Glyn

“This is a bad decision from the RBA. There was plenty of evidence against raising rates, but they pushed ahead anyway. Let’s hope the economy continues to be resilient,” writes Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist at The Australia Institute.

Read the full piece on The Point: https://theaus.in/467KrOT

What are the odds? The RBA has raised interest rates – for no real reason other than to meet the desires of speculators | Greg Jericho The prospect of a cash rate increase on Tuesday changed dramatically over the past month. One wonders if the Reserve Bank listened more to the commentariat than the data

My take on the interest rate rise.

The RBA wants unemployment to rise to prevent high wages growth at a time when wages are growing slower than inflation. Yeah that makes sense.

www.theguardian.com/business/gro...

RBA rates rise not the sure thing that the commentariat cries - Michael West The conservative commentariat that didn’t want rate cuts last year is urging the RBA to increase rates tomorrow, but it may not happen.

Rate rise not the sure thing pundits are claiming. No need to tighten yet writes @michaelpascoe01.bsky.social - anomalies in the CPI make it too early
#auspol
michaelwest.com.au/rba-rates-ri...

Beware the new 'normal', it might be about to bite us Some people just like power. Those same people enjoy sowing seeds of discord that they never have to actually solve, in order to keep it.

"An openly racist reality TV star with a disdain for rules, and rights, someone with more wealth than 99 per cent of people could imagine, play-acting as an anti-elite.
Who would take that seriously?
Australia. More than once." @amyremeikis.bsky.social
www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politic...

Biggest driver of inflation December: International holidays: 0.68%pts Domestic holidays: 0.26%pts Motor vehicles: 0.06%pts

Inflation in December had a bit of a jump, and all of it was due to holiday travel - mostly international. My column
www.theguardian.com/business/gro...

All the money, none of the submarines: AUKUS deal paying upfront for hopes and dreams When Kerry Packer bought Channel 9 back from Allan Bond for effectively half the price Bond had sold it to him, Packer famously said “You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime, and I’ve had mine”.

In which I have a look at AUKUS and tbh lose my shit at how dumb it is. @thepointau.bsky.social

thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

“Imagine how they lie when there’s no evidence to contradict them.”

Watch this powerful message from Jon Stewart.

Trump's Downfall Will Come Much Quicker Than Anyone Thinks The growing backlash against ICE's killing of Alex Pretti will be a turning point in public opinion towards the President, predicts Alexandra Hall Hall

🔴Trump’s Downfall Will Come Much Quicker Than Anyone Thinks

The growing backlash against ICE’s killing of Alex Pretti will be a turning point in public opinion towards the President, predicts @alexhh.bsky.social

bylinetimes.com/2026/01/27/t...

The regime's mind-bending lies are a tactic Thinking about them in terms of truth or falsity is a category error.

"The regime’s mind-blowing lies are ultimately a way to demean and mark those who resist. They function as fascist solidarity, signaling that partisans can and should do anything and everything to political enemies, no matter how violent, cruel, or unnecessary."

A discreet intellectual network has been reshaping the world for 70 years. Here's how A constant battle of ideas reshapes the world we live in, and few groups have been more successful in winning the war than the little-known Atlas Network.

Excellent primer on the Atlas Network and it’s impact on Australia

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

Yes, It’s Fascism Until recently, I thought it a term best avoided. But now, the resemblances are too many and too strong to deny.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

NYT video analysis confirms victim’s gun was removed before he was shot. So he was unarmed. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/minneapolis-shooting-federal-agents-video.html

Statement from Michael and Susan Pretti Parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti “We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti.

"Please get the truth out about our son."

There is no such thing as other people’s children It is intolerable

I wrote a short essay for @lukeoneil47.bsky.social's Welcome To Hell World about Minneapolis' opposition to ICE.
www.welcometohellworld.com/there-is-no-...

Mourning Bondi. Australia's hierarchy of grief - Michael West Australia suffers from selective empathy. And nowhere is that clearer than in the way our political and media class decide who can mourn.

"Australia does not suffer from a lack of empathy. It suffers from selective empathy. .. nowhere is that clearer than in the way our political and media class decide who is allowed to mourn"

Andrew Brown on #Bondi #indigenous
#auspol #antisemitism
michaelwest.com.au/mourning-bon...

As the world finally punches back, was this the week Donald Trump went too far? | Jonathan Freedland The US president took his bullying doctrine to Davos and hit a wall of opposition. If this creates a new western alliance against him, all to the good, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland

“The goal now has to be nothing less than a new alliance of western democracies no longer dependent on the US for their defence”. Latest column www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

OECD says its time to cut the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing The OECD’s annual survey of Australia’s economy this week bluntly noted what most Australians understands very clearly: housing is expensive and in short supply. The report highlighted issues with pla...

"OECD says its time to cut the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing" me for @thepointau.bsky.social
thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

Why the public are the real losers from the hate legislation fracas These are the biggest losers, and winners, in the political brinkmanship Anthony Albanese and Labor lured Sussan Ley and the Liberals into.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes (written ahead of the party room meeting yesterday where the eight remaining Nationals quit the coalition cabinet. Ley is not yet accepting their resignations)

www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politic...

Art of the Deal 0
Art of the Seal 1

“Ignore the mad man defecating on the carpet in the middle of the room; let’s just focus on the projections of global growth that are good if we assume normality.”

#Littleproud chooses National Day of Mourning to hold Nationals' Day of Moaning. Despicable.

"Our leaders don’t need mandates to solve big problems, but they do need bravery, judgement and the rhetorical skill to bring the community along with them," writes Richard Denniss for The Point.

Read the full piece on The Point: thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

Opinion | In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War

I went to Minneapolis last week. What I saw was horrifying and inspiring in equal measure. Gift link to my latest column: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...

“Fossil fuel companies cause the climate change that turbocharges extreme weather events, but ordinary Australians are paying the price. It’s time that changed,” writes Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director of The Australia Institute.

Read the full article: https://theaus.in/3YLYjtT

The Power of Poetry   with things falling apart and anarchy let loose,   it was only poetry, he found, which had any use,   so he reached for his copy   of The Complete Works of Yeats   and bludgeoned the President of the United States Brian Bilston

Here’s a short poem about the power of poetry to change the world.

"Globalise the intifada." Banning words no way to stop hate - Michael West The NSW Government's plan to criminalise the phrase ‘globalise the intifada’ ignores obvious facts about how language works.

"Globalise the Intifada". Why banning slogans is absurd, writes linguistics expert and Israel lawfare target @NickRiemer1 #auspol

michaelwest.com.au/globalise-th...

I like to be in America? New travel figures suggest otherwise. Australian travellers have given the Trump presidency a resounding thumbs down.

Australians have absolutely given travel to the US the thumbs down. My column for #ThePoint

thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

No signs of heat going out of Coalition's summer of discontent The Liberals may have found brief unity in a feverish lust of blaming the government –but that unity was never going to hold.

It’s all going to get so much worse

www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politic...

At the root of all our problems stands one travesty: politicians’ surrender to the super-rich | George Monbiot There are many excuses for failing to tax the ultra-wealthy. The truth is that governments don’t tackle the problem because they don’t want to, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

It is the source of so many of our evils: the astonishing concentration of wealth in the hands of a very few, and the immense political power that gives them. We cannot solve our problems until we tackle it.
This week's column.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...