Hayden Starr

Gas exporters pay no tax (again) | Between the Lines The Wrap with Hayden Starr For the last five years I've worked behind the scenes, helping communicate the Australia Institute's research online and on

After five years at the @australiainstitute.org.au, I'm hanging up my posting gloves.

It's been a privilege working with such an incredible bunch of brave and brilliant people. Thanks to you all for making it so special.

For my last newsletter, I put in a few words of my own ⤵️

From where I sit, one of the only actual 'useful' applications for gen ai is in click-farming social media slop factories.

Not quite the poster child of a burgeoning industry 🤔

AI chatbots and LLMs are very expensive to run and they make almost no money.

Monetisation might start with selling ads...but where does it stop?

What's stopping powerful interests from paying AI companies to feed you lies about political parties during elections?

We need proper safeguards asap

Here's the ACCC today saying that gas exporters are ripping us off. Again.

"gas being offered & supplied by the exporters to the domestic market has declined over time, while LNG export volumes have increased."

@australiainstitute.org.au @markogge.bsky.social
www.accc.gov.au/system/files...

Yep, if you're going to do a range, why not 62% to 100%???

Musk's manipulation of X was the blueprint. He succeeded in elevating extreme hard right views, including inciting violence and promoting Nazism.

It's so easy for them to tweak the algorithm to supress views they don't like, and therefore crushing public discourse.

Australia may have to choose between a Chinese TikTok and one owned by Trump’s billionaire backers Expert raises concerns about what US TikTok deal could mean for News Corp’s ‘worrying dominance’ in Australian media

Without a morsel of irony, senator James Paterson said “it would be an unfortunate thing if there was a safe version of TikTok in the US, but a version of TikTok in Australia which was still controlled by a foreign authoritarian govt.”

It's not about China. They want total control over your media.

just a 10/10 first line here

Australia's newest publishers are dominated by women. And they're making defiant, weird, grass-roots books Five new Australian publishers are bringing bold, grassroots books to life despite challenges in funding and distribution.

Five publishing outfits and four of them have women founders. Thanks to @womensagenda.bsky.social for republishing my piece in the Conversation

"Your insane nationalism contains a lust for domination that will not cease until you realize that the age of empires is over and that your empire will not be rebuilt."

What a line from the Polish Foreign Minister.

www.politico.eu/article/rado...

The AUKUS deal is a sinking ship in all ways except for the one we want.

American experts are telling us "accept the fact that you're not going to get those submarines" but the Aus Gov is still giving America billions to make their own subs.

Ditch AUKUS while we can still salvage some dignity.

Eye-watering levels of flushing money down the drain.

What is Australia getting for our money? Certainly not nuclear submarines. Certainly not a dependable friend in the US.

The AUKUS Submarine Deal is Dead The promise to give Australia nuclear submarines is collapsing. A severe industrial crisis in both the U.S. and UK means the AUKUS security deal's central pillar is no longer viable.

From a US defence expert: the AUKUS Submarine Deal is Dead

"The US can’t provide the submarines; the UK can't make up for the shortfall...and Canberra must now face the unpleasant truth that the promises made in 2021 were more fantasy pledges than realistic commitments."

There are simple changes we can make to our cities that will have vast and ongoing positive effects on the lives of community members.

Community leaders with vision are pulling up concrete and replacing it with plant life.

The United States is actively enabling Israel to commit genocide.

When Prime Minister Albanese sees Trump next week, he has the opportunity to stand up for Australian interests, ditch AUKUS, and end this pathetic era of being America's lackey.

Our politicians should be led by the community evidence, not misguided ideology.

Parents of teen who died at music festival plead with Queensland government not to ban pill testing Josh Tam’s parents have asked LNP to ‘step aside and allow the experts to lead the way in keeping our loved ones safe’

The Queensland LNP Government has banned pill testing. An insane, senseless move.

Pill testing saves lives.

There is free pill testing in the ACT - and 10% of people discarded the drugs after testing. 32% said they wouldn't use it after finding it wasn't what they expected. #auspol

Most other developed countries do not count land use emissions in their official reporting.

Australia successfully lobbied to change the rules when negotiating the Kyoto Protocol to include land use (LULUCF) emissions because they knew how much it would clean our numbers. Cooked books indeed!

Nearly all of Australia's 'on paper' emissions reductions come from land use.

This is largely because Aus chose 2005 as the baseline year from when 'reduction' starts. In 2005 there was very high land clearing which soon stopped.

This is counted as a huge reduction, while polluters keep polluting.

This pathetically unambitious 62% target is worse than it sounds because of how Australia uses dodgy "land use" emissions accounting.

Really good explainer on LULUCF and land use emissions here: australiainstitute.org.au/post/lulucf-...

Albanese's 2035 target is 62-70%.

62% is piss-poor.

Not enough to prevent devastating impacts.

Not enough to convince our Pacific neighbours that we care about their future.

This is a very good piece from Allan Behm that cuts to the heart of Australia's foreign policy failures.

"Australia needs to understand that the Pacific nations might not want to be Australia’s partners of choice in the battle of the giants. They want wellbeing and happiness."

AUKUS was part of plan to punish Macron, says Boris Johnson Writing in his upcoming memoirs, the former UK prime minister accused the French president of being a “positive nuisance” during talks to leave the EU.

According to Boris...yeah

www.afr.com/world/europe...

Reminder: The AUKUS deal was supposedly cooked up in the brain of Boris Johnson who wanted to piss off Macron, and so convinced Scott Morrison to drop the French subs deal.

$368 billion Australian taxpayer dollars to help the US make submarines that we'll never receive.

Turnbull explains why ⤵️

I mean, it's terrible. Not a good thing that is happening. We really should tax the ultra wealthy and stop giving huge tax concessions to property investors.

But the video from Gary is brilliant.

This is brilliant.

Thank you to these brave and compassionate people.

@jewishcouncilau.bsky.social have been doing incredible work to stop the genocide for the last two years.

Sanction Israel now.

Australia doesn't need any more gas projects.

The UN and the International Energy Agency are clear - there can be no new gas and coal projects if we are to keep to 1.5C

@richarddenniss.bsky.social nails it

As Europe diversifies its defence, Canberra still clings to AUKUS Anthony Albanese is about to pour more than $12 billion into a new AUKUS submarine base in Perth.

This is a great read from Gregory Andrews.

"AUKUS will make us more dependent on an erratic partner we can’t control, and less agile in responding to the real threats we face. Ditching AUKUS will be politically painful, but doubling down on a dud will be a strategic catastrophe."

US won’t guarantee Australia will have complete control of Aukus submarines US Aukus commitment should not be doubted, says assistant secretary of state, while refusing to be drawn on lingering concerns about the sale of nuclear submarines

Last year: A US official has declined to explicitly guarantee Australia will have full control of the Aukus nuclear-powered submarines