Estimates gets heated as McKenzie tells minister 'get off your arse' over assaults Frustrated by what she sees as inaction over a 7.30 investigation into alleged sexual assaults made by driving instructors, Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie demands action from the government.

Wasn’t that long ago when our LNP overlords equated ABC reports with those fm Pravda. And bleating McKenzie perhaps forgets, we have states which regulate driving instructors, not the Commonwealth (which in her previous incarnation as a Govt minister she would not hesitate to remind colleagues of).

Appears our favourite toxic misogynist has indulged in a hair weave, or some other form of follicular deception.

Why has France has gone through five prime ministers in two years? The sudden resignation of France's prime minister — the country's fifth in two years — has put President Emmanuel Macron in a bind.

If losing 2 PMs is (to paraphrase Wilde) carelessness, what does it mean to lose 5 in 2 years? The Australian experience of Rudd/Gillard/Rudd/Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison in 13 years is being challenged for its political barnyard irrelevance.

Coalition tries to wedge Labor on mandatory child abuse sentencing Opposition Leader Sussan Ley raises the case of a trans child abuser as she seeks to pressure the Albanese government to create mandatory minimum jail terms for child exploitation offences.

Ley is going nowhere, fast, but that won’t stop her targeting transgender issues. Law’n order is the only thing she can advocate on without being backgrounded into irrelevance by her own colleagues.

Child abuse should be condemned & punished, whoever the perpetrator.

“There’s no challenge to Sussan – I support Sussan,”

I guess at least he didn’t burble on about being “ambitious for her” like Morrison of the 6 Ministries.

Only Oppositions can carry on like a badly-written Shakespeare pastiche. Hastie for OL by mid ‘26 at the latest imho.

Jeez but those early mobile phones were clunky.

The far-right figures teaching students at a Sydney college The dean of studies says the country will need political parties for white Australians. A senior lecturer wants an Anglo-Celtic club to inspire fear in “leftist thugs”.

Racist scum walk among us, spreading their “respectful” hate, facilitated & nourished by our supposedly esteemed institutions.

They give an intellectual veneer to their toxic prejudices, but it’s no different to the hate which spreads from their less articulate nazi-saluting confreres.

Disgraceful

Acland St?

Clive Palmer’s multibillion dollar claims make a mockery of a tribunal that allows foreign investors to challenge court decisions | Patricia Ranald The billionaire’s last three cases are part of a growing global list from fossil fuel companies against government decisions to reduce carbon emissions

Patriotic Trumpet man Palmer is tooting a dud tune from his nether regions in his continuing attempts to use ISDS against the Australian taxpayer.

Bit hard to see how ripping us off amounts to patriotism.

We live in interesting times.

Australian bird of the year! A tiny feathery hiatus from the grim day-to-day | First Dog on the Moon (unless you are a bird)

@firstdogonthemoon.bsky.social proves again why he’s a national treasure.

We need to start a petition so he gets the gig to design the colouring in bookin ‘26.

And - Pizza Duck! Who knew it was a fake that nearly fooled the BOTY judges in ‘24? Great sleuthing, Detective Dog!

Looking in vain for the incredibly tedious interview w the Nong O’Brien on 730 last night.

Sarah so bored she pulled him up during yet another marathon waffle; he started telling a “story” which she reminded him he’d already related on an earlier program.

The bloke is an Olympic-standard bore.

Ley brushes off Hastie’s immigration claims, saying daily living pressures ‘nothing to do with any migrant’ Opposition leader unconcerned by speculation over possible Liberal leadership tilt by shadow home affairs minister

Wondering if Sussan might be biking the travel plans soon?

Almost Truss-like in its brevity. Tho I notice only the program, & not the presenter, have been axed.

Her very lazy partisanship is just tiresome. Her rant about the quality of the flight with the PM - inedible sandwiches! What were they thinking? - was a masterpiece of entitled whinging.

Yes. All somebody else’s fault, apparently.

Student compares his autism to 'limited edition Lego' in viral speech Twelve-year-old Leo is the talk of his community thanks to a speech he made for his school's public speaking competition where he opened up about his neurodiversity.

Fantastic stuff. Leo is a champ. And will grow up to be twice the man as the Tangerine Bloviator with his disgraceful “theories”.

CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1965: 20-1

CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1990: 75-1

CEO-to-worker pay ratio today: 280-to-1

Trickle-down economics was always a sham.

Nothing has ever trickled down.

Albanese locks in his Trump moment as Hastie and Ley tussle It turns out that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese didn't need a can of Diet Coke and a cheeseburger to attracted the US president's attention.

Contains this gem of doublespeak:

"Look, I support Sussan. Anyone who's speculating otherwise is being mischievous," Hastie insisted…

"As I said, I'm still on the team, I'm a team player, I'm just being a little bolder in some of the policy positions that I think we should adopt."

Clear as a bell

I was elected mayor of Istanbul, but I write this from jail: Turkish democracy is under grave threat | Ekrem Imamoğlu If our nation slides deeper into autocracy, the consequences will reverberate far beyond Turkey’s borders, says Istanbul’s suspended mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu

Imamoglu is a very brave man.

Erdogan is challenging Orban for the title of least democratic leader.

Trump claims he was victim of ‘triple sabotage at the UN’ and demands investigation – live US president demands formal inquiry into three technical mishaps that marred his speech at UN general assembly

Triple sabotage!!! Outrageous abuse & disrespect shown to the world’s greatest peacemaker!!!

Murdoch Jnr platforms the odious Credlin’s pro-Trump antediluvian views on climate change.

For this Liberal booster, climate change isn’t just a lie but a “grift” by those in the “climate change industry”

All those op-shop clothes & bad haircuts must be cover. Can’t wait to change into Gucci, eh?

Andrew Hastie declares Liberal party could ‘die as a political movement’ if it does not commit to curbing immigration Hastie’s recent comments have prompted speculation he is laying the groundwork for a future leadership challenge

Let’s see.

Wants to rewrite history about the Liberal-engineered demise of our car industry, harking back to the post-war manufacturing boom

But wants to curb immigration

This would be news to the millions of migrants who built our cars til Ford, Holden & Toyota shut.

All for his CPAC audience.

Winemakers are the the Liberal Party in tweed & gumboots, but if you ask one about the impact of climate change they tell you about their search for more drought-resistant varieties & for higher blocks where the heat won’t cook their grapes. Pity The Orange One is a non-drinker!

Cricket umpiring great Dickie Bird dies aged 92 One of international cricket's most recognised umpires is being remembered for his "fairness, humour and love of the game".

Dickie Bird was the perfect umpire for the TV, with his little performances and obvious enjoyment in the game. His way of signalling 6s was unique & pretty funny - 2 bent fingers raised in the air with him raising up on his heels 2 or 3 times. Or the leg bye, where he nearly fell over. Vale.

The 'terrifying' notion underneath Trump's unproven autism claims The Trump administration's rhetoric only adds to the noise around autism and will make it harder for the community to feel understood and accepted, write Nas Campanella and Evan Young.

And the misogynist-in-chief finds yet another way to blame women for the health of their children. While finding yet another excuse to falsely simplify a complex issue which will no doubt result in the defunding of autism services. After all, pregnant women just need to toughen up.

Good advice

Usually it’s connected with DFAT’s assessment of a country. If advice is “Do not travel” your insurer will define that as a place where the policy is inoperative. If it’s the lesser provisions of “reconsider your travel” or “exercise a high degree of caution” you might have to look at the fine print

It’s an insult to the neurodiverse and autism communities. And so unscientific as to be laughable. Double blind test, anybody?

Ley writes to Republicans on Gaza ahead of Albanese's UN address In an unorthodox move, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has written to a group of Republicans reassuring the Coalition would withdraw recognition of Palestine, ahead of a major United Nations address to b...

His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, apparently.

You don’t need to be elected to make foreign policy announcements, it seems, just have an undying commitment to our “friends” in the Republican Party. Comforting.