Elle

‘What’s more important, the electricity or food?’: Extreme heat is driving up power bills in central Australia Vanessa Napaltjari Davis puts $70 per week on her prepaid electricity card – but as Alice Springs swelters through ever-hotter summers, that credit lasts less than three days

To keep the electricity on, Davis must top up her prepaid card at the service station or local grocery. When credit on her card runs out, the power to her home automatically disconnects, cutting off access to lights, refrigeration and cooling.

'We see plans emptied in weeks': Alarm over remote NDIS recruitment tactics People with disabilities in remote Northern Territory communities are being targeted by unscrupulous NDIS providers using high-pressure sales tactics and inducements including cash, cigarettes and alc...

Ms Rickson says she did not understand at the time that the carer was about to place her in a live-in home in the town.

She said the carer did not facilitate any trips outside, making her feel like she was being treated like a "slave" or a "hostage".

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

Dearest gentle reader, The social season is upon us, and so, perhaps one finds themselves amidst change. Whether you've recently begun promenading the ton with your new match, or you find yourself once more unshackled from courtly pursuits, one must remember to make their relationship status known. A moment tending to myGov to make your relationship known is most beneficial to ensuring your payments and services remain in good order.

The partner income test traps people in abusive relationships and dangerous households, and the Department is out here doing bad Bridgerton jokes about it

Punishment Pays: The reason why the Government won’t bin Mutual Obligations The Labor Government is dragging the public into another unlawful welfare scandal, because it refuses to walk away from an ideology and industry built around punishment

New from me: Why won't the government switch off the unlawful mutual obligations system?

FOI documents reveal a ramshackle Department that's scrambling to cover legal messes, preserve industry profits, and pretend that punishment is policy

thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

🚨 The PIT website is live.

If partner income testing has hurt you or someone you love, this is for you.

Read, share, and help us end it.

endpartnerincometesting.com

NSW to end 'good character' evidence at sentencings of convicted offenders Abolishing the use of "good character" evidence as a mitigating factor for offenders during sentencing proceedings will reduce trauma for victim-survivors, the state government says.

"Victim-survivors shouldn't have to sit in court and hear the person who hurt them or their loved one described as a 'good person,'"
"We know some offenders try to use their reputations and social standing to commit serious crimes and then minimise their culpability."

YouTube video by PurplepingersTV Labor has announced the next 7 public housing towers they're going to destroy

Labor has announced the next 7 public housing towers they're going to destroy. Apart from the obvious, here's what's wrong with that.
youtu.be/hF4mtIYqEIg

A lot has been happening behind the scenes. The work is underway and it’s not stopping.

Gunman wanted over triple shooting could be difficult to find, police say Police have warned residents in villages neighbouring Lake Cargelligo to remain vigilant after three people were shot dead in a domestic violence attack on Thursday.

How are they going to spin this as the fault of immigration and Muslim hate speach.
We should be convening parliament to criminalise hate speech against women. "A WOMAN IS KILLED EVERY 4 DAYS BY HER PARTNER"!!!!
#auspol

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

'You can’t educate your way out of violence if there's nowhere safe to go' - Advocate warns campaigns are failing Aboriginal women Governments across Australia have poured millions into coercive-control campaigns, but domestic violence advocate Ashlee Donohue says the failure to properly fund frontline services is leaving Aborigi...

Governments across Australia have poured millions into coercive-control campaigns, but domestic violence advocate Ashlee Donohue says the failure to properly fund frontline services is leaving Aboriginal women at deadly risk.

Mass power outages from dust pollution see SA Power deploy taskforce Ongoing dry conditions across South Australia since 2024 are causing dust and salt to build up across inland and coastal power networks, polluting insulators and leading to mass blackouts.

Found a new way climate change affects infrastructure

Ongoing dry conditions across South Australia since 2024 are causing dust and salt to build up on power poles, leading to power outages.

The phenomenon is known as insulator pollution

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

The Partner Income Test violates the UN CRPD by stripping disabled people of autonomy and forcing financial dependence on partners.

Disabled people are adults, not extensions of someone else’s income.
#endpartnerincometest #pit #welfare

Looking down on the city port Skopelos on the island of Skopelos, Greece. The white buildings are arranged in an amphitheater way, climbing one of the mountains. The sea is met with a large retaining wall. Lush green forests fill the landscape. The movie Mama Mia was filmed here so I watched that shit on the flight home. Meh.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead

Pic of the day

#photography

I didn’t come to advocacy through theory.
I came through lived experience.
Financial dependence becomes control.
That’s why the Partner Income Test is dangerous.

Australia’s welfare rates are below the poverty line by design.

Then we means-test people against partners who may not share money, safety, or stability.
This isn’t about “budget repair.”
It’s about controlling who deserves to survive.

Workforce Australia just posted this on FB

Mutual obligation requirements will be paused for participants in the Goulburn Murray Employment Region due to bushfires, from Monday 12 January 2026 to Sunday 8 February 2026 (inclusive).

www.workforceaustralia.gov.au/individuals/...

Investigation underway after woman found dead at Logan home An investigation is underway after a woman was found dead at a house in Buccan, south of Brisbane.

killing women <allegedly> by males who know us continues unabated as politicians draft laws to silence those of us who stand against lethal, hate-fuelled violence.

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

SCreenshot from the herald sun facebook page "I've been denied NDIS access so I'm choosing assisted dying instead" and a photo of an older couple with the made in a wheelchair Herald Sun Tony Lewis has Motor Neurone Disease and can’t access the NDIS because of his age. He’s now chosen voluntary assisted dying because of his inadequate aged care support. >

"Tony Lewis has Motor Neurone Disease and can’t access the NDIS because of his age. He’s now chosen voluntary assisted dying because of his inadequate aged care support."

Call centre operator that won major Centrelink contract paid no corporate tax for two years Telco Services Australia generated more than $185m in revenue in 2024-25 and $130m the year before but paid zero tax

An outsourced call centre operator for Centrelink paid no corporate tax for several years even after winning a major government agency contract worth tens of millions of dollars
Telco Services Australia, generated more than $185m in revenue in 2024-25 but reported no taxable income

Abuse survivors say Centrelink's 'couple rule' puts women in danger Financial and domestic abuse survivors say the way Centrelink assesses benefit payments for people in a relationship makes it harder for women to leave dangerous relationships.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

Crazy how the US has got ICE just executing people in the streets, bombing foreign countries and kidnapping their leaders and wife and Albo is just gonna send them $400 billion for funzies

Your own words recognise financial control as abuse and dignity as a right.

The Partner Income Test violates both.
That’s not inconsistency it’s harm.

@tanyaplibersekmp.bsky.social

When the system knows you’re drowning and tightens the grip anyway, that’s not governance. it is cruelty dressed up as policy.

We’ve officially started work on the website for the End Partner Income Test campaign. Infrastructure matters. Progress continues.

End Partner Income Testing Welcome to the End Partner Income Testing blog! We are excited to launch this campaign. As at December 2025, we have a small but growing team of volunteers dedicated to ending Centrelink’s partner …

Blog for End Partner Income Testing campaign is live.

Website is not far off.

endpartnerincometesting.wordpress.com/2026/01/04/e...

So what is the government going to do about this?
Nothing.
That’s why advocates are stepping in and we’re not backing down.

Surely Ray White know it’s against the realestate.com ToS to list carparks as studio apartments lol

Hi. I’m Elle.
I’m not new to thinking, just new to being here.

All feedback to tanya.plibersek.mp@aph.gov.au

#endpartnerincometesting #welfarereform

Happy new years from aus!

May all the corrupt people in power have justice and accountability held upon them for once

For once

Please