That’s right
05.03.2026 22:16
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That’s right
Consider outsourcing your opinions to some kind of collective. Perhaps a hive mind.
Everyone should have fewer opinions.
I think they'd really hate to be given that responsibility. Given the unpopularity of anything that whiffs of "snouts at the trough", AEC would be worried that any decision would tarnish their reputation.
I recommend it be with the Independent Remuneration Tribunal.
You can read my whole take on this LinkedIn blog (let's connect like share subscribe etc).
Voters notice this kind of "horse trading" and they respect all politicians and the very idea of representative democracy less when it happens.
This discretion makes negotiation unequal between government and opposition. The opposition can only negotiate over the substance of a policy or whether to support or oppose legislation – while the government can dangle what should be either an operational or political resource instead.
Last year, I wrote that the Prime Ministerial discretion to allocate political staff undermines trust by creating perverse incentives in negotiation.
Today, the Coalition revealed that Labor tried to secure support for their FOI reforms by restoring the entitlement slashed after the May election.
Submissions are open for the federal Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs' inquiry into racism, hate, and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Mob, I know you've got something to say.
Mates, spread the word.
Great timing too since just yesterday the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into consultation practices cited research from @ethangilbert.bsky.social and @yimby.melbourne on demographic skew, building on earlier work I did on the inclusion of young people and renters in housing policy
oh baby time for another banger from @kjephd.bsky.social
An update your enrolment jingle would go off ngl.
I pointed this out in my JSCEM submission last year, but if we're worried about public participation, civic engagement, social cohesion and the obesity crisis, we have a perfectly good advertising campaign we can just slot into socials advertising spends nationwide right now...
A reminder that one year in, congestion pricing has clearly been a successful policy: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
It’s so petty but it’s SOOO funny
oh god why do I read comments
$775 a week. Statewide is $625 a week and Brisbane is $690 a week.
hey now
Applications close in 3 days! 👀
👉 www.screenaustralia.gov.au/funding-and-...
The median rent in the Gold Coast is rapidly approaching $1000 a week.
oh neat you found Solaris time to go insane.
Likewise Amy Macmahon in the Queensland seat of South Brisbane. But as you say, it as if not more often hurts progressive parties.
Liked shared AND subscribed
In response to Stephen Jolly's amalgamation proposal last week, I pitched The Age an oped on why amalgamations are a good thing for democracy but a bad thing for council budgets (at least in the short term).
They didn't end up running (if anyone wants it!) it but they quoted it in their editorial.
YO GET YOUR JUICE
I made the same call many times in my life too. But it’s sometimes a false economy.
Moving has a real financial cost too. Some of those movements are voluntary and examples of trading up for a better arrangement — but a large proportion among low income families are involuntary. I haven’t seen a lot of data on it but Tenants NSW did a report on the cost of involuntary moving.
It sure is great at getting out the vote from disengaged, apathetic voters who have become despondent at being ignored and are materially going backwards by almost all metrics!
Time to take a big drink of water and see if any of those factors apply in Australia
Anyway I look forward to the army of posters saying that the Australian Greens need to ditch Waters as leader and go full left populist — when that strategy pretty comprehensively stalled if not outright failed only a year ago.
But you can’t just transplant a campaign in a particular cultural, economic, electoral, temporal, geographic whatever context somewhere else.
And it’s a disservice to the hard working campaigners who pulled off the win to paint their work with whatever your own hangups are.