Australians ‘uneasy’ about NDIS cuts amid $53bn in new defence spending, Mark Butler concedes Minister tells Guardian Australia despite substantial changes to disability scheme, it will remain one of best support services ‘anywhere in the world’

"Australians ‘uneasy’ about NDIS cuts amid $53bn in new defence spending"

That's one way of putting it.

How about: the Albanese govt's priorities are fucked. #auspol
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Cathy Wilcox might have added a third empty box to her cartoon:

"What successive Australian governments have done to address the legalised, largely tax-free theft of an Australian resource".
#gastax #auspol

Photo of Treasurer Jim Chalmers NEW EPISODE | Ending Australia’s great gas giveaway Listen to Dollars & Sense now via the link or wherever you get your podcasts.

A gas export tax would drive down domestic gas prices & fund vital public services at a time when Australians are feeling the pinch.

@grogsgamut.bsky.social & @elinorjohnstonleek.bsky.social discuss taxing gas, plummeting aid spending & the upcoming federal budget. #auspol

🎧 theaus.in/4mI9HSy

towball

NDIS changes put lives at risk

"NDIS reform can kill people. I say that with a deep certainty, and I am saying it because the system’s own figures already show the pattern…"

Georgia Cranko on the human cost of cuts to the NDIS: satpa.pe/MUsZZ4f

NDIS a victim of familiar scare tactics – while untouchables roll on We rarely speak about how the NDIS became a catch-all because we don’t have enough social services and supports to help people who need it.

Listening to the gas executives yesterday while also listening to the health minister explain why we just can't afford to give support to people who need it, was just one of those WTF are we doing moments. (Plus an overheard convo that stuck in my mind) www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/health/...

Talking ourselves into inequality: the new fuel ads, the NDIS and "social cohesion" show how neoliberalism has colonised our tongues Under the pressure of decades of right wing culture wars—which have run parallel to cross party support for neoliberalism—the traditional vocabulary of welfare, redistribution, egalitarianism, and cla...

. @timdunlop.bsky.social on @thepointau.bsky.social "Talking ourselves into inequality: the new fuel ads, the NDIS and "social cohesion" show how neoliberalism has colonised our tongues"
thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

The gas ripoff. Japan collects more on our gas than we do - Michael West The Japanese Government makes more revenue taxing its imports of Australian gas than the Australian Government does from exporters.

So cowed by the foreign gas lobby .. the failure of successive govts is so epic that the Japanese tax *our* Australian gas more than we tax the foreign multinationals which export the stuff
#auspol #TAI @kimwingerei.bsky.social
michaelwest.com.au/the-gas-tax-...

That tracks

#PostSomethingEpsteinEveryDay #EpsteinFiles

@andertoon.bsky.social

Mohamad Safa 🇺🇳

Israel must understand that they can’t turn on and off the ceasefire whenever they want under international law.

If Israel can turn the ceasefire on and off whenever it feels like bombing Gaza and Lebanon, it's not a ceasefire. It is: you cease, I fire.

💯🎯💯🎯💯🎯

No

www.ishormuzopenyet.com

NASA astronaut Christina Koch sits in an U.S. Navy MH-60S Seahawk attached to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23 on the flight deck of the San Antonio Class amphibious transport dock USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) after returning from space on Apr. 10, 2026.

This picture of Astronaut Christina Koch after the Artemis landing is frankly incredible and beautiful.

Graphic titled “COVID-19 vaccinations in the last 6 months.” Three age groups shown: Ages 75+: 278,000 people vaccinated (13.4%) Ages 65–74: 128,900 people vaccinated (5.2%) Ages 18–64: 121,500 people vaccinated (0.7%) Each group is displayed with an icon and percentage, highlighting significantly lower vaccination uptake in younger age groups compared to older adults.

Australia: COVID-19 vaccine rollout update – 10 April 2026

COVID-19 vaccination uptake in the past 6 months:

🔹Only 13.4% aged 75+

🔹Only 5.2% aged 65–74

🔹Only 0.7% aged 18–64

Source: www.health.gov.au/resources/pu...

Private health inusrance. Unfit for purpose and in need of reset - Michael West A $6.9 billion annual subsidy supports a model for private health insurance that's losing consumer confidence. There's a proven alternative.

Is private health insurance a rort surely not? $6.9B subsidies, $1.7B in combined profits Medibank, BUPA, NIB but underpay hospitals by over $1B #auspol

Claudia Weisenberger analysis
michaelwest.com.au/private-heal...

In Bruges scene where Colin Farrell is pointing a gun at his head and Brendon Gleeson is also pointing a gun at Colin Farrell's head

Current status of the Strait of Hormuz dispute

an elderly woman is sitting at a table in a restaurant and looking at the camera . ALT: an elderly woman is sitting at a table in a restaurant and looking at the camera .

I’ll have what Hungary’s having.

The victory of the opposition in Hungary yesterday, like the Polish election in 2023, is a victory for democracy, not just in Europe but around the world.

Angus: This is a president who says the only constraint on his actions is not Congress, not the courts, not international law, but, quote, “my own morality, my own mind.”

There is no morality in a man accused of being a rapist…

Turns out, Iran is surprisingly good at trolling the Orange Atrocity.

🇮🇷 vs 🍊💩

Check it out their work here:

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez just clapped back at Trump with unbreakable courage.

Trump at 10 AM:

“We’re cutting support from NATO countries that didn’t stand with us against Iran.”

Pedro at 10 PM:

“We’re reopening Spain’s embassy in Tehran 🇮🇷 to fight for peace and stability.

Wishing this fabulously competent—and joyful—crew a safe return to a planet that, frankly, doesn't deserve them.

The top part of the Moon is illuminated. The gray cratered surface stands out against the blackness of space. The Earth appears in the far distance as an upside-down crescent moon shape. There is some lens flare in the top part and center of the image. Credit: NASA

okay i change my mind, THIS is one of the best and most beautiful images from artemis ii

"Election landslides aren't legacies, but a 25% gas tax could define Albanese's" @richarddenniss.bsky.social
thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

Would be a truly horrific move

The problem with the NDIS - and there is a problem - is the same one Australia always faces. If you let small businesses exploit the public purse, they'll exploit it mercilessly (remember pink batts or any one of a 100 such programs). The key is in the system design, not the auditing of it.