After five years at the @australiainstitute.org.au, I'm hanging up my posting gloves. It's been a privilege working with such an incredible bunch of brave and brilliant people. Thanks to you all for making it so special. For my last newsletter, I put in a few words of my own ⤵️

AI chatbots and LLMs are very expensive to run and they make almost no money. Monetisation might start with selling ads...but where does it stop? What's stopping powerful interests from paying AI companies to feed you lies about political parties during elections? We need proper safeguards asap

Here's the ACCC today saying that gas exporters are ripping us off. Again. "gas being offered & supplied by the exporters to the domestic market has declined over time, while LNG export volumes have increased." @australiainstitute.org.au @markogge.bsky.social www.accc.gov.au/system/files...

Yep, if you're going to do a range, why not 62% to 100%???

Musk's manipulation of X was the blueprint. He succeeded in elevating extreme hard right views, including inciting violence and promoting Nazism. It's so easy for them to tweak the algorithm to supress views they don't like, and therefore crushing public discourse.

Without a morsel of irony, senator James Paterson said “it would be an unfortunate thing if there was a safe version of TikTok in the US, but a version of TikTok in Australia which was still controlled by a foreign authoritarian govt.” It's not about China. They want total control over your media.

just a 10/10 first line here

Five publishing outfits and four of them have women founders. Thanks to @womensagenda.bsky.social for republishing my piece in the Conversation

"Your insane nationalism contains a lust for domination that will not cease until you realize that the age of empires is over and that your empire will not be rebuilt." What a line from the Polish Foreign Minister. www.politico.eu/article/rado...

The AUKUS deal is a sinking ship in all ways except for the one we want. American experts are telling us "accept the fact that you're not going to get those submarines" but the Aus Gov is still giving America billions to make their own subs. Ditch AUKUS while we can still salvage some dignity.

Eye-watering levels of flushing money down the drain. What is Australia getting for our money? Certainly not nuclear submarines. Certainly not a dependable friend in the US.

From a US defence expert: the AUKUS Submarine Deal is Dead "The US can’t provide the submarines; the UK can't make up for the shortfall...and Canberra must now face the unpleasant truth that the promises made in 2021 were more fantasy pledges than realistic commitments."

There are simple changes we can make to our cities that will have vast and ongoing positive effects on the lives of community members. Community leaders with vision are pulling up concrete and replacing it with plant life.

The United States is actively enabling Israel to commit genocide. When Prime Minister Albanese sees Trump next week, he has the opportunity to stand up for Australian interests, ditch AUKUS, and end this pathetic era of being America's lackey.

The Queensland LNP Government has banned pill testing. An insane, senseless move. Pill testing saves lives. There is free pill testing in the ACT - and 10% of people discarded the drugs after testing. 32% said they wouldn't use it after finding it wasn't what they expected. #auspol

Most other developed countries do not count land use emissions in their official reporting. Australia successfully lobbied to change the rules when negotiating the Kyoto Protocol to include land use (LULUCF) emissions because they knew how much it would clean our numbers. Cooked books indeed!

Nearly all of Australia's 'on paper' emissions reductions come from land use. This is largely because Aus chose 2005 as the baseline year from when 'reduction' starts. In 2005 there was very high land clearing which soon stopped. This is counted as a huge reduction, while polluters keep polluting.

This pathetically unambitious 62% target is worse than it sounds because of how Australia uses dodgy "land use" emissions accounting. Really good explainer on LULUCF and land use emissions here: australiainstitute.org.au/post/lulucf-...

Albanese's 2035 target is 62-70%. 62% is piss-poor. Not enough to prevent devastating impacts. Not enough to convince our Pacific neighbours that we care about their future.

This is a very good piece from Allan Behm that cuts to the heart of Australia's foreign policy failures. "Australia needs to understand that the Pacific nations might not want to be Australia’s partners of choice in the battle of the giants. They want wellbeing and happiness."

Reminder: The AUKUS deal was supposedly cooked up in the brain of Boris Johnson who wanted to piss off Macron, and so convinced Scott Morrison to drop the French subs deal. $368 billion Australian taxpayer dollars to help the US make submarines that we'll never receive. Turnbull explains why ⤵️

This is brilliant.

Thank you to these brave and compassionate people. @jewishcouncilau.bsky.social have been doing incredible work to stop the genocide for the last two years. Sanction Israel now.

Australia doesn't need any more gas projects. The UN and the International Energy Agency are clear - there can be no new gas and coal projects if we are to keep to 1.5C @richarddenniss.bsky.social nails it

This is a great read from Gregory Andrews. "AUKUS will make us more dependent on an erratic partner we can’t control, and less agile in responding to the real threats we face. Ditching AUKUS will be politically painful, but doubling down on a dud will be a strategic catastrophe."

"It pays to be a good ally" 🥶 Denmark MP after snubbing a $9 billion missile deal with the USA and going with European producers. Meanwhile Australia is still blindly shovelling billions into the AUKUS nuclear submarine fantasy, which crucially *we might not even have full control over*

The Australian Government is doing deals with the devil. Meanwhile other countries with an ounce of integrity are tearing up deals with the genocidal Israeli regime.

Trump read 1984 and took it as an instruction manual.

This is a really important piece from @ebonybennett.bsky.social ahead of the hateful 'March for Australia' rallies.

"Harsh words do not have any impact, or care. Israel doesn’t care. Maybe if we act, maybe then a few other nations will act and then together we can actually put enough pressure on Israel to stop what they are doing." Bravo Usman Khawaja for your humanity and courage.

I wonder if leaders will ever admit that smearing all protests to stop the genocide actually contributed to the genocide. Will there ever be that level of self reflection and honesty or are we just going to get fake surprise like this after mass death.

It's incredible how much better our cities can be with some simple changes. Making cycling and public transport safer and more accessible makes our cities healthier and less congested for everyone, including drivers.

Rare moment of good discourse from the dark place

The US pharmaceutical lobby is mad that Australia pays reasonable prices for medicine! Remember, they are STILL MAKING A PROFIT. If they weren't, they don't have to sell to Australia. From an Australian: kindly get stuffed.

Tired: tax big super balances Wired: fix super because it's too stressful spending it

God is dead

My family have been farmers for generations. I know it's a tough gig. But that is no reason why we shouldn't reduce the generous tax concessions on the biggest superannuation balances. If we want to help farmers, there are other ways rather than facilitating tax avoidance for our richest. #auspol

No baby formula has entered Gaza for four months because of Israel’s genocidal blockades. There is nothing left to feed babies and their mothers can not produce milk as they themselves are starving. There is no defending what Israel is doing. No justification.

This is an excellent visual for how bad the North West Shelf extension is www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

ABC's coverage has significantly privileged Israeli perspectives over Palestinian voices, data shows. We deserve better from our national broadcaster. Important work from @deepcutnews.bsky.social ⤵️

Does anyone else feel like they're in a constant battle with the parasitic technology and social platforms that were supposed to make our lives better? @edzitron.com's writing is a light in the darkness, a voice of sanity in the mire of AI-fuelled delusion. www.wheresyoured.at/never-forget...

The Onion, 2003

This week on After America, I spoke to former PM Malcolm Turnbull about the dreaded Aukus review. As he put it - Aukus demanded Australia trade our sovereignty for our security, and now we may well end up with neither. australiainstitute.org.au/post/mugged-...

How good is test cricket

In approving Woodside's North West Shelf gas export plant extension, the Government has put big gas ahead of Australians. “This expansion will do vast damage and deliver almost no benefit to Australia or Australians," said @rodcampbell.bsky.social #climate #auspol

As a political economist and historian, I know how powerful fossil capital is. I know we're going to blow past our COP targets. I know that liberal net zero politics is insufficient. I know that there is a huge global fossil fuel production gap. But its still a gut punch to see it play out.

This is cooked beyond belief. The WA Government interfered in this scientific report to increase the acceptable threshold of gas industry pollution. Big kudos to lead author Professor Baddeley for speaking out.

Other countries tax their oil and gas industries. Australia subsidies ours. Our research found while gas prices boomed in 2022, LNG companies made windfall gains of up to $40 billion. PRRT take increased by less than $1 billion. It's time to fix the tax loopholes that Big Gas exploits. #auspol

Woodside boss Meg O’Neill got paid $7.45m last year

Scott Morrison needs to stop writing the Beetoota's headlines for them