Number 10 told Sir Olly Robbins not to inform the Foreign Secretary of Starmer's desire to give Mandelson a job. This is so grubby, and so indicative of who Starmer really is.

The Point Live: Gas, politics and the coming budget. All the day's events, live Welcome to a special edition of The Point Live, as we cover off the first day of the Senate’s Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources, as well as take a look at what is shaping up in the bud...

. @amyremeikis.bsky.social pointing out Ken Henry said much the same thing as @punterspolitics.bsky.social and yet some journos were all a bit sniffy about Konrad because "not an economist, just a tiktok guy blah blah"
live.thepoint.com.au

Britain left leaderless after Sir Keir Starmer does not resign as prime minister In a stunning turn of events, Sir Keir Starmer has left the nation leaderless after he failed to offer his resignation as prime minister.

Yesterday, Starmer was forced to defend his perfectly rational decision to hire the Prince of Darkness as ambassador to the US. Starmer had initially claimed ignorance, insisting he had no idea he was prime minister at the time of the appointment.

www.normalisland.co.uk/p/britain-le...

Sarah Ferguson asks if we should ‘give something back’ to gas giants in exchange for a tax.
David Pocock “why we bargain with them?”
“I don’t think we need to give anything back. We just want a return for our gas!” 🔥 #auspol

The Gas Cartel is Panicking | The West Report YouTube video by The West Report

A big majority in Parliament - a 25% gas export tax is a no-brainer for $10B a year. Albo and Jim Chalmers, don't let a good crisis go to waste. Fix Budget, reshape Australia #auspol

youtu.be/YxxuWVYrUog?...

Moneyland is a gem of a book, as is the Butler To The World.

How should we respond as Moneyland works to screw us ever further into submission? The ultra rich are crushing living standards and protest rights. There is a parallel in the brutality against Palestinians and in America's gulags. We do not have long to challenge the trajectory.

My lovely friend posted this with “Unmissable, essential reading”.
Give it a go.
#Auspol #NZpol

lucyham29.substack.com/p/how-should...

War crime apologists undermine our Australian values I’m a veteran of 20 years. War crime apologists don’t speak for us. Like many who have served, I was deeply shaken by the Brereton Report in November 2020. The war crimes detailed across its 530 pages...

The Brereton Report made clear that none of the alleged crimes occurred in the heat of battle

The true heroes are the soldiers who...testified against war crimes. Those who dismiss this brave group have not engaged with the report’s findings or the culture it reveals
thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

The Point Live: Gas, politics and the coming budget. All the day's events, live Welcome to a special edition of The Point Live, as we cover off the first day of the Senate’s Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources, as well as take a look at what is shaping up in the bud...

I'm not saying the PointLive today is an absolute delightful trashing of Susan McDonald's lobbying on behalf of the gas industry, but I'm not not saying that

live.thepoint.com.au

NDIS infiltrated by organised crime gangs using intimidation and threats of violence against Australians Review recommends better use of NDIS data to identify repeat rorters and a requirement for providers to register with the government

Australian politicians love to claim welfare programs are beset with fraud, even if there's very little evidence, because it justifies cutting welfare spending www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The Australian Greens are calling on the government to audit every Palantir contract across Government and particularly in Defence, Home Affairs and intelligence agencies and table the findings in Parliament. The public has a right to know the full scale of the risks and the sell out.

BREAKING
Kash Patel tops FBI’s Most Wasted List

British universities paid security firm to ‘spy’ on pro-Palestine students Investigation reveals how Horus, a company led by ex-military intelligence officials, was hired during protest movement.

what I can not stand about these tertiary institutions attacking their own students is the complete absence of evidence that pro-Palestine students are a physical threat to anything or anyone. The “threat” is to status quo white supremacy and war machine money.

www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/...

Israel is (still) killing aid workers in Gaza Officials say Israel’s attacks on humanitarian aid workers aim to block essential aid from reaching Palestinians, as Israel continues to impose a blockade on Gaza seven months into the so-called “ceasefire.”

Officials say Israel’s attacks on humanitarian aid workers aim to block essential aid from reaching Palestinians, as Israel continues to impose a blockade on Gaza seven months into the so-called “ceasefire.”

mondoweiss.net/2026/04/isra...

#Palestine #Israel

ASX director Giuseppe Porcelli criminally convicted in Italy, gets prison pardon - Michael West Vivacious ASX director and entrepreneur extraordinaire Giuseppe Porcelli, was found guilty of "Fraudulent Bankruptcy" in Italy. ASIC

Amazing how you can be convicted of fraud in another country but no probs being an ASX company director. Then again Giuseppe Porcelli is pretty amazing. His story
#auspol #ASIC
michaelwest.com.au/asx-director...

Won’t somebody save these hundreds of turtles condemned to death? | First Dog on the Moon There is a whole dam full of water right there but the turtles can’t have it

When God sings with his creations, will a turtle not be part of the choir? Not if you ask the NSW Government! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Sunday service

All good, rusteds?

In the same manifesto, Palantir's owners argued that we need a national military draft, that soft power is over, and that we were too hard on Germany and Japan after World War II. I don't think that company should be allowed to exist anymore.

Have they kept doing that rebooted version of Q&A with David Speers? Or did they just do that one episode on how Israel should be not critcised for genocide and leave it at that?

Longer summers are not just more time to spend eating watermelon. No! It’s far more sinister! | First Dog on the Moon We have done so much climate change research, if they made a big pile of it you could climb up to the afternoon sun and tape a sheet over it to cool things down

Who will save us? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Hand-placed demolition charges, exactly Israel's Gaza modis.

Plan B: insulating ourselves from the US P&I today begins a major new series - rethinking Australia's foreign policy. The United States is becoming more erratic and less reliable, and Australia must respond by insulating itself – strengthening regional ties, rethinking defence settings, and reducing strategic dependence, according to John Menadue. 

The United States is becoming more unpredictable – and more dangerous.
Australia must insulate itself by strengthening regional ties and reducing dependence on US power, John Menadue writes.
#auspol #ForeignPolicy #Australia #US #Geopolitics

Aerial view of large scale devastation inflicted on the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, with an Israeli tank parked in the center of the photo.

This is what Israel has done to Bint Jbeil, my hometown in southern Lebanon

It is much worse even than that because they have been running the diversionary tactics of Segal's inquiry to minimise criticism of Israel.

Fri 17 Apr

Labor & Josh Burns frequently cite the Safeguard Mechanism to fob off constituents' concerns about Australia's grossly inadequate emissions reduction

Turns out the claimed 7 million tonnes of SGM emissions reduction for 2024-25 is entirely undone by North West Shelf Gas Extension (👀🧵👇)

For at least 7 years, a well funded goal of the Zionist area of Jewish and Hebrew studies at Sydney Uni has been to silence staff and students who see Israel as a occupier and BDS supporters -

Excellent to have veteran journalist Laith Marouf from @freepalestinetv.bsky.social to give more insight into the truth of the current reality in the south, the Resistance Arc, displaced families, government tensions, and what’s next for Lebanon.

Full episode in comments 👇

Well said. 🎯

Courts to the Rescue! - April 19 - Paul Bongiorno, Alex Fein, and Rachel Smith YouTube video by The Sunday Shot

More upbeat chat than usual this week,
on account of a few good things happening! Great guests with
@paulbongiorno.bsky.social and @auspoldaily.bsky.social. It's a low bar, but it'll make you less angry/dumb than Insiders.