The Financial Review has the results of a large-sample poll from RedBridge Group, the second pollster to take the field post-election after Roy Morgan. The results are not far off Roy Morgan’s: Labor on 37%, compared with 34.6% at the election; the Coalition on 31%, compared with 31.8%; and the Greens on 11%, compared with 12.2%. Labor is credited with a 55.5-44.5 lead on two-party preferred, compared with an election result of 55.2-44.8 – lower than I might have expected based on preference flows from the recent election, but perhaps explicable by One Nation accounting for a larger share of “others”. Breakdowns are more balanced than you might expect with regard to gender, but results by age tell a familiar story of the Coalition vote descending from 44% among the 65+ cohort to 19% among 18-to-34, the Greens rising from 2% to 24%, and Labor fairly consistent across the board. The poll was conducted “late June” from a sample of 4036.
Another item of federally relating polling emerges from a report by Alexandra Smith of the Sydney Morning Herald on debate within the Liberal Party over whether to challenge independent Nicolette Boele’s 26-vote win in Bradfield in court. Local branch presidents are calling on the party to put up the money, but others consider this “a risk financially and politically”. The report cites polling conducted in mid-June for Climate 200 which suggests Boele would likely win a by-election resulting from a legal challenge, with her primary vote up from 27.0% at the election to 33.2%, with Gisele Kapterian’s 37.3% comparing with an election result of 38.0%.
Another day, more Ukrainian civilians targeted by Russia:
“4 killed, 37 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over past day”
https://kyivindependent.com/4-killed-37-injured-in-russian-attacks-on-ukraine-over-past-day-06-2025/
We in Australia should not avert our eyes from what Russia continues to do, day after bloody day.
Kyiv burns after yesterday’s attack
I suspect there are some within Trumps circles who are pro-Ukraine. They are also some who are pro-Russian. But the majority are isolationist.
Pete Hegseth is clearly an isolationist who might have a bit of a pro-Russian bias.
They are mostly just idiots who don’t have any firm beliefs, just a desire to enrich themselves.
Soc
I am genderless when I post 😀
Actually, when I was young, no one told me that I was a gal. It was only once I got into the workforce that everyone seemed to think gender was important. It was an eye-opener to me, and not in a good way.
But I think my original lack of identification with a particular gender did me well in my career.
Working with German and Japanese Blokes at one stage, they would automatically put me into the “female” category, but were quickly disabused once I just took part in the conversation like any Australian bloke.
And to their credit, they then just accepted me as a part of the team.
But it was a shock to come across these gendered assumptions.
As a former sex discrimination commissioner Liz Broderick said “Discrimination against women is like asbestos – it is in the walls, nobody sees it, but it is deadly”.
And I would add that skin colour discrimination is just like this.
But on this, I would like to give a big shout-out to the New Caledonians, who are really bringing together a cohesive society. I have just spent a few days in Nouméa, back to Oz tomorrow, but it is so great that the cafes, restaurants, bars and boutiques are as often owned and run by the Melanesian population as any other population. And the patrons, the staff and the clients are a great mix of all the skin colours and populations (including 19th century Vietnamese and Indonesians) that inhabit this lovely city.
And some of the bars and cafes are really funky – as good as anything you would find in Bordeaux or Redfern (although with the closure of the Bearded Tit, I think Noumea beats Redfern). And perhaps Fitzroy? Although I think the great speakeasy’s we used to frequent in Fitzroy over a decade ago may be a thing of the past.
Anyway, Nouméa gives me hope.
OC
In Rugby league
Canberra raiders are in no.1 position followed by Canterbury bulldogs, Melbourne storm and NZ Warriors
I am really surprised about the NRL top 4 positions. Any insight into why?
—
Ven, time has caught up with the three powerhouses of the last decade, which has now left the comp wide open.
With Penrith losing 1 or 2 top shelf players each year for the last 4 years running, it was only a matter of time before their golden run faltered. Even the junior powerhouse that is Penrith could not sustain this. They are still in the mix but are no longer the unbeatable force they once were.
It looks like the application of a salary cap and injuries have finally caught up with Melbourne. Bellamy seemingly defied gravity for the best part of 20 years, continually keeping together a core of superstars, hardly ever losing a good player to.the market and seemingly more often than not securing the best junior talent. Add to that Bellamy’s incredible knack of turning cast offs from other clubs into good players then you have the recipe for long term success (but we won’t mention.getting busted for industrial scale rorting of the salary cap in 2010 when they won the GF).
It’s hard to determine what’s gone wrong with.the Roosters. There are two theories. One is that they were blessed with a once in generation crop of great players that have now moved on. Two is that like Melbourne, the NRL are now actively and effectively policing the salary cap on the Roosters, whereas previously they could buy whoever they wanted with no questions asked. I favour the later theory as it coincides with Vlandys taking over the game and ruthlessly ensuring that the best possible product is presented to TV audiences in order to maximise future rights revenues.
Did any Test batting had 6 zeros and yet scored over 400 runs other than the current England team in first innings?
Douglas and Milko says:
Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 8:19 pm
The Bearded Tit has closed? What a shame!
… perhaps I am okay with the likes of c@t
or BW
, until we look at the impact.
.. forget centrists, or neo-fascists.
Through this message I AM honoring the threat/ mitigate risk, be it governance, power$hift, climate, inequality, health ..
”
King OMalleysays:
Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 8:25 pm
OC
In Rugby league
Canberra raiders are in no.1 position followed by Canterbury bulldogs, Melbourne storm and NZ Warriors
I am really surprised about the NRL top 4 positions. Any insight into why?
—
Ven, time has caught up with the three powerhouses of the last decade, which has now left the comp wide open.
”
Thanks King.
new boy
It is really horrible, as is what is happening inn Gaza.
I do not post about it here, as not much good can come of it.
So perhaps I will share my thoughts now, one time only.
I never thought I would live to see a hot war in Europe again. February 2022, when Russia invaded, I just felt physically ill, and I still feel that way.
I was in France when Putin invaded, and so was in the same timezone, more or less. I watched the coverage. It was horrible.
There were many personal stories, but one which has stayed with me, was a woman whose house had been bombed, and was living in a shelter with her two children. Her husband had gone off to fight for Ukraine. She said WTTE “two weeks ago the biggest concern in my life was going to Homebase to get wallpaper for my girls room. Now we have no home, and I worry about how to feed my girls”.
And, I have come across commentary by both “The Left” and “The Right” which suggests that the Ukrainians had it coming.
I cannot think of any world where the woman above being thrown out of her home, and not only not being able to buy wallpaper for children, but also not being able to feed them improves anything for anyone.
From the right, well, it was straight out of “Atlas Shrugged”. She was middle class (and probably a teacher to boot) so she had it coming.
The left is a bit weirder, but the thinking runs along the lines of “The USA has brutalised many populations, and USSR / Russia has stood against them. So we obviously support Russia. And the woman was a bourgeoise who obviously had it coming.”
I think Europe needs to now start throwing everything they have at defeating Putin. But how possible this is, I do not know. It seems the Russo/ Ukraine was has settled into a stalemate? And reading the entrails, Putin now believes he will eventually get the lot, and so I see no prospect of peace even if Ukraine gives up land.
For Gaza, this is an horrific situation. Four weeks ago I said to friends “The population of Gaza is about to be starved! This cannot be allowed to happen. The world just has to stop this!”
The responses were sobering, and amounted to ” The only way it can be stopped is if a country or group of countries are willing to invade Gaza, and go up against the IDF”.
So, we are left with 1) what should the World do (including the UN), 2)what should our country do, and 2) what should we do?
Need to do a few things, and will post more on these points either tonight or tomorrow or tomorrow.
But I am not the
suppositoryfont of all wisdom, so perhaps discuss it amongst yourselves and come up with some recommendations.A resource for your deliberations”
https://commonslibrary.org/198-methods-of-nonviolent-action/
Douglas and Milko, Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 8:48 pm:
————————-
Thank you. There will be some reading what you wrote and feeling a bit less isolated because of it. Your post, by itself, will have made a positive difference.
https://kevinbonham.blogspot.com/2025/07/2025-federal-election-pollster.html
2025 Federal Election Pollster Performance Review
Griff
It is a real shame. It has been an amazing art / music venue, but the person behind it thinks it is time to move on.
I fear we are seeing creeping Double Bay. It first crept over Paddington, then Surry Hill, and now Redfern..
“While much of the Western world is still figuring out how to get more people on electric bikes, China just flipped a switch, and the results are staggering. Thanks to a generous nationwide trade-in program rolled out around six months ago, China has seen an explosive surge in electric bicycle sales, with over 8.47 million new e-bikes hitting the road in the first half of 2025 alone.”
https://electrek.co/2025/07/04/chinas-nationwide-cash-for-clunkers-trade-ins-causing-huge-e-bike-boom/
new boy
Thanks!
Horrific problems like we are seeing in Ukraine and Gaza, and in to many other places are not new.
Perhaps what is new is that people no longer feel the need to get people together for a grass-roots mass movement to make a protest so overwhelming in numbers that eventually change can be effected. We used to understand that it would take time and persistent advocacy to get the population behind us.
Think, e.g:
The Women’s Peace Movement in Northern Ireland
The mass world movement against Apartheid in South Africa*
The people on the streets (peacefully) in Chile in 1988 to say “No” to Pinochet regarding extending his rule.
The crowds on the streets of Leipzig in 1989, leading to th fall of the Berlin Wall.
These protests came from a small number of people who saw a seemingly intractable problem, but who realised that building a peaceful movement could change the course of history.
The results do not come immediately, but by building a movement for peaceable change, you do not preclude other forms of activism, and so it worries me that these grass roots peaceable movements are no longer being built. They are the bedrock of change, compared to the sugar hit of storming the ramparts.
Even our Rex is not happy with the “revolution by deed people”: Rex:”Whoever the dickhead was that set fire to the synagogue in East Melbourne last night needs to be locked up.”
*Regarding the world mass movement against apartheid in South Africa, a big weapon that could be wielded by us ordinary people was a list of South African products, that we would just not buy. I remember that I & J Fish Fingers was one of those brands, among many others. After 1990, the new South African government had to remind us all to stop boycotting their products!
So, why is there no such action today?
Do people want things so immediately that they will do daring deeds that get attention, but which take the conversation away from the issue that they are trying to highlight?
And even if they feel the need for daring deeds (and I really do get it), why not include the peaceful boycott / masses on the streets for peaceful marches road anyway: a belt and braces approach.
I personally have a list of companies from who I will never buy anything again, because of the amount of money they donated to the “No” case. Taylors wines is one such, despite the fact that they make one of my favourite reds. Blackmores is another such. But I am a lone voice in the wilderness, and I suspect that the companies will not even notice.
So why are we not, as a concerned group of people, organising boycotts agains products from the people we regard as warmongers?
One sad answer may be that if we boycott Intel chips, none of us would have computer. The other sad answer is that if we do boycott Beluga, Stoli and Smirnoff Vodka, Russia will not even notice.
Kevin Bonham wow, what an absolute monster post. There are a couple of well deserved serves there.
Albo is supposedly giving a speech tonight at the John Curtis Research Centre*. While the media will invariably focus on our relationship with the USA, the part which interests me is this:
“The prime minister will also seek to frame his government as the inheritor of Curtin’s economic agenda, comparing the government’s moves to bolster manufacturing to Curtin’s wartime industrial program.”**
I think what the ABC may be referring to here is not the ‘wartime industrial program’ but the 1945 White Paper on Full Employment***. I find it amazing that in the midst of a war, Curtin and Chifley could construct a plan to comprehensively restructure the economy, to Menzies’ benefit, which resulted in the most prosperous era of our history.
Since the loss of confidence with Keynesian economics in the early 1970s, governments have lost the ability to govern for the many and have focussed too much on the interests of the few. Hopefully, the current government can use Curtin and Chifley’s example to correct this imbalance and lead us into a new era of prosperity.
* I hope someone told the JCRC, they don’t seem to know: https://curtinrc.org/events/
** https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-04/anthony-albanese-champions-australian-independence-/105497350
*** https://www.billmitchell.org/White_Paper_1945/index.html
C@tmommasays:
Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 5:39 pm
Yep, like I said, Rex Douglas, it is YOU who is ‘tawdry and disgusting’ with your likening of Labor supporters to MAGA supporters of Trump.
_____________________
You couldn’t get any more tawdry and disgusting than you slagging off injured workers the other week.
I couldn’t believe what i was reading from such a Labor person. It was like you had been hacked.
Thankyou Kevin, I’ve been waiting to read that, fascinating. And thankyou for calling out James Campbell’s farcical polling interpretations – the cult of calling every poll a hung parliament continued a pace this time around and like the mass delusion seen with Victoria 2022, even without the polling miss we were basically seeing media reporting on polls based on how they expected the election to come out not what the numbers said (or they were overly credulous on dodgy polling such as that Compass mob, which reminded me of the infamous cooker “exit poll” of Melton).
More journos desperately need a crash course in polling and statistics.
Thankyou Monsieur Bonham. That’s a great review of the 2025 election polling. There really does seem to be a piece that is consistently missing in these outcomes being so different from predictions.
Taylormadesays:
Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 10:05 pm
C@tmommasays:
Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 5:39 pm
Yep, like I said, Rex Douglas, it is YOU who is ‘tawdry and disgusting’ with your likening of Labor supporters to MAGA supporters of Trump.
_____________________
You couldn’t get any more tawdry and disgusting than you slagging off injured workers the other week.
I couldn’t believe what i was reading from such a Labor person. It was like you had been hacked.
===========================================================
Poor old TM still taking the election loss very badly I see. Looks like he is currently still at stage 2: Anger.
”
Arkysays:
Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 10:22 pm
Thankyou Kevin, I’ve been waiting to read that, fascinating. And thankyou for calling out James Campbell’s farcical polling interpretations – the cult of calling every poll a hung parliament continued a pace this time around and like the mass delusion seen with Victoria 2022, even without the polling miss we were basically seeing media reporting on polls based on how they expected the election to come out not what the numbers said (or they were overly credulous on dodgy polling such as that Compass mob, which reminded me of the infamous cooker “exit poll” of Melton).
More journos desperately need a crash course in polling and statistics.
”
No. More journos desperately need a crash course on telling the truth based on polls and statistics. They know what the are saying based on polls. Since, they want LNP to win at any cost because most of them are/were Murdoch hacks or don’t believe that ALP can provide effective, intelligent and competent government.
For example, they still don’t believe that Chalmers produced 2 back to back surpluses on good governance but because he got lucky.
They are still saying he may produce 3rd surplus because his luck is continuing.
Interesting to see what pitches Australian curators produce this summer.
The English batsmen would love to face their bowlers. Our bowlers would love to bowl to our batsmen.
On Leipzig 1989 – I found out recently that a German I’ve known and worked with for many years was there as a young soldier doing national service. His take on it was essentially that those on the ground were terrified that they would be ordered to fire on the protesters, which matches with a few other assessments I’ve seen that by that stage it was doubtful that any such order would have been obeyed by local commanders had it been given.
D&M
The Women’s peace movement in Northern Ireland?
Apart from giving the two most undeserved Nobel Prizes (although Obama was close) the Peace People did not achieve much at all in its short life.
Certainly it was no longer a player when the hard men came to the table.
@Oakeshott:
“Apart from giving the two most undeserved Nobel Prizes (although Obama was close)”
besides Obama winning for not being Bush:
Henry Kissinger.
Yasser Arafat.
Kofi Annan.
Couple of the earlier awardees don’t bear scrutiny to modern eyes either.
Oakeshott Countrysays:
Certainly it was no longer a player when the hard men came to the table.
______________
Come on they were not hard. Planting bombs and shooting kids is as weak as they come.
Holy shit this is some insane footage. It feels like it’s straight out of a movie
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2025/7/3/iran-releases-video-of-israeli-strike-on-tehran-in-june
For context the strike occurs in between a surgery and an elementary school.
This quote from Kevin Bonham applies to most of Murdoch’s ‘journalism’:
“The Australian was stupid enough to report this nonsense semi-credulously and should take a few years off pretending to be a newspaper in shame.”
https://kevinbonham.blogspot.com/2025/07/2025-federal-election-pollster.html
From Trumplandia 2.0
Elon Musk announces his own political party, America Party. Now he’s going to realise just how unpopular is actually is!
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/05/elon-musk-third-party-00440033
From Monday Trump will be issuing letters to around a dozen countries announcing tariffs on imports in a re-escalation of the trade war. What is it with this obsession he has with tariffs?!
https://www.axios.com/2025/07/05/trump-tariffs-letters
We thought Trump 1.0 was like a Mob Boss presidency. Welcome to Trump 2.0, the true Mafia Presidency.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/07/welcome-mafia-presidency/683433/
32 people killed in Texas floods as the search continues for at least 12 more missing people.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/07/05/texas-flooding-camp-mystic-kerrville-kerr/
Texas cops four months of rainfall in four hours. How meteorologists were taken by surprise at the weather. Those DOGE cuts to weather and storm forecasting services look real smart now!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/07/04/texas-flooding-extreme-rains/
As the planet heats, extreme rain is becoming more extreme. Those of us in Sydney are well aware of this.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/climate/texas-flood-climate-change.html
Trump ramps up the creativity, cruelty and severity of his immigration policies, with extra funding, stunts and performative cruelty.
https://www.axios.com/2025/07/05/trump-migrants-alligator-alcatraz-denaturalize
Hegseth falsely cited weapons shortages in the US before stopping shipping to Ukraine, say the Democrats.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/05/hegseth-weapons-shipments-ukraine
The US is switching sides as Trump keeps giving Putin every incentive to continue killing Ukrainians.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/07/putin-trump-russia-ukraine/683414/
Trump says he will begin talks with China over a TikTok deal. Let me guess: a 2 week timeframe?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/us/politics/trump-china-tiktok.html
Why some economists see devastating consequences in the massive debt Trump’s Big Ugly Bill has placed on the country.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/economists-deficit-increase-trumps-bill-dangerous/story?id=123481401
Trump got $170 billion for immigration and to support his 1M per year mass deportations. Now he has to use it.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/05/trump-got-170-billion-for-immigration-now-he-has-to-enact-it-00439785
Days after SCOTUS stopped lower courts from blocking Trump’s agenda, 8 migrants are deported to South Sudan after their legal challenges were halted.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-administration-deports-8-migrants-south-sudan/story?id=123499255
World News & Politics Patrol:
A major Russian gas pipeline near Vladivostok, which supplies several military facilities, has exploded: https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-emergencies/4011919-major-russian-gas-pipeline-explodes-near-vladivostok-intelligence.html
Trump says Putin ‘wants to keep killing people,’ signals US may send Patriots to Ukraine: https://kyivindependent.com/trump-says-putin-wants-to-keep-killing-people-signals-us-may-send-patriots-to-ukraine-06-2025/
Trump evokes Russia sanctions after largest drone assault on Ukraine: https://www.rte.ie/news/ukraine/2025/0705/1522018-ukraine-russia/
Russia seeks to involve Laos in war against Ukraine, military intelligence claims: https://kyivindependent.com/russia-seeks-to-involve-laos-in-war-against-ukraine-military-intelligence-claims-06-2025/
Iran’s supreme leader makes first public appearance since Iran-Israel war started: https://apnews.com/article/iran-supreme-leader-khamenei-043446abab8fc658d46e5759ae18e58a
Female off-duty police officer beaten by mob at London Tube station after challenging fare dodgers: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/police-officer-attacked-mob-wood-green-station-fare-dodgers-b1236524.html
Palestine Action has now been proscribed by the UK Government and expressing support for them is a criminal offence. This includes chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles such as flags, signs or logos: https://x.com/metpoliceuk/status/1941446848050348484
Rally held in Tel Aviv to call for the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza: https://www.euronews.com/2025/07/05/rally-held-in-tel-aviv-to-call-for-the-release-of-the-remaining-hostages-held-in-gaza
Don’t call it ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Call it a concentration camp: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/immigration-alligator-alcatraz-concentration-camp-rcna216874
Kamala Harris Sparks MAGA Meltdown With Fourth of July Post: https://www.thedailybeast.com/kamala-harris-sparks-maga-meltdown-with-fourth-of-july-post/
Elon Musk Announces Plan To Make ‘America Party’: https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-announces-plan-make-america-party-2095031
Texas Officials Slam Trump’s National Weather Service for Botched Forecast: https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-officials-slam-donald-trumps-national-weather-service-for-bad-forecast/
Most Americans Believe ICE Has ‘Gone Too Far’ Enforcing Trump’s Immigration Crackdown, Poll Shows: https://www.latintimes.com/most-americans-believe-ice-has-gone-too-far-enforcing-trumps-immigration-crackdown-poll-shows-586137
Tennessee man pardoned for Jan. 6 offenses gets life in prison in separate case accusing him of trying in incite “civil war”: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/edward-kelley-january-6-pardon-life-in-prison-conspiracy-civil-war/
Measles cases surge to record high since disease was declared eliminated in the US: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/05/health/measles-cases-us-record-since-elimination
Good news roundup:
Thanks Confessions & Holdenhillbilly
Douglas and Milko @ 8.19pm:
“Anyway, Nouméa gives me hope.”
—————————————————————————–
French colonialism has always involved far less racial discrimination than its British equivalent. The French are far more prepared to accept as social equals anyone who is willing to speak French and adopt the broader French culture. Full credit to the French for this part of their national character.
However, if the natives ever get any ideas about throwing off the shackles of French rule, then, another, far less attractive side of the French national character tends to emerge. Ask the Algerians.
Has France ever willingly allowed one of its colonies to become independent? I can’t immediately think of an example.
Jeepers, the SmearStralian is in meltdown at the gall of Albo in declaring an Australian foreign policy.
Apparently ‘The Australian Way’ speech by Albo is insufficiently arse-kissing of Trump for the Murdoch’s satisfaction.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/
#weatheronPB
Smudges smear the sky,
blue appearing here and there,
the path uncertain.
Stoogey Lurkersays:
Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 9:58 pm
Since the loss of confidence with Keynesian economics in the early 1970s, governments have lost the ability to govern for the many and have focussed too much on the interests of the few. Hopefully, the current government can use Curtin and Chifley’s example to correct this imbalance and lead us into a new era of prosperity.
_______________________
Its not quite correct to be so black and white about whether Keynesian economics is “in” or “not”.
Keynesian theory has been pretty central to most economic models over the last several decades. Global institutions leant i to coordinated stimulus in both 2008 and 2020 (such as thr IMF), and similarly Keynesian equations are used by both our RBA and Treasury.
As I asserted some days again – it’s a win.
Mamdani’s magnificent primary win – What follows
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/07/mamdanis-magnificent-primary-win-what-follows/
Israel: The true superpower? Journalist exposes global threat in explosive Sydney talk
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/07/israel-the-true-superpower-journalist-exposes-global-threat-in-explosive-sydney-talk/
“In a searing address to a sold-out crowd in Sydney on Saturday night 28 June 2025, award-winning Australian investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein declared that Israel has quietly become the world’s most dangerous superpower, wielding weapons, surveillance technology, and AI systems perfected on Palestinians to control populations across many countries.
After the premiere screening of The Palestine Laboratory at Dendy Cinemas in Newtown, Loewenstein laid bare how Israel’s unique fusion of military, intelligence, and technology industries — tested on occupied Palestinian populations — has transformed it into a global leader in repressive technology, arms sales and digital warfare.
The event was hosted by Palestine Justice Movement Sydney and The Jewish Council of Australia, drawing a packed audience eager to hear one of the world’s most outspoken critics of Israeli policy.”
GA
Victoria police charge man over synagogue fire
Victoria police say a man has been charged after a suspicious fire at a synagogue in East Melbourne on Friday night.
The 34-year-old NSW man was arrested in Melbourne city at about 8.15pm on Saturday. He was interviewed by detectives and charged with reckless conduct endangering life, reckless conduct endangering serious injury, criminal damage by fire, and possession of a controlled weapon.
Morning all. Thanks Confessions and HH for the excellent foreign roundups this morning. Thanks also to Douglas and Milko for her lovely post on New Caledonia last night.
Confessions
“ From Monday Trump will be issuing letters to around a dozen countries announcing tariffs on imports in a re-escalation of the trade war. What is it with this obsession he has with tariffs?!”
https://www.axios.com/2025/07/05/trump-tariffs-letters
There is a simple answer to Trump’s obsession with tariffs – tax revenue. Trump’s big beautiful bill results in a huge debt. Trump ought to raise taxes to pay for it but that is not the GOP way. Tariffs do it indirectly.
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/06/a-distracted-world-marches-steadily-towards-catastrophe/ …
Does anyone know if Albo’s speech last night was recorded and if there’s a link to watch it back?
Sprocket 8:15am
I am Murdoch-free in my news reading habits. Is there anywhere else you could recommend that covers Albo’s speech last night at the Curtain Institute? Is there a video or a link to the full text?
OC
That is true. Hopefully the movement contributed to efforts to get the two sides together, but I need to find a decent history.
Arky @ #620 Saturday, July 5th, 2025 – 10:22 pm
Arky I thought you would enjoy this bit 🙂
On Insiders, Liberal up-and-comer Melissa McIntosh wasn’t that great talking about childcare: she needs to learn to slow down and take more breaths.
However, once the topic switched to female representation within the Liberal Party, I found her quite impressive.
Confessions @ #584 Saturday, July 5th, 2025 – 6:50 pm
Your and C@T’s mate GG’s attitude, entirely.
Mick
I found this surprisingly fair coverage of Albo’s speech at Nine. It is only excerpts though, not the full text.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/anthony-albanese-makes-subtle-attempt-to-distance-australia-reliance-on-usa-keynote-speech-john-curtin/94528e5d-a6d2-4a2a-b04f-1d191b9a2aa5