Speaking of self-harm, Labor has just created a weapon set to criminalize opposition to genocide. The Greens tried to sound the alarm over the new hate speech laws. The Greens justice spokesperson, David Shoebridge said:
If the relevant pressure groups get organizations protesting ethnic cleansing and genocide in Israel and/or individuals jailed for the same, I'm thinking Labor is toast. As for "social cohesion", how damaging would it be?
Edit to add: And the moron-o-circus is stealing all the oxygen. This isn't being discussed. And if the Nats had a problem with the hate speech bill (and I don't know what their issue was) surely the time to bust up over it was before it was passed. This way it's all cost, no benefit.
Last edited:
What a joke. Both parties are going to lose more votes at the next federal election. And I don't see the fuckery finishing anytime soon.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-22/coalition-splits-for-second-time-since-election/106255898
I believe this is called the "Find Out" phase? He's playing a game of chicken, not realising that the end result is also just not good for anyone.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-22/coalition-splits-for-second-time-since-election/106255898
I believe this is called the "Find Out" phase? He's playing a game of chicken, not realising that the end result is also just not good for anyone.
Yeah, wait for the first time they both claim to be the voice of the party - Hanson will claim "I'm the founder" and Joyce will claim "I'm the senior parliamentarian" and the fur will fly.
I'd like to think that there will be some organisation that's willing to test these laws in court, all the way to the High Court if needed. It wouldn't be the first time that an overambitious legislation had its wings clipped by a constitutional court. This is not to downplay the gravity of the laws as they were passed, they definitely should not have.
This is the Coalition's making. They've been riding the government hard, yelling "Do something! Do something!" since right after Bondi, and then the government did something and all of a sudden it was "this is too fast, we need more time".
Reading between the lines it was pretty clear what problems the Libs and Nats had with the proposed laws. They wanted more focus on brown people and 'radical Islamism', less focus on other variants of hate speech, and definitely no changes to gun laws. The fact that the Coalition couldn't get consensus among themselves on what they wanted is a problem of their own making. I mean, there are Libs who are grandstanding and claiming the laws as they were passed as their own accomplishment, and then there are Nats who after the fact claim that they were against the laws from the get-go...
That'll be interesting, mainly because Barnyard doesn't have a lot of fur left...
But he isn't. She was elected to parliament a long time before he was. I mean, he hasn't had any extended absences, or indeed criminal sentences, from the parliament, but she was first elected 10 years or so before he was.
Probably a matter of how you define seniority. Hanson was first elected to parliament in 1996 but lost again in 1998. She was then re-elected to the Senate in 2016. That's a total of 13 years as a parliamentarian.
Joyce has served continuously in House and Senate since 2004, with only a brief pause during the 2017-18 constitutional crisis. That's a near 22 year run.
If I do a job for three years, then do something else for eighteen years, then return to the previous job, am I really more senior than someone who started after me but by then has been doing the job continuously for twelve years? I think not.
On a completely different and more positive note; I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and for the first time in years my visit was bulk-billed!
So huzzah, always nice when government gets something unequivocally right. I'm comfortable enough that a $40 gap isn't a huge burden, but there are plenty of people out there who aren't as fortunate. More and earlier GP visits means far better outcomes.
So huzzah, always nice when government gets something unequivocally right. I'm comfortable enough that a $40 gap isn't a huge burden, but there are plenty of people out there who aren't as fortunate. More and earlier GP visits means far better outcomes.
Damn straight. Prevention campaigns that get people to avoid bad health drivers are cheaper than treating the results of letting it rip. Like you say, more and earlier GP visits catch things early. In terms of hospital, earlier operations avoid progression and complications (stitch in time saves nine).
Looks like Ley might not survive until the end of the month... And the leading candidates to challenge her are Hastie and Taylor. Fuck me, this party never learns.
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...door-is-open-to-nationals-rejoining-coalition
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...door-is-open-to-nationals-rejoining-coalition
Well at least that way they can get back to being the party they want to be. Won't make them more electable, but the clubhouse will feel cosier.
I must say, I was disappointed with the fallout yesterday. I wanted a lib on nat cat fight, with Darth Joyce and Emperor Hanson cackling maniacally in the background.
Oh well, maybe next breakup.
I must say, I was disappointed with the fallout yesterday. I wanted a lib on nat cat fight, with Darth Joyce and Emperor Hanson cackling maniacally in the background.
Oh well, maybe next breakup.
Leaving aside the cutesy names, you give them too much credit.
The Guardian has an interesting blow by blow on the events of the coalition split.
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...tional-coalition-sussan-ley-david-littleproud
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...tional-coalition-sussan-ley-david-littleproud
It is on. It is absolutely on.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...y-challengers-sussan-ley-leadership/106265762
I wonder if Ley will survive the week.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...y-challengers-sussan-ley-leadership/106265762
I wonder if Ley will survive the week.
Even with all the shenanigans going on I didn't think the Liberal leadership challenge would come so quickly.
edit: I can't see Littleproud (Nationals leader) surviving much longer either.
2nd edit: ABC Insiders first episode is going to be absolutely NUTS.
edit: I can't see Littleproud (Nationals leader) surviving much longer either.
2nd edit: ABC Insiders first episode is going to be absolutely NUTS.
Oh, I wouldn't be so hasty.
I'm not a gambling person at all, but right now I'd be willing to bet a not insignificant amount of money on events playing out roughly like this:
- Ley gets rolled, Hastie takes over (Taylor is too tainted and they need whatever passes for fresh blood in the Liberals to lead them)
- Hastie's first act is to reach out to the Nats to re-commit to the Coalition
- The Nats put up some pretend-hesitation and get one or two token concessions as a result
- Littleproud and Hastie get credit for saving the Coalition, Littleproud's leadership is strengthened
- Big happy family
And if it plays out like this, we'll know it was never about the hate speech laws, and it wasn't just the Nats throwing their toys out of the pram - they simply wanted to get rid of a 'moderate' woman as leader and replace her with a hard-right man, and engineered a plausible pretext to do so.
I wouldn't take that bet, I think you are right on the money.
The scheme as outlined looks like effective factional political theatre to me. But destructive to the fortunes of the coalition overall. Australia women aren't stupid, they understand the coalition doesn't afford them proper representation. And it's reflected in the vote:
Screwing Ley over, as I believe was Littleproud and Hastie's aim from the get-go, just adds lighter fuel to that fire, right? First. Female. Party. Leader. That only happens once. And she went all out to cater to the far right from day one, making events only clearer.
If the Liberal Party wanted a female leader, they could have elected Julie Bishop. But no, they went with Miorrison instead. I'm not a fan of Julie Bishop, but she at least knew what she was doing.
Basically, of the post-Howard Liberal Party, only she and Malcolm Turnbull seemed to have any intelligence at all, and I think it was a mistake by them to ignore her just because she's a woman, but from what I've heard that's exactly why she was never in the running.
Basically, of the post-Howard Liberal Party, only she and Malcolm Turnbull seemed to have any intelligence at all, and I think it was a mistake by them to ignore her just because she's a woman, but from what I've heard that's exactly why she was never in the running.
I do love how you put 'moderate' in quotation marks in describing Ley - I understand it completely, she's moderate compared to Hastie or Taylor but that's an extremely low bar to get over.
Seems they've learned nothing from Dutton's legendary loss.
They've probably convinced themselves that it was something about Dutton's personality, and not the policies, not realising that it was both.
Or, there's enough quiet funding for them to give them convenient amnesia.
A moderate right-winger is still a right-winger, and in the context of the Liberals 'moderate' means effectively nothing when the fringe of the party is basically fascism-adjacent.
You’ve also got a certain quota of pundits who, bereft of their thinking-brain dogs, keep pushing the coalition to move further to the right. Dutton lost, they “think,” because he was too close to the left.
I fully support these people and hope the coalition takes their words to heart. I would love to see a good, long stretch of Labor federal govts now.
I really do think that's it. News Ltd has effectively been a soft propaganda wing of the LNP for nearly 20 years now; the last time they endorsed Labor was Kevin 07. Now we're seeing the result of a generation of politicians who have been so coddled by their media bubble that they've started to genuinely believe their own bullshit.
I thought the Liberals would be somewhat pragmatic winning back centrist voters in suburban and urban seats... but maybe they are just too far gone.
Well, this is proof that the knives are out in full force for Ley.
Moderate Liberals are "rock solid" behind Ley
There is one possibility listed in the article that might give her a bit of a reprieve: Giving her the boot would be essentially saying that Littleproud (who has little to be proud of) was essentially dictating to the Liberals. They don't like being told what to do by the junior (in their view at least) partner .
Moderate Liberals are "rock solid" behind Ley
There is one possibility listed in the article that might give her a bit of a reprieve: Giving her the boot would be essentially saying that Littleproud (who has little to be proud of) was essentially dictating to the Liberals. They don't like being told what to do by the junior (in their view at least) partner .
Except the Liberals have a history of letting themselves be dictated to by the Nationals. Mainly when it suits them. What's one more time when everyone involved (except Ley) gets what they want?
I try not to follow politics when I'm on holidays, but last week it was hard to avoid. The Nationals were always going to oppose tougher guns laws, but who could have anticipated that tougher hate-speech laws would trigger a full-scale civil war in the Coalition?
The coalition has a track record of voting against tougher hate speech laws. Remember 18C and Brandis, defending peoples right to be bigots. They wanted words like Insult and offend removed from the legislation.
Subject to change whenever Angus Taylor makes it back, it looks like Sussan Ley is cementing her control over the Liberal party and over the official opposition by looking to name replacements for the Nationals that have left:
Sussan Ley to announce Liberal-only frontbench as allies increasingly confident she won’t face spill
Basically calling the Nationals bluff and telling them good riddance.
This looks to be very beneficial for the Liberals as they can now ditch any of the National's policies they don't like, as well as start leaning more centrist for the next election. This could also hurt the Nationals as they'll no longer have veto over any Coalition policies, are no longer part of the opposition (as defined by "second largest party in parliament"), and lose all the shadow ministries that they had.
I think there's also a good chance that Ley will see off any challenge from Hastie/Taylor, as I don't think whoever ends up on top will have the numbers in the Liberal party.
All of that said, I'm confident that the Liberal party can find a way to do something stupid that makes all of this invalid quite quickly.
Sussan Ley to announce Liberal-only frontbench as allies increasingly confident she won’t face spill
Basically calling the Nationals bluff and telling them good riddance.
This looks to be very beneficial for the Liberals as they can now ditch any of the National's policies they don't like, as well as start leaning more centrist for the next election. This could also hurt the Nationals as they'll no longer have veto over any Coalition policies, are no longer part of the opposition (as defined by "second largest party in parliament"), and lose all the shadow ministries that they had.
I think there's also a good chance that Ley will see off any challenge from Hastie/Taylor, as I don't think whoever ends up on top will have the numbers in the Liberal party.
All of that said, I'm confident that the Liberal party can find a way to do something stupid that makes all of this invalid quite quickly.
A more centrist Liberal party would be good for the health of democracy in Australia. I'm so over the right-wing tail wagging the dog.
Bloody hell. Someone lobbed a homemade bomb into the Invasion Day rally in Perth. Fortunately it didn’t explode. A man was arrested, but no names or motivations yet.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...ives-after-perth-invasion-day-rally/106272888
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...ives-after-perth-invasion-day-rally/106272888
Canadian PM Mark Carney's recent speech at Davos was extraordinary. Do you think it is the right time for Albanese to say something similar in public? Malcolm Turnbull certainly does. I'm not so sure. Australia and Canada are similar in many ways, but I doubt Trump thinks nearly as much about Australia as he does about Canada. Is Albanese doing the right thing by playing things low key? Don't poke the bear, and all that?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-27/tamworth-national-party-pivot-to-one-nation/106270810
Reading the voxpops in this ABC article is terrifying. In what parallel universe can the Liberal Party be considered anywhere even close to 'left of the middle'? Has the Overton window really shifted that far to the right, or are these people just terminally ignorant, uneducated, and unashamedly proud of being both those things?
Reading the voxpops in this ABC article is terrifying. In what parallel universe can the Liberal Party be considered anywhere even close to 'left of the middle'? Has the Overton window really shifted that far to the right, or are these people just terminally ignorant, uneducated, and unashamedly proud of being both those things?
I'm assuming there are lots of discussions about how Trump's sabre-rattling effects the AUKUS subs.
I think the deal should be cancelled and we write-off the money we've already paid, but if the gov't wants to stay in its a vulnerable point.
I think Morrison made a terrible error when he cancelled the sub deal with France, but at the time, it probably seemed like a reasonable deal. I don't think anyone would have anticipated the US abandoning its allies.
Unlike Europe/NATO, I don't think we can do without US security guarantees for another decade or so. Whether those treaties would be honoured is a question that is probably keeping many bureaucrats awake at night.
I think there are a number of people who believe that "liberal" means left wing, when it's not really true, even in the US.
I mean, the Labor Party is barely left-wing these days. They still support some progressive social policies, but they do still seem to carry around a neo-liberal economic mindset. I'll believe the Labor Party is moving back to the left when they actively pursue the renationalisation of key infrastructure like our telecoms network.