Brent Hodgson

Not on a first date

Try it out for a few weeks and get back to me

It’s called the patting order.

Unless your mates are giving you belly scratches, the handshake or back pat doesn’t take priority.

That’s positive I suppose

I had what it sounds like you have a few months ago. RAT showed Flu B. Knocked me around for weeeeks. 😬

To that end I hope it’s not the same.

Don’t pretend she doesn’t hustle for it, Betoota! 😅

How did you pull up?

Did the inflammation settle, or did you wake up worse?

TAS parliament now has just as many Independents as Labor Caucus members across both houses.

Liberal: 17 (34%)
Labor: 13 (26%)
Independent: 13 (26%)
Green: 6 (12%)
Shooters: 1 (2%)

Granted several different stripes of INDs, but perhaps a shape of parliaments to come?

Correction: 43 of 150 is 28.7%

The Coalition is smaller now than it was during the “reform years” prior to the formation of the Liberal Party.

Some argue we simply came to know him more post-Parliament thanks to Sky After Dark and the Internet, and he was always highly conservative.

Others argue he has been playing up to arch-conservatives more in recent years.

1943
Coalition: 23 of 75 seats (30.7%)
UAP: 14 of 75 (18.7%)

2025
Coalition: 43 of 150 (30.7%)
Liberal: 28 of 75 (18.7%)

The last time things were this bad, Robert Menzies called his party “unviable” and rebuilt it from the ground up.

I have a lot of reading ahead to catch up to you!

(Often they vote Nat out of a mix of habit, distrust in alternatives, and lack of choice.)

I can definitely see the frustration there!

Interestingly, the listening process of a kitchen table conversation (voicesforindi.com/about/reports/) often helps to identify their frustrations and disappointments with the sitting MPs too.

I love how we pick up thoughts that aren’t objective as ideas or observations, but endlessly subjective like perspectives and models – and how those then let us take the objective and understand it in new ways.

Understandings that soften friction are always particularly useful.

Di Stefano in today’s AFR notes that perhaps it’s not a great idea to call independent voters you wish to win back “pig-ignorant”.

Ironic that the event was held in Bradfield, where former MP Paul Fletcher abruptly ended his re-election campaign after similar remarks.

I love this!

How have the lenses McGilchrist has shaped changed your perspective of the world you’re in day to day?

I think the factors are many and varied, and there are some that have far more significant research behind them than the author Anderson cites.

Good summary: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology...

I’m cautious to avoid the mistake of suggesting they’re ignorant or rubes, as they call us, though.

McGilchrist’s theory is much more nuanced than Anderson’s, though I’m also skeptical of McGilchrist.

George EP Box once wrote "All models are wrong, but some are useful".

I think McGilchrist fits this: useful illustratively, but not literally. (ref: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... )

Di Stefano in today’s AFR notes that perhaps it’s not a great idea to call independent voters you wish to win back “pig-ignorant”.

Ironic that the event was held in Bradfield, where former MP Paul Fletcher abruptly ended his re-election campaign after similar remarks.

Incredible, unhinged rant. 🤯

Former deputy PM John Anderson at a Liberal branch meeting.

Feel the disgust and disdain they have for “pig-ignorant”, ‘bird-brained’, ‘irrational’ independent voters.

(Also note the outdated/debunked left/right brain theory.)

Rotisserie chicken

Neighbour tells me a story:

“I had some blood tests last week and the nurse asked if I had travelled far.

“I said ‘not far, I live in the apartment building up the road,’ and she began telling me about the gorgeous dog that sits out the front.

“‘Oh that’s Sundae!’ I replied.” 😅

👀

New kid on the block: Voices of Kingsford Smith

From other socials, seems they’re taking an approach of constructive engagement around issues of significant community concern, including a lack of climate action and the approval of highly damaging gas projects.

bsky.app/profile/voic...

If you've read my work, been involved in a cult, been scammed, or loved someone who has been in a cult - please sign this. The impact of cults and fringe groups is massive, not just for those who are impacted directly but by friends, family and community organisations that support leavers.

While I’m sure some who voted for her in 2022 who did not in 2025 have their reasons, I’m even more certain of the community of Goldstein in their ability to adapt and respond and resurge

Central to it all, a beautiful advocate for others – preventing the ongoing perpetration of experiences she suffered through, for children and adults she has never known or met.

I signed as an ally, and someone who has a family member who survived a cult.

You’re welcome to sign as an ally too

Endorse the Survivor Submission We have prepared a submission to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Cults and Fringe Groups, developed with input from 64 survivors, family members, and advocates. It is submitted on behalf of s...

✍️ Can I please get your help?

A survivor-led submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry on cults & coercive groups closes soon.

They want institutions involved in harmful, coercive & abusive practices held to account under law.

Will you support them?

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

The attack on Australia’s net zero target is reckless and gutless. Voters expect more than ‘intergenerational bastardry’ | Zoe Daniel While Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack try to ditch the 43% net zero 2030 emissions target, Australia’s net zero target for 2035 has not yet been set

“[T]hree-quarters of millennials and gen Z voters, now the largest group of Australian voters, named climate change as an important consideration for the 2025 election.

“By 2028, there will be several hundred thousand more of them.”

-Zoe Daniel

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...