James Campbell grapples with the issue that more pollies is a tough sell.
"you have probably wondered how it is that some obvious numpty has managed to survive on the frontbench ... the size of the parliament is almost certainly the real explanation."
www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion...
Considerably more ambitious than my own suggestion of +75 MPs, or a 50% increase -- but as they point out, +100 MPs now needed to deliver representation Australians enjoyed in the 1980s when Bob Hawke last expanded Parliament.
@thepointau.bsky.social live blog: live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...
The right-wing Institute of Public Affairs and the Herald Sun's political editor James Campbell have (separately) called for +100 MPs, increasing the House of Reps to about 250 members.
Would improve representation, quality of service, deepen the talent pool.
Larger electorates make politicians more distant and less accountable. In 1974, it could take as little as 2,500 voters changing their minds to make a safe seat marginal. Last year, that number was 4,800.
More on The Point live blog.
live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...
Over their voting life, a 70-year-old would have seen representation halve: from sharing an MP with 62,000 other voters in 1974 to 121,000 voters in 2025.
Albanese Govt is contemplating an increase, which is good -- but on the smaller end would only get us back to 2019 levels.
Credit to Liberals for saying no.
Former Opp Leader Sussan Ley was consistent on this while Govt applied a double-standard -- cutting Opposition staff bcos Liberals lost seats, but not giving minor parties more staff when they won more seats. australiainstitute.org.au/report/democ...
The allegation emphasises a point @australiainstitute.org.au made before last year's election:
The PM shouldn't decide how many staff his political rivals and potential allies get.
Story from @sydmorningherald.bsky.social Nick Newling --
www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...
The Liberals made an extraordinary allegation yesterday -- that PM Albanese used last year's cut in Opposition staff as leverage for his freedom of information crackdown.
According to Senator Bragg, Govt tried to do a deal: support the FOI Bill "in exchange for" more staff.
The Farrer by-election, now scheduled for May 9th, could be a four-cornered or even five-cornered contest. Who will the candidates be and how will the race play out? I took a look on @thepointau.bsky.social
thepoint.com.au/explainers/2...
Ha!
Not sure about black ink, but the federal government does spend more on paper shredders than FOI training --
From @skyelark.bsky.social thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...
Today, the Albanese Government pulled its ‘friendless’ Freedom of Information Amendment Bill.
The bill saw widespread opposition - what made the bill so bad?
Read the full piece on The Point: https://theaus.in/4rPfUxM
For more FOI stats, see @australiainstitute.org.au "The price of freedom" australiainstitute.org.au/report/the-p...
The Albanese Government's case for crackdown on FOI fell apart when it became clear that there is no "flood" of FOI requests.
Case load is about the same as 20 years ago. The extra costs and delays are a result of FOI officers spending their time trying to block access and censor documents.
But the review itself shows that letting vested interests lead policy is a trap --
It describes how the business groups that encouraged the Libs to adopt nuclear left the party in the lurch when it was time to sell the policy.
live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...
Extraordinary from the Liberal Party's 2025 election review: not all shadow ministers are "equipped" to develop policy.
Their main job is to "cultivate relationships" with interest groups, who are "keen to assist in policy development".
Private donors are keen to assist too.
What comes next?
25,000 Australians have joined @australiainstitute.org.au call for a more open government, including genuine FOI reform, making Cabinet documents public in days not years, and protecting whistleblowers. nb.australiainstitute.org.au/end_governme...
The government made false and exaggerated claims to justify the changes, which would have made FOIs more limited and more costly – in direct contradiction of the recommendations of the Robodebt Royal Commission.
More on @thepointau.bsky.social live blog: live.thepoint.com.au
Labor's secretive and restrictive changes to freedom of information law have failed in the Senate, with the Govt admitting defeat by pulling the bill.
Opposition, Greens and independents held firm, saying law reform is needed -- but it must be genuine and consultative.
Are the Liberals out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong about climate change.
Even the Liberal Party's rap song failed to win them over.
live.thepoint.com.au?post=d8ae33b...
Liberal review clear that the party's inability to win over women is a problem, with @alicektg.bsky.social spotting that "women" or "female" are mentioned 76 times to men/male's 5.
But will the party do the work of figuring out why, or put it off another decade? live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...
lulz, the SMH is announcing it is re-opening its China bureau almost exactly 3 years since they said we could be at war with China in... *checks notes*... 3 years
Thank you!
In the EU there is a court of justice approved list of animal adjacent names you can use in different countries.
Peanut butter is fine everywhere
Creme de menthe in French speaking countries
Etc
This stuff is truly ridiculous. No one is getting confused by "soy milk".
The Liberal review talks almost as much about "Teal" community independents as Labor Govt.
Indies outflanked them by speaking "a great deal about kindness" while Libs spent most of digital budget on attack ads.
live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...
Lib Party aging, hostile to women's groups, doesn't use its taxpayer-funded think tank for policy dev, was derailed by extreme wishful thinking -- to the extent that they were surprised the election happened on schedule after wishing it would be early.
live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...
Blood sport might be good fun, but it's hypocritical of the Labor Govt to release an internal report from a rival political party when same Govt "hates transparency", fights FOIs, orders for docs, prosecutes whistleblowers.
live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...
.@glennconnley.bsky.social, @grogsgamut.bsky.social:
'disastrous lack of planning, consultation, communication, common sense … from pointless travel to meaningless locations … MPs given no notice Dutton would be announcing policy in their electorate that day.' live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...
Over on @thepointau.bsky.social live blog, @australiainstitute.org.au have been breaking down the Liberal Party's 2025 election review
-- which the Prime Minister leaked last night because he'd rather talk about that than anything else happening in the world.
Read the details from @skyelark.bsky.social on @thepointau.bsky.social live blog: live.thepoint.com.au?post=ceee29f...
