Great panel on ABC Insiders, great to see Sarah Martin after the abuse hurled at her by ON leader at the National Press Club. And Andrew Probyn also makes a welcome return to the ABC.

From my window yesterday. Nature effortlessly offers us beauty if only we look up and out from our worldly cares. This is not an idle thought, it is also deeply political. Why would we harm our environment if we truly appreciated its glory?

Hands off the ABC & SBS! Okay, they are not perfect but someone speaking to all of us as authoritatively and thoughtfully as possible is much needed right now. Segal wants to destroy our public broadcasters’ autonomy and that’s not on. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Watching for whales today at Norah Head as they make their mighty migration up the east coast of Australia. The view was embellished by an approaching rainbow bringing light rain with it.

So good!

White egret takes flight on Lake Macquarie NSW Australia

Everything Trump touches dies. www.wsj.com/sports/socce...

Many moons ago I visited Salinas & the brilliant museum there dedicated to Steinbeck. As we drove into this welcoming town, the sun shone on the fertile river valley & it was easy to see how mythic themes might have arisen there in the mind of the young artist. theconversation.com/guide-to-the...

Antony Green is retiring – sign his retirement card! getup.to/B3ad7fqCq9lt7 I signed, maybe you will too?

Around 500,000 children are estimated to have died after the aid cuts pushed by DOGE. Half a million dead kids. That's Elon Musk's legacy. Genius my arse.

A Problem Solved - Australia was UNSETTLED by the British, thank you authors of this excellent book. For years I have grappled with the use of seemingly gentle terms such as settled, settlers & settlement for the horrors of colonisation. Unsettled is far more accurate! doi.org/https://doi....

open.substack.com/pub/callumsc... I loved this book review on the Prime Ministers of the 21stC by Paul Strangio.

The Terrible 2020s Nick Bryant does it again- synoptic global historical (and historiographical) views are rare in academic history writing but here is a telling and deeply informed overview of the “Terrible Twenties”. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

theconversation.com/australians-... I couldn’t agree more with these findings. But I would add that finding Australian book publishers willing to publish Australian history is also difficult! Sometimes the international publishers are the only avenue available.

In praise of taxes! substack.com/@logicallyjc...

Where are the principled Australian famous actors in resisting the challenge of “One Nation” and the scourge of Pauline Hanson? You have a platform, how about using it?

If you read nothing else, read this. It balances up the scorecard of evasive twaddle that passes for “mainstream media” bought and paid for by Oligarchs. open.substack.com/pub/suebarre...

open.substack.com/pub/redbridg... Polycrisis, techno feudalism and hostile complexity … this is an excellent analysis of where we are right now and what needs to be done.

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06... What an insult to the courts and to those veterans who gave testimony in this case that led to the verdict against Roberts-Smith. This is part of the undermining of our institutions as is being prosecuted by Trump and minions in the USA. Disgraceful.

Stephanovic, a lightweight with little to contribute that’s even close to original, angling for a future political career in far right madness? I wouldn’t be surprised … 😳 www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

Absolutely spot on!! open.substack.com/pub/aliensid...

Tour de farce! The Murdoch Press are a Bunch of Deplorables.

The Deplorable encouraging the Despicable with a toy bulldozer to destroy our society. Hanson is Rinehart’s dupe.

Democracy in Peril. Scary - with the ring of truth. Lenin’s great question haunts us: “What is to be done?” open.substack.com/pub/redbridg...

“The facts are right. Hanson voted with the Coalition between 83 and 86 per cent of the time in the Senate. Her policies don’t address the structural causes of the housing crisis. Her monoculture myth contradicts two centuries of Australian history”. substack.com/@mycousinvot...

The party of ‘Aussie jobs for Aussies’ is funded by the billionaire who said Aussies should work for $2 a day, and is now outsourcing its own work to the Philippines. www.news.com.au/national/pol...

Pauline Hanson finally at the National Press Club giving a carefully curated grievance list, advocating a monoculture, drill baby drill, “free speech” and her motherly small business woman in charge for victimised white people. Can’t wait for question time, away from the script.

Australian Governments must get control of the data centre phenomenon. Take back our power and control this rampaging beast please!

Such hubris, such indignity, such recklessness. “President” Trump reveals his unworthiness to lead. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

I need another lifetime to read all the excellent books I should read. But here’s a manageable list albeit an expert bibliography generously shared by Nick Bryant. open.substack.com/pub/historyn...

LEGISLATE NOW “Datacentre deals are being done across the country every day - without legislated requirements, we will miss the chance to share in the economic benefit of AI infrastructure and jeopardise our net zero commitment.” www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Folks, here's the ABC's great contribution to Australia's musical culture >> Fifty years of ABC Classic and a nation still listening pearlsandirritations.com/post/2026/06...

Telling speech in the first episode of “Tip Toe” (2026) given by “Melba”, the character brilliantly realised by Paul Rhys. A tour de force.

Necessary Moratorium on Data Centres - “We need to pause, then properly regulate and restrict data centre development.” www.crikey.com.au/2026/06/10/m...

"Trees are poems that Earth writes upon the sky." Khalil Gibran Ralph Emerson art

ABC Four Corners does it again - great report from Steve Cannane on the dangers posed by AI. We need a stronger national commitment to control of AI, of the location and self sufficiency of data centres, and the exact reporting on how AI is managing risk to humans. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06...

Women and men of Australia: please do not vote for Pauline Hanson. She is a running dog of US NRA. If she gets anywhere near legislative levers our school children will be at greater risk as she deregulates gun controls. This warning also relevant for our Jewish and Muslim citizens.

Someone for Everyone- except Republicans like me who would like to see this list rebadged as the Australian Honours List held perhaps on 1 January, the anniversary of Australian Federation in 1901.

Walid Ali makes a sophisticated argument on Insiders about the larger climate of dissent building up behind the “rise” of One Nation on ABC Insiders this morning. A really fine panel overall.

Now that’s people power!

Beautiful Lake Macquarie, NSW, Australia today. Early winter is not hard to take when the sun shines.

Loved this from the brilliant Sami Shah - independent media does it again! Forgive me, Australia, for I have negatively geared. The media’s budget coverage is skewed by the view from their second beach house www.crikey.com.au/2026/06/05/m...

Marvellous Margo Kingston is back on Substack. The rise of One Nation transformed by oligarchic finances and angry but increasingly savvy political organisers (aided no doubt by AI) brought her back when we need her. Thank you Margo! open.substack.com/pub/margokin...

What have you got to hide? The public deserves to know about these conversations in the US had by our “special envoy”. Why is the trip a secret from the very people who employed this person ie the Australian people? The refusal doesn’t wash: redact the names and put these 70 pages out for scrutiny.

Bookshops Rule Okay? The Australian government must reconsider ways to preserve the viability of bookshops. Bookshops promote reading & provide the unalloyed joy of intellectual browsing. They also encourage readers & writers, thereby enriching the culture! theconversation.com/over-half-of...

Misery Loves One Nation: Turns out I was wrong - The rise of Hansonism is not because Australia is not a serious country. Pollster Tony Barry says it’s because many of us are pessimistic. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Over the past decade, Senator Hanson has received over a $200,000 a year of taxpayers’ money, has bothered to attend Senate estimates barely 21% of the time in those 10 years and is controlled by a Trump worshiping billionaire who seriously proposed paying AUS workers $2 per hour

Fascinating! Positive leadership anyone?