David Pocock

Climate change is driving up insurance costs & making homes uninsurable

🇦🇺ns are paying the price while disasters worsen

As Minister Bowen said: "The cost of inaction will always outweigh the cost of action"

We need real action & investment in adaptation
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

'They promised': government walks back pledge on ACT Senate seats 'They seem to be walking back from that commitment,' David Pocock says.

Fair territory representation is Labor’s own policy, yet the Govt has walked away from its promise of an inquiry.

The Senate should ensure smaller jurisdictions have a democratic voice. But the Territories are underrepresented.

Govt should keep its word.
www.canberratimes.com.au/story/907993...

Exclusive: Anthony Albanese overruled push for public NACC hearings The Saturday Paper can reveal that the prime minister and other ministers from NSW intervened in cabinet to constrain the operations of the country’s leading integrity body.

More than 2 years after the NACC was established, it hasn’t held a single public hearing. Now we learn the PM pushed to make it harder to hold them.

Public hearings are vital to building trust - the Govt should be making them easier, not harder.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/2025/10...

Even former gambling execs are calling for action on gambling ads.

Good to hear the Minister is restarting talks on reform, but what’s needed is courage from the PM to take on vested interests & pursue a complete ban on ads - just as the Murphy Review recommended.
www.afr.com/politics/fed...

Refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru going hungry despite government spending $1.5m a year for each person The Australian government is spending millions of dollars a year to house asylum seekers, yet many say they can not afford food and are forced to skip meals

$1.5 million of 🇦🇺 taxpayer💰per head but asylum seekers still going without food.

Huge contract blowouts, added to the cost of the latest secret MOU with Nauru raises serious questions of gross mismanagement.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

YWCA Canberra are close to reaching a massive 2,500 responses to the 2025 Our Lives Survey.

There's still time to make your voice heard on issues like work, cost-of-living pressures, housing and personal safety.

Tap👇 to do the survey now:
sustineo.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Australia’s horrifying climate future in four charts – and how we can avoid the worst Maps released by the Australian Climate Service show just how bad things will get for heatwaves, drought and coastal flooding

While some leaders may call climate change a "con job", we know it's impacting ever corner of our country.

Ignoring these warnings & failing to invest in action + adaptation betrays communities across the country and leaves us unprepared.
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...

'Waiting for the axe to fall': Fears for jobs in AI boom Artificial intelligence is coming for our jobs — but will it take them away, or just give us a powerful new assistant?

Govt should be investing now in pathways to upskill & retrain workers whose jobs are likely to be impacted by AI.

We're almost at the end of 2025 & still have no guardrails in place to regulate potential harms from the tech that is impacting every aspect of our lives.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

National Gambling study finds More Australians harmed amid rising participation New research reveals gambling participation and harm is rising in Australia and is linked to other serious issues including suicidal thoughts, intimate partner violence and financial stress.

Both harm & participation are ⬆️ - especially in younger Australians.

Yet the Albanese Govt continues to ignore the work of their late colleague, Peta Murphy, by not implementing the Murphy Review recommendations in full - including a full ban on gambling advertising.
aifs.gov.au/media/nation...

Australia's FOI system is broken, but proposed reforms miss the mark This proposed bill risks doubling down on the very problems it should be fixing.

The Govt should be introducing legislation to provide more transparency, not less.

Their proposed changes to FOI are deeply troubling, though not surprising given in the last parliament they were the 2nd most secretive in 30 years.

That needs to change.
www.canberratimes.com.au/story/907156...

Essential workers face being priced out of ACT homes: Property Council House prices are up 115 per cent, but wages have only risen 84 per cent since 2007.

This is a warning the ACT govt must pay attention to.

Govts used to construct housing for key workers, now we face them being priced out of buying in our city.
www.canberratimes.com.au/story/907198...

Pensioners say they are just 'waiting to die' as specialist costs rise Victorian pensioner Eddie Rushforth says he does not know whether his bowel cancer has returned because he cannot afford the cost of the scans.

Out of pocket costs are putting specialist medical care out of reach of pensioners & many other Australians.

We need a healthcare system where people can access the care they need, not just what they can afford.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

All pensioners to pay for 'non-clinical' care under home care changes Older Australians entering the aged care system will have to pay for "non-clinical" services such as showers and help with medication under wide-ranging changes taking effect in November.

Our aged care system needs to be sustainable but expecting pensioners to pay $50 for a shower doesn’t seem viable.

Inspector General of Aged Care has raised serious concerns with the new Support at Home program & we’ve got a senate committee inquiry looking into it.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Australia must do more to end Gaza war says author of ‘genocide’ report Chris Sidoti, author of an independent UN probe alleging Israel is guilty of genocide, has urged Australia to step up efforts to end the Gaza war

Formal recognition of the state of Palestine overnight is a welcome step but we must also listen to the experts outlining what further steps Australia & other nations must take to prevent the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
www.afr.com/politics/fed...

Some homeless 'unhousable' due to government policy, advocate says An ACT minister said some people prefer the lifestyle of sleeping rough.

An almost five month wait on the priority list for housing, babies being born in crisis accommodation & a long term decline in public & social housing compared to population - we have to do better.

Housing has to be a priority & treated like a human right.
www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906673...

'We couldn't do it all at once': ACT in talks for east section of CSIRO land 'Complex issues' in ongoing negotiations over old experiment station.

Canberrans are in dire need of more social and affordable housing.

I’ve always been briefed by both the ACT and Federal govts on the basis that the whole CSIRO Ginninderra site was being divested.

I want to know when this changed and why the go slow.
www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906962...

The Govt just set a 2035 emissions reduction target of 62–70%.

That’s below science & flies in the face of the duty we have to protect the people & places we love.

State commitments have 🇦🇺 headed for ~70%. This lowers the bar & makes it harder to push for more global ambition.

If you’re interested in the strength of our democracy, this is worth a read.

Labor & the Coalition rammed electoral reform laws through parliament to make it harder for minor parties & indies.

Now there's a bill to reduce transparency in the FOI system.
theconversation.com/why-the-rise...

US giants urge Trump to push back on Australian tax law Business groups in the US have urged the US President to press Australia to back down on tax laws that they say put them at a competitive disadvantage.

While 🇦🇺s pay tax to fund the services we all rely on, multinationals have been profit shifting & dodging tax on their 🇦🇺 revenue.

Do not allow big US companies to dictate our tax policy.

Things like no. of employees & tax paid should not be ‘commercial in confidence’.
www.afr.com/politics/fed...

Labor’s 2035 emissions target a ‘sliding doors’ moment for future generations Australia must lead other nations in committing to 1.5C pathway for safety, security, prosperity and the environment, experts say

🇦🇺 needs a strong 2035 target to protect the people & places we love. Climate scientists tell us it must be a min of 75%

The Govt have an opportunity to show leadership & put long-term wellbeing ahead of vested interests

History will judge them on this.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Don’t stop the music: Jimmy Barnes signs on to save ANU school A group of 35 musicians have called on the ANU to halt proposed changes to the School of Music saying it will rob musicians of future professional careers.

Even more support to save the ANU School of Music.
www.afr.com/work-and-car...

Dedicated disaster force needed to prevent ADF being overwhelmed: report A dedicated disaster recovery force is needed, or else responders and defence forces could be "overwhelmed" by multiple concurrent natural disasters, the National Climate Risk Assessment warns.

Disasters are multiplying & the costs are set to skyrocket.

The ADF is already stretched, & shouldn't be asked to carry this burden.

We need to decide who pays for disaster relief: ordinary Australians, or the fossil fuel industry fuelling the damage?
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Gambling lobby’s sponsorship of Australian parliament’s sports club condemned by crossbench MPs Exclusive: Kate Chaney calls on PM to remove Responsible Wagering Australia’s membership, which allows sponsors to access ‘key opinion leaders’

Shameless of the gambling industry’s peak body to try and leverage parliamentary sport and then also associate themselves with a local mental health group doing great working to prevent suicide.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, major UN report finds Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide in Gaza, according to the "most authoritative assessment" to date.

What is the threshold for sanctioning PM Netanyahu and his govt?!

Signatories to the genocide convention like 🇦🇺 must take action in the face of genocide, including taking measures to stop it.

The global community has to do more.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

I am deeply concerned about the impact should Qantas proceed with closure of its Qantas Link base in Canberra.

It would hurt the workers and their families required to relocate and could also exacerbate already high rates of flight cancellations.

2036: The year Australia is due to blow its carbon budget Unless Australia lifts its ambitions, its "fair share" of carbon emissions will be spent 14 years early. With the government announcing a 2035 climate target this week, there is intense debate on how ...

A must-read explainer from @jcobevans.bsky.social on carbon budgets.

If 🇦🇺 is to avoid blowing ours, we need an emissions target of 75% cut by 2035. The Govt must stand up for Australia’s future and set a target that secures their future.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Millions of Australians at risk from rising sea levels and heat deaths to soar, national climate risk assessment report warns Climate risk assessment find heat-related deaths would surge 450% in Sydney if global heating surpasses 3C

Successive Australian Govt’s haven’t been telling the truth about the huge costs of not acting on climate.

Good to see the Albanese govt has finally released the National Climate Risk Assessment.

They need to back it up with a 2035 target of at least 75%.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

'A tragedy': 2,500 elderly patients stuck in hospital waiting for aged care States and territories will use a health ministers' meeting today to call on the federal government to do more to address what they say is a critical aged care crisis affecting hospitals around the na...

With our public hospitals already under so much pressure we can’t afford for them to become temporary accommodation for older Australians who can’t find an aged care place.

And blame shifting between the states & federal govts won’t solve it.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Hospital stays are $2000 more expensive in Canberra. Should the federal govt pay more? The ACT spends 28 per cent more than the national benchmark.

Canberrans are being asked to pay an extra levy to cover our public health costs.

Clearly improvements are needed in our hospital efficiency and cost base but there’s also a strong case for the Commonwealth to contribute more.
www.canberratimes.com.au/story/906289...

Approving North West Shelf breaks international law, Australia told The Vanuatu government led an international court case objecting to new fossil fuel energy projects in the Pacific.

Approving the NW Shelf expansion ignores climate science & the ICJ. It's a betrayal of 🇦🇺ns & our Pacific neighbours.

The Govt talks about the 'Pacific Family', but when it comes to protecting our neighbours, it is putting fossil fuel interests first.
www.afr.com/politics/fed...