Clay

Hate laws to pass after Labor and Liberal deal The Liberal Party struck an agreement with Labor to tighten the scope of a bill to ban hate groups, but the position of the Nationals is unclear.

Having read the draft of the Australian government's new "hate" legislation, the scope it gives the government of the day to restrict civil society is massive. It's very clear that it could be used to outlaw a Palestine Action-style organisation www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

As a bushfire raged around them, a volunteer brigade made a plan to survive The volunteer brigade from Terip Terip went through "hell" and back, narrowly escaping death, while fighting to save their own community and those nearby.

“Eddy was angry at how much his brigade was asked to do with so little resources.”

Maybe @albomp.bsky.social would like to explain to Eddy & all of us why there’s > $300 billion for AUKUS but volunteer firefighters put their lives at risk with insufficient resources!

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

Ten Sydney harbours’ worth of threatened species habitat cleared under Albanese government in 2025, report finds Australian Conservation Foundation’s analysis finds the amount of habitat approved for land clearing hit a 15-year high last year * Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here More than 57,000 hectares of threatened species habitat was approved for destruction by the Australian government in 2025 – the most in 15 years, according to analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation. The ACF’s latest annual “extinction wrapped” report has revealed that the threatened species habitat greenlit for land clearing was about 10 times the size of Sydney Harbour – more than double the 2024 figure, and over five times the 10,426 hectares approved for razing in 2023. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter Continue reading...

Ten Sydney harbours’ worth of threatened species habitat cleared under Albanese government in 2025, report finds

A question for fearless journos out there to put to Australia's political leaders. Why do we have > $300 billion to attempt to buy submarines but not enough $ to pay more fire fighters & support staff & to buy more urgently needed firefighting equipment, so we have sufficient resources when needed?!

YouTube video by Sally Bourliakas Dr Rae Duncan explains Long Covid as a vascular disease

A cardiologist explaining that Covid is a vascular disease. The European Society of Cardiologists also stated that COVID is causing heart damage to become more common. It’s also airborne and children are in school breathing this in every day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydRl...

What I always hear: “We can’t afford to pay our workers more than $15 an hour.”

What I never hear: “We can’t afford to pay our CEO millions of dollars a year.”

Funny how that works.

Poverty is a policy choice. Concentrated wealth is a policy choice. Inequality is a policy choice. None of it is natural or inevitable. Remember: We have the power to build a system that serves the many, not the powerful few.

With no opposition, Labor is acting increasingly fast and loose with your money

Opinion | Labor thinks other people’s money is there to be used however it pleases, whether it’s propping up manufacturing or raiding super, write Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer.

Every member of the human community is affected by the ongoing pandemic of Covid-19, regardless of whether or not they are willing to admit it. We are all in the pandemic together, and our collective survival depends on acknowledging the extreme threat posed by uncontrolled Covid-19.

#COVID19

amazon's real emissions are far higher than its reported emissions

amazon's estimated emissions

Amazon stopped reporting its total energy consumption about two years ago, but I've estimated it here using the raw emissions data they've reported (and buried deep in hard-to-find places)

Their unadjusted emissions are many times higher than their declared:

ketanjoshi.co/2025/05/23/d...

The biggest threat to our national security is Defence Minister Richard Marles. He’s happy to spend $368B on a highly risky all-eggs-in-one-basket #AUKUS submarine procurement while other programs for essential capabilities are cut, or never approved. #auspol

If the Government's top priority is productivity, slashing the CSIRO budget does not make sense Research and development is one of the major drivers of productivity and the CSIRO has a long track record of making productivity enhancing breakthroughs.

Budgets are about priorities. The idea is to tax things you want less of & subsidise things you want more of

In Australia we spend $14 billion per year on fossil fuel subsidies & we are cutting science jobs at CSIRO…

As i said, budgets are about priorities #climate

thepoint.com.au/news/251127-...

The last time I wrote about this I copped the biggest whinge fest from the then (Labor) minister’s office about how they weren’t cutting the budget lol

“So the question I have for Canadians is, what would we do with a human who is running around acting like a suicide coach or pretending to be a therapist when they’re not?"

Labor and Liberals just teamed up to vote against an Inquiry into AUKUS proposed by the Greens.

Not a single day goes by that the Albanese Labor Govt doesn't say or do something to make me utterly disgusted with them. 😠 #auspol #AUKUS

Denmark’s Bold Copyright Law to Protect Digital Identity from AI-Generated Deepfakes Denmark enacts a landmark copyright law giving citizens full control over personal likeness, tackling AI deepfakes .

I'm pondering this from August: "Denmark has made history by passing a copyright bill of Denmark that grants citizens full ownership rights over their personal likenesses, including their face, voice, and body." With remedies and ways to pursue accountability. www.tedlaw.com/denmark-copy...

They Want You Relying On Artificial Intelligence So That You Will Lose Your Natural Intelligence Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):

open.substack.com/pub/caitlinj...

That was Scott Morrison, but this is Anthony Albanese: The ALP's curious history with transparency Labor's commitment to transparency, in theory and in practice.

In the lead-up to his election, Anthony Albanese argued “transparency and fairness” in legislation were “a powerful defence against the threat of modern authoritarianism”. He repeatedly criticised the Morrison government’s “cult of secrecy”. So, where are we now?

www.crikey.com.au/2025/10/31/a...

a crumb of media coverage, as a treat www.sbs.com.au/news/article...

“When cabinet decided to spend $360 billion on some nuclear submarines that people didn’t know we needed, cabinet decided to do it without a brief from Treasury, and the then-Labor Opposition agreed within 24 hours”

“We can never allow ourselves to believe that change is not possible.” #auspol

​BREAKING: Today, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum opened all 1.56 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing. These lands are sacred to the Gwich’in Nation, home to irreplaceable wildlife and wilderness, and have never seen industrialization.

“We Can’t Do This Alone”: A Doctor’s Plea for Support in Caring for Long COVID and ME/CFS Patients As a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist, my days are full.

“We Can’t Do This Alone”: A Doctor’s Plea for Support in Caring for Long COVID and ME/CFS Patients

danilobuonsenso.substack.com/p/we-cant-do...

David Shoebridge@DavidShoebridge •1d Reporting today that the Albanese Government is going to pay an additional $1 billion to US President Donald Trump as part of a series of tribute payments around AUKUS. ••^ Exclusive Defence Australia promises Trump a defence revamp, dangles $1b AUKUS carrot before PM's trip The Albanese government will seek to placate the Trump administration with a promised defence revamp next year, as the US calls for massive increases in defence spending.

More of the Trump extortion game at work. Apparently @albomp.bsky.social intends to pay 1 billion of our money to appease Trump.
Hell NO.
#Auspol

The Thirst of AI
The problem isn’t just electricity. AI data centres also consume vast amounts of water to cool their servers. A 100MW data centre can use up to 2 million litres of water every day—the same as thousands of households.
Free to read on my Substack.
bsky.app/profile/euro...

clever for spotify to meet the needs of one of their key demos: band guys who wanna groom underage fan

I follow Christina from her incredible work tracking Covid and government responses etc., this application of her expertise is likewise breathtaking. In a ‘punched in the gut’ kind of way.

Labor's $2bil fantasy: Socialising autistic kids into thriving neurotypical adults I wrote most of this piece in early 2024, in reaction to rollout of the Inklings program. Because I know how getting “socialised” into meeting neurotypical standards - in schools, or otherwise - works...

The sustainability maths behind this foundational support fantasy just isn't adding up.

#NDIS #Auspol #Autistic #Disability

1 in 5 children will have long Covid. Will that be your child? Mask Up

5.8 Million Children and Youth Have Experienced Long COVID Protect your child from chronic illness and brain damage Demand 'Clean Air' in schools Wear a respirator mask

Protect Children • Covid is still here and hasn't gotten any milder. • Covid is a leading cause of death in children • Covid is much more dangerous than the flu or cold. • More than 70% of US household COVID spread started with a child at school. • 25% of children (1 in 4) who get Covid will likely have some form of long Covid • Long Covid affects most organs of the body, including the brain and heart.. • Long Covid can be debilitating, even for healthy kids. • Vaccines reduce the risk of hospitalization and death but do not provide a lot of protection against getting Covid and very little to prevent long Covid • Many children can be spreading Covid without symptoms or realizing they have it. • Masks reduce Covid in schools. • Masks do not harm children and do not impact language development. • Outside is lower risk but masks still should be worn when close to others Mask to protect them. Clarente Spread LongCovidKids Disabli * /01| Asymptomatic NYT Masking Mask no Harm

Long COVID is a "public health crisis for kids," experts say "In school-aged children, we heard commonly that children were experiencing trouble with their memory, focusing, headaches, having trouble sleeping, and stomach pain," "This is a public health crisis for children," Gross said. "We know that child health is so critically important for how children grow and even as they become adults, that chronic illness during childhood and adverse experiences during childhood greatly affects the adults that they can become." "Some of these kids with long COVID, they are severely affected, they can't do their normal activi-ties, they fall behind school, they can't go to school," and that really interferes with with learning." A mask helps protect children from long COVID.

Imagine if parents were told any of this?

Bad news days for AI and everyone who slops it. 'If your incredible business idea – key word here, business – is to bake cakes for sale and then you complain that you have to pay for eggs and flour then I have some terrible news about your business idea and also quite possibly your soul and brain.'