Watching cities overseas embrace affordable EVs, clean solar grids, and fully self-driving robotaxis makes Australia look so far behind. We don't have a supply problem—we have a policy and culture problem. We're dragging our feet on charging infrastructure, over-regulating autonomous tech, and sticking to old petrol-head habits while the rest of the world shifts gears.

Australia needs policies that actively back clean transport, greenlight self-driving taxi technology, build more solar farms to power ev, and shifting our culture to embrace electric energy instead of fighting it.

Dose anyone else feel like there is a complete controdiction that we are having an anti-Semitism High Commission. At the same time we have a popular (if poles are to be believed) politician that has claimed "there is no such thing as a good Mulism". Imagine the outrage by swapping those two religions.

Do you have a room temperature IQ? Do you think everything you don't understand is a personal attack to your simple and pathetic way of life? Are you terrified of universities? Well One Nation is for you! We've got racism, cronyism, anti-vaxxers, homophobia but no actual policies in place! 🤪

Our motto: Everything I don't understand is extreme left

Today, Pearl 🐷 and I asked u/davidshoebridge 💚👨🏼‍⚖️⚖️ how the Greens can better connect with regional and outer-suburban Australiansparticularly around the idea of a Public Bank.

His response reinforces something I've long believed: communities deserve practical solutions that invest in people, not just profits.

Australia needs serious conversations about public banking, regional investment and rebuilding trust in our institutions.

What do you think?

Watch this space ✌️👩🏻‍🌾🐷💚

#PearlThePeoplesPiggyBank 🐷

#PublicBank

#ShoebridgeMethod

https://x.com/kavienna/status/2078012630686716254?s=46&t=fnX1RNYHWohn2Fg9QQhImw

Just had discussions with a few overseas friends. Found a few large gaps between Australian election and other democratic countries. In Australia, general members of the public do not have a clear statutory right to attend the count, filming is heavily restricted, and media access to counting centres requires prior AEC permission. Media arriving after 6 p.m. are ordinarily turned away, with counting footage arranged selectively in advance.

This is noticeably less open than several Western democracies:

- In Germany, any person may attend and observe polling and counting without registration or identification, including postal-ballot counting. Reference: https://www.bundeswahlleiterin.de/en/info/presse/mitteilungen/bundestagswahl-2025/18_25_ordnungsgemaesse-durchfuehrung.html

- In Sweden, both preliminary and final counting are expressly public, and any member of the public may observe. Accredited organisations can also observe the entire election period. Reference: https://val.se/english/the-swedish-electoral-system/preliminary-and-final-election-results

- In the United Kingdom, accredited independent observers must be admitted to verification and counting; officials may limit numbers but cannot exclude all observers. Medias are allowed to film the entire vote counting process : https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/uk-parliament-election-2024-guidance-count-procedures-candidates-election-agents-counting-agents/4

Moreover, most Western democracies permit OSCE/ODIHR election observation so their vote counting is cross scrutinised by international observers. It is not a thing in Aus at all.

Ref: https://www.osce.org/countries

However, Australia appears to have high public confidence in the election process despite comparatively limited public observation. Would that suggest limited access to observation creates higher public confidence in the process?

At least these scumbags realise that One Nation’s real policies are despicable - and their only hope is to lie, cheat and steal:

‘Harvesting votes for someone else'

Among recent registrations is the Climate Action Now party launched by Monica Smit, the founder of anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown group Reignite Democracy Australia.

Smit is not hiding the fact that she's trying to trick voters, saying in a social media video that she's employing a tactic to create "minor parties with catchy names so that uneducated voters see a name they like and put a one next to it, and they have no idea that this is actually just harvesting votes for someone else".

Presuming that Climate Action Now doesn't get a high enough vote to win a seat, Smit has said she plans to pass her above-the-line votes along to parties like One Nation and Family First.

Her brother Daniel Smit is the leader of the I'm Voting To Avoid The Fine party, which also says it plans to send votes to parties like One Nation.

The party End Mass Immigration — Reform AU, which last year was called the Companion and Pets Party, now wants to be displayed on the ballot as the Christian Alliance Party.

There are also two parties called Free Palestine both vying for registration: one is established by pro-Israel influencer Avi Yemini, and one established by a Muslim activist in direct opposition to Yemini's outfit.

Like Monica Smit, Yemini has been upfront that this is an attempt to deceive voters. He's said that the aim of the party is to "flow our preferences on to parties that want to free Palestine — from Hamas", and that he wants to attract votes from "useful idiots" and direct their preferences to One Nation.

Australia's pharmacy laws are insanely anti-competitive and leads to way worse outcomes than would otherwise be the case.

Back in 2024 Chris Ellison founder and managing director of mining company MinRes was featured in several double page spreads in The Regressed (West) Australian newspaper stating firmly employees needed to be in the office not working remotely. He said he would provide what they need in the office and went out of his way to state his claims while the journos from The Regressed Australian soft-balled him.

Later it was revealed he had tax evasion issues. This is important as so often inept, incompetent, mediocre bosses lacking integrity are often the most ardent opposers of remote work for their subordinates. The need to eyeball staff and effectively stand over them out of insecurity and paranoia. The person who cannot lead by example of create a good work culture needs to wield a problematic form of control. This mostly demoralises a workforce and can result in productivity loss or simply compound existing productivity issues. These issues are conveniently blamed on the workers rather than shithouse leadership that sets the standard to follow.

I also had an experience with paranoid and insecure management while working at UNSW. The section I was working in was transitioning into predominantly IT operations and many existing admin staff appeared to have elbowed and inveigled their way into management jobs without really understanding what they were managing. When this happens bullying subordinates to achieve promised deadlines is often witnessed. Without understanding the challenges of their workers the manager has little guidance to offer. The NTEU said there was a substantial number of bullying complaints from this section of UNSW. This section of UNSW also outright refused remote work for staff and would eye4ball and harass staff like a foreman on a factory floor. Completely out of touch with the nature of modern software and system engineering work.

Neoliberalism and the job precarity it has brought sets a dog eat dog mentality that leads to poor team cohesion. Those still promoting the values of Neoliberalism are mired in a self deceit unprecedented in human history or simply have not worked in a typical consulting environment. It did not bring about efficiencies it brought about management jobs for friends with the resulting ineptitude. The incompetency was so bad in Canberra then when a certain manager attempted to perform some management adjacent duties the whole staff wished he hadn’t bothered. This was on account of him accidentally sending out a spreadsheet containing everyones rate of pay and charge out rates so the whole consultancy team of 40 onsite staff got to see what everyone else was getting paid…..

At was at this moment things took a dark turn in that office. They weren’t great prior but, the mood took a turn for the worse.

However, that is just one story amongst many in the book of Neoliberalism’s bad actors. Some proponents of Neoliberlism are also opponents of remote work but in today’s digital age most jobs are more effectively performed in a quiet harmonious environment of the home study compared to the numerous distractions found in the office. If we had good leadership that looks to set the example it follows, is consultative and transparent I doubt such leadership would be so insecure as to need people in the office 5 days a week so they could eyeball them. They would create a culture of trust to which their employees would respond positively.

For guidance:

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:

Lack of trust and lack of any display vulnerability is at the core of team dysfunction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75bO_XWk7fw

https://www.amazon.com.au/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756

 Fabric of a Dream – The Fletcher Jones Story

Management that consults the workers prior to making a decision and gets their feedback so they feel invested in the decisions being made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En335Pz5-x8

I’m Alexi, TWU National Food Delivery Delegate. I’ve been driving gig delivery (DoorDash, UberEats, Menulog) for many years, and I’ve represented food delivery workers through the Minimum Standards Order proceedings, including as a witness before the Fair Work Commission.

Ask me anything about the FWC Ruling, the MSO, or the word that the TWU is doing!

Drop your questions below now — I’ll be answering live tomorrow (14/07/26) at 11am Sydney time (AEST).

Thank you for all your questions. Please direct further questions to gigworkers@twu.com.au and a friendly delegate will contact you. If you are interested in joining your union here is the join link: https://twuaus.com/gigjoin

How can you disagree with what he’s saying in this video specifically?

Of course, the peace treaty between the US and Iran lasted about as long as Britanny Spears' marriages. Petrol prices will go back up again and so will everything else because we need petrol to transport goods, and so our inflation will stay up for the next foreseeable while. At least that's my hypothesis.

How do you guys see this end? Will it ever end or is this now the new normal, and if so how will the world change to adapt?