Mick 🇭🇲🏁

DAVE HUGHES HAS DISCOVERED ANOTHER AMERICAN TO DO HIS POLITICAL TALKING FOR HIM. This time it's American commentator Michael Shellenberger, who visited Australia as a guest of the Institute of Public Affairs to campaign against Labor's Digital Duty of Care legislation. Shellenberger shared an article alleging that mining billionaire Twiggy Forrest has funded organisations involved in advocating for stronger online safety laws. There are legitimate questions about wealthy individuals funding organisations seeking to influence public policy. But let's be clear about what the article actually establishes. It identifies funding relationships, philanthropic grants, policy advocacy and access to government figures. It does NOT establish that Twiggy Forrest passed the Bill, instructed Anthony Albanese to introduce it, or controls what Australians can say online. Dave takes those allegations and turns them into a claim that Labor is doing the bidding of billionaires. That's quite a leap. And there's some interesting timing here. Remember when Hughes was appearing alongside Liberal candidates and speaking at Liberal fundraisers? Then came questions about whether his unpaid professional appearances constituted political donations under Victorian electoral law. The appearances stopped. But the political commentary continues. Now we're seeing him amplifying American anti-Labor campaign material, including from an American who was brought to Australia by the IPA to campaign against the government's legislation. Perhaps Dave would like to explain whether he's still campaigning for the Liberals, just without appearing alongside their candidates? Because changing the delivery mechanism doesn't necessarily change the politics. @DHughesy In case you missed it, we gave you a little lesson here: nitter.gq/TheNoisyTrunk/status/2…

PAULINE HANSON, DONALD TRUMP AND THE GREAT MAGA MELTDOWN. Pauline Hanson and One Nation didn't merely support Donald Trump. They enthusiastically embraced his politics, his authoritarian tendencies and his particular brand of right-wing lunacy. Pauline went further. She likened herself to Trump, declaring that the two had much in common. WE HAVE THE VIDEO. And when we've sobered up from this afternoon's celebrations, we'll post it here. 😂 She even travelled to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, hobnobbing with the MAGA faithful and enjoying billionaire hospitality while she should have been back in Australia doing the job taxpayers pay her to do. But here's where this becomes particularly delicious. AMERICAN VOTERS HAVE JUST DELIVERED DONALD TRUMP A POLITICAL CASTRATION. The Democrats have seized control of BOTH the House of Representatives and the Senate. From 3 January 2027, Donald Trump will remain a walking, talking, breathing orange furball. BUT A POLITICALLY NEUTERED ONE. He'll still have his presidential powers, his executive orders and his ability to make an absolute spectacle of himself. But his ability to ram his legislative lunacy through Congress without opposition? SNIP. SNIP. ✂️ And here's why that matters to AUSTRALIA. Trump didn't suffer this humiliation because Americans suddenly discovered he was orange. They've known that for years. He suffered it because his policies, his broken promises, his chaos and his spectacular arrogance have alienated voters, including people who once enthusiastically supported him. THE GREAT MAGA MASS MIGRATION. Not the migration Trump spent years screaming about. No, no. The migration of voters AWAY from the political circus they helped elect. And that brings us back to Pauline Hanson and One Nation. To the politically blinkered bogans contemplating putting their faith in Pauline's leaky One Nation water bucket, consider this: AMERICA HAS JUST GIVEN YOU A FREE DEMONSTRATION OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BUY THE RIGHT-WING POPULIST SALES PITCH. The grand promises. The manufactured outrage. The scapegoating. The constant screaming about immigrants. The endless claims that ONLY THEY can fix everything. And then comes the reality. The promises unravel, the excuses multiply, the chaos becomes exhausting, and eventually even some of the faithful start looking for the exits. Trump sold America a political miracle. America has just returned the product and demanded a refund. And Pauline? Well, she's still trying to flog Australians the same bloody merchandise. So here's a little advice. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEND YEARS LEARNING THE SAME EXPENSIVE LESSON AMERICA JUST LEARNED. They've already conducted the experiment. They've already paid the price. And they've just delivered their verdict. DON'T BUY THE AUSTRALIAN FRANCHISE OF A FAILED AMERICAN PRODUCT. Especially when the Australian franchise comes with an orange-haired saleswoman who openly admits how much she has in common with the original. SAME CIRCUS. SAME SCRIPT. DIFFERENT CLOWN. 🤡

THE BULLSHIT NARRATIVE OF THE RIGHT The Opposition, the MSM and their chorus of economically illiterate goons. Greg Jericho: Greg Jericho has published an excellent piece exposing the increasingly tiresome narrative being peddled by the Coalition, much of the mainstream media and the usual collection of political cheerleaders. You know the one: LABOR IS SPENDING TOO MUCH! GOVERNMENT SPENDING IS CAUSING INFLATION! JIM CHALMERS MUST RESIGN! Oh, do give it a rest, petals. Jericho's article, "The RBA is waging class war, and the Press Gallery are its spin doctors," dismantles much of this convenient little fairy tale. Here are SIX important points worth understanding: 1. AUSTRALIA IS NOT A BIG-SPENDING COUNTRY. Compared with other advanced OECD economies, Australia is a relatively low-taxing, low-spending nation. The hysterical narrative that government expenditure is spiralling into some unprecedented fiscal catastrophe doesn't survive an international comparison. 2. GOVERNMENT SPENDING HAS INCREASED FOR GOOD REASONS. We now have the NDIS. Supporting Australians with disabilities costs money. Apparently, according to some economic geniuses, providing essential services is now evidence of reckless financial management. 3. CUTTING SERVICES IS NOT THE ONLY OPTION. Jericho calculates that if Australia collected taxation revenue at Canada's level, we would raise approximately $141 BILLION MORE ANNUALLY. Enough to double spending across several major public services and income-support programs, with money left over. But heaven forbid we discuss raising more revenue when cutting services for ordinary Australians is so much more fashionable. 4. THE RBA IS MAKING WORKERS PAY THE PRICE. The Reserve Bank is prepared to tolerate rising unemployment to contain inflation. Yes, the institution whose responsibilities include maintaining full employment is comfortable with more Australians being unemployed. Funny how the economic medicine always seems to be prescribed to those least able to afford it. 5. PRIVATE INVESTMENT GETS A FREE PASS. Jericho highlights the enormous resources being directed towards data-centre construction, contributing to economic capacity pressures. Yet where are the endless demands to rein THAT spending in? Apparently, government spending is inflationary, while private investment gets a considerably more sympathetic hearing. 6. THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA HELPS SELL THE STORY. Rather than rigorously interrogating the economic evidence, much of the Canberra Press Gallery simply reinforces the accepted narrative. Government spending BAD. Public services TOO EXPENSIVE. Workers must ACCEPT THE PAIN. And the wealthy? Well, we wouldn't want to inconvenience them, would we? THE POINT? Jericho is not writing a love letter to Labor. Indeed, he criticises the Albanese government for its approach to NDIS spending. What he IS doing is challenging the economic assumptions behind the Coalition's relentless attacks on government expenditure. And THAT is what makes the article worth reading. Before swallowing another sermon from Angus Taylor, Tim Wilson or the Murdoch commentariat about Labor's supposedly reckless spending, take a few minutes to read an economist who actually examines the underlying numbers. READ GREG JERICHO'S FULL ARTICLE. The RBA is waging class war, and the Press Gallery are its spin doctors. LINK IN REPLIES. 👇 Because apparently, even sharing an article on 𝕏 comes with its own economic consequences. 🤭