

I have very little care for the rights of ISIS brides, but Australians have the right to hold them to justice. We can’t do that if they’re not here.

Australians apparently want to slash foreign aid. I doubt many know that we only spend $5 billion on foreign aid. $2.2 goes to the Pacific & $1.3 to Southeast Asia. That's all critical for our national security. Most of the rest goes to South & Central Asia. www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

Capital gains tax discount should not be available for buying existing residential property. The tax discount should only go to investments that add to Australia’s productivity, not just changing the owner www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

What are the chances that the Liberals will learn their lesson if their polling continues to fall under one of their lead delusionists? Does this generation of their party room even have a path to reality? www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

Productivity commission is complaining that policy uncertainty over climate is holding back business investment & economic growth “The ongoing policy uncertainty created by decades of these circular arguments has, and continues to, increase the costs of action,” www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

The White House has released a subtext that says "it's time to panic, we're losing, and we have no idea what to do about it"

The right has to deal with its rejection of science if they want to move on from being a fragmented failure. Climate change is physical reality & our need to minimise it is economic reality. Until they accept this, they won't be taken seriously. www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

New details on Epstein’s “suicide” www.bbc.com/news/article...

Fantastic to see this sentencing. What a vindication of so many people (mostly women) who campaigned for years for these laws & the cultural change needed to enforce them This behaviour is extreme & beyond unacceptable www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

Extremely sensible comments from Frank Jotzo on Aus climate policy & priorities (but I would say that wouldn’t I, since he’s my boss) Truly though, it’s rare to see this much political awareness in academia. ‘Best policy’ is limited to policies that can exist theenergy.co/article/poli...

I know some people are concerned about this "board of peace". I don't think there's any prospect of our joining it. www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

Trump today is re-writing history again, saying that economist “predicted confidently” that his tariffs would crash the economy. Economists were never confident that his tariffs would even exist (and most of what he talked about never did) Here’s a reminder 👇

This has to be a joke. When Australia was dealing with the biggest terrorism attack in our nation’s history, where was Angus Taylor? He was on holidays for weeks, then came back after it was all over and acts like he’s going to be the leader. Give me a break. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

Just noting that this new hospital funding is more than 2x AUKUS, bringing total public health spending to nearly 20x AUKUS (Not counting NDIS) www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

Bob Katter, jumps from theology to Abraham Lincoln & Alexis de Tocqueville while complaining that the Qld government is unfamiliar with Qld geography, then says "Nowhere else on the planet are there a million ­people ruled by a government 1000km away." www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/o...

Fees like this just import corruption. We need bilateral HECS arrangements so that we can recruit students from more than just 1-2 countries & then collect their fees through their tax system after they go home. www.smh.com.au/national/it-...

Channel 9 News readers tonight describing Donald Trump as “the leader of the free world” like thy haven’t watched the news since 2015. Here’s a hint:

Angus Taylor apparently wants to lead the liberal party & become PM. So what did he do when we faced the worst gerror attack in our history? He took a weeks-long holiday in Europe! www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

Waleed Aly articulates what happened this month quite well: the Coalition hasn’t been supporting Jews, they’ve been chasing voters moving to One Nation. That’s why they demanded instant gratification but when it came time to legislate, they catastrophically collapsed www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

Light will win

“Death to Australia” “The colony will fall” "🔻” Pioneer & Separation Statues torn down & smashed in Melbourne over night Looks like someone volunteered for the first hate-speech prosecution. Can't wait to see who it was www.news.com.au/national/vic...

Are we really supposed to believe that Sussan Ley is the problem? How will changing leader resolve their core disagreements: 1. climate 2. hate speech 3. whether they want to be a party of protest or of government? www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

Trump has taken the bedrock of global peace to the brink of collapse just so he can get something he already had.

If politicians want to come on the media and say that today is a day of reflection, not politics (while the oppositions burns itself down), then at least offer some actual reflections.

NIMBYism as the last defence of the realm is not what I expected for 2026, but neither is anything else so far this year. 🤦‍♂️

Looks like the EU-US trade deal is now dead, with all three major groups in the EU Parliament calling at least for suspension. The downward spiral has already begun.

This is a fascinating development in Singapore. The opposition leader has been rolled by the government due to a conviction of ‘lying to the Privileges Committee’ (No idea how credible the conviction) ground.news/article/sing...

So Trump just wants to steal half of Taiwan’s economy? Is he trying to match Xi Jinping’s offer of taking all of their freedom?

Malinauskas on ABC 730 last night clarified a lot about the Adelaide writers festival fracas that I think is worth hearing. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

This is very good on Iran podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t...

Khamenei massacring Iranians is reminiscent of Tiananmen. What did we do then that we’re proud of & what do we wish we could’ve done? That’s what we should do now Albo should announce immediate amnesty to Iranians in Australia. That’s what Hawke was most proud of www.reddit.com/r/AusPrimeMi...

It’s surprising that the ABC never reports what Randa Abdul Farah actually said. They just say she “criticised Israel” Actually, she said people should make Jews feel unsafe, wherever they go. Comments like this make everywhere less safe for everyone. I’ve got little tolerance or sympathy for her

"It's a thing that tin pot dictators do right before starting a hyperinflation and destroying their own economies." youtu.be/XGYHbCJVQCg

Even as the regime tries to limit communication, the world still sees the courageous people of Iran standing up. We hear them demanding their dignity, their pride and their freedom. We are with them. This is this generation's moment and they will change history.

Russia’s takeover of Crimea did not begin in 2014. In the first part of a new documentary, the Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigation Unit looks at how Russia began moving to seize the peninsula immediately after Ukraine gained independence in 1991. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDn_...

The biggest story in the world is Iran, but Australian news outlets have almost no coverage! Can’t enter the country? Then analyse the history, speak with experts, interview the diaspora This is a serious failure - especially from the ABC which has charter obligations to educate

A retrospective on the horrific California fires. Australia also faces this threat from increasing climate disasters. We can’t ignore this podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/c...

Trump actually sat down for an interview with the NYT. It’s bizarrely rare enough for him to face actual questions that I’m sharing it before I listen to it (hoping this will remind me to listen to it later!) podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t...

Doctor Says More Than 200 Reported Dead in Tehran as Regime Opens Fire on Protests time.com/7345092/iran...

ABC radio *finally* covering Iran as a serious event and not dismissing it as ‘economic discontent’ (though it was syndicated from SW) Most global media seems nearly two weeks late to really noticing the world’s biggest story

The number of people injured in a Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih has risen to 17, including four children. Horrible Russian terror.

I'm extremely happy to see Maduro gone, but what comes next is extremely uncertain. If it's a 'regional powers' regime, where the US, Russia, & China collude on maintaining their sphere's of influence, that would be catastrophic (including for Venezuelans) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

The situation in Iran is deserving of at least as much attention right now as the situation in Venezuela ground.news/article/iran...

I agree with Kasparov on causation: China isn’t deterred by international law, but by risk. That said, law still matters because it shapes alliances and legitimacy. Undermining it doesn’t stop China — it changes who stands with Taiwan when deterrence fails.

Labor people seeing a conspiracy in calls for a royal commission are deeply disappointing. This is good faith, coming from people I have huge respect for. We just had the worst terrorist attack ever - a royal commission is an obvious response.

This is a great way to increase the abortion rate but a terrible way to increase the birth rate ground.news/article/chin...

This is amazing