Consider a migration system that explicitly said we're only allowing people to come to the country to do jobs at lower wages and with less investment needed for local training – while sacrificing the pro-social migration rules that promote Australia as an open, welcoming place – might fuel tensions?

I'm gonna be driving down to Canberra and Sydney at the start of September (cos I can't look at screens while I'm driving) so if you're there or enroute either way, hit me up for a coffee and a chinwag.

You may have seen the news about KMart's smart glasses selling out. Smart glasses are being marketed as a lifestyle accessory but they're actually covert recording devices that anyone can buy off the shelf; we should be treating them that way.

While I understand and appreciate there are kids with unique circumstances that need some flexibility in their education, one of my most conservative beliefs is that for everyone else, no-one should get the nice special schooling until everyone's able to access it.

Montessori learning is being shut down at Leah’s school – is a push towards ‘explicit instruction’ to blame?

Critics say the one size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for all students and there are questions about the body that helped design it

theguardian.com

I got so annoyed at Betoota posting about brick six packs I made a slide deck.

I wish I could remember who here remarked that one of the defining features of Teals is that their leadership and voters are genuine technocratic liberals in the purest sense. They don't want member control over policy and strategy, they want someone who is the Most Qualified in charge.

Guardian Australia@australia.theguardian.com · last wk.

I’m running against the prime minister to stand up to a system that has facilitated the success of Pauline Hanson | Hannah Ferguson

A Royal Commission into the ENTIRE Victorian construction sector, you say? That's SO INTERESTING.

#BREAKING 🚨 Labor in their draft 2026 platform have replaced their previous statement of belief 'that there should not be poverty in a country like Australia' with a 'recognition' the social security system should support 'better health and wellbeing'.

Tom Studans@maximumwelfare.bsky.social · 2w ago

ALP conference somehow even more sauceless than everyone thought it would be this year. Not you, internet smart guy. You already knew it would be bad. I mean even among attendees who had properly calibrated their expectations to 'zero'.

Once again the issue of the ACT Assembly's constitution being unfit for modern governance is a hot topic – with the resignation of the Deputy Chief Minister last week causing a talent crisis followed quickly by an independent review finding there's simply not enough MLAs to run a territory.

ACT needs a bigger Assembly and it'd be cheaper than adding a local council: review

A bigger Assembly is 'more cost-effective' than local councils.

canberratimes.com.au

I hosted Christmas in July last night 🎅

Philanthropy Australia's conference is coming to Brisbane next month and I thought I might see if I can go along to network for some of the grassroots arts and urban organisations I work with. Tickets are $2,900 each... That's more than some of organisations I work with have in annual income...

Late last year, there was a shocking revelation that the median age of a Queensland LNP member was 72. Today it's been revealed that the Liberals nationwide have a median age well into the 60s and overwhelmingly male. The median Australian is 38 and the median voter is 44 – both Millennials.

If all you can ever point to as to why there'll be more local growth despite low wages, poor job prospects and skyrocketing house prices is "the weather", don't be surprised if your major city gets a huge brain drain and just becomes Australia's retirement village.

Brisbane’s planning zones are changing, but these suburbs remain ‘locked down’

Brisbane has some of the strictest residential zoning in the country when it comes to detached houses.

brisbanetimes.com.au

Australian cities are upzoning to allow for more apartments and townhouses, with the aim of getting more homes built. But policy makers need better tools to assess how effective these policies can be. It all starts with better understanding commercial feasibility. 🧵

🗣️🗣️🗣️ homemade passionfruit cordial with passionfruit I grew myself 🗣️🗣️🗣️

Forgetting your headphones when you're walking to the shops is great for idly dreaming of the kinds of things you'd do if money was no object. This time I was thinking about how much I miss News Magazines – and what I value about newspapers today that I don't see enough of. And I dreamt of this:

While ambitious homebuyers might have previously looked to Brisbane for "value for money" to get a large house on a large block of land within a reasonable commute – those days are behind us and they're never coming back. Brisbane needs to get used to being a big city. The future is flats.

Brisbane’s lost its affordability crown. But is our lifestyle worth it?

In just 12 months, the income required for a couple to buy a median-priced home in Brisbane has risen by about $14,000 per person.

brisbanetimes.com.au

Divisions in the House are performances. The function they serve is to create vision for social media and TV. The problem with inefficiency on one hand and ensuring voters' know the outcomes of votes on the other isn't to reform divisions – it's to have mandatory electronic voting on all motions.

JSCEM's interim report into the 2025 Federal Election is out and mainly deals with safety and voter experience at polling booths – recommending mandatory codes of conduct and volunteer registration systems and new political signage restrictions – but this is the one that jumped out. ABOUT TIME!

If the federal government actually wanted to help kids from low-SES backgrounds go to uni, they'd expand access to Youth Allowance to kids over 15 in low-income families and significantly increase the rate so kids didn't have to work to pay rent or support their family while they study.

What to know about the government's proposed university reforms

The government will spend an extra $3.6 billion over a decade on new university places, but some are warning the money could be wasted.

abc.net.au

Despite being our leanest year for public funding, gamemakers came through and helped Freeplay raise a RECORD amount of money for Parallels this year. Because of that, we've slashed ticket prices bigly and we're going to livestream the event for free to everyone!

Freeplay@free-play.bsky.social · last mo.

We did it 🤑✨ our EOFY appeal for Parallels '26 didn't just hit the goal. We sailed right past it. Because of your generosity: working artists can afford to come, tickets are cheaper for everyone, and WE'RE LIVESTREAMING so no-one misses out. 💛 artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2...

I’m insanely late to the party but damn For All Mankind is stellar television.

I got my mum reassessed for MyAgedCare for the first time in five years and she got assessed for the highest tier of Support At Home and a bunch of other services. But the medium term outcome is me being out of pocket an extra $500 a month for her care – to a total of $7,500 a year.

I don't know how it happened by I've started doing the Nixon from Futurama "awoo" noise

Forty PATRIOTS joining us to wage WAR on the housing CRISIS by SACRIFICING their lunch break.

Greater Brisbane 🏗️@greaterbrisbane.org · 2mo ago

Fantastic turnout at this today’s lunch chat on how we can tackle Brisbane’s housing crisis hosted by @grattaninstitute.bsky.social with Andrew Messenger from @australia.theguardian.com, Dr Rachel Gallagher and Natalie Rayment from YIMBY QLD.

The Lead Paint Theory of Anti Gentrification holds that activists can prevent displacement and preserve housing affordability by preserving neighborhood disamenities and blocking investment in quality of life improvements like parks, bike lanes, and libraries. It does not work.

Sam Gould@form67.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I attended an urban infrastructure panel where a UC Berkeley professor argued that libraries were gentrification. I am really struggling to see how this is different from a Republican position of denying knowledge, tools, and technology to low income, disadvantaged neighborhoods.

I’m used to Con Funk from nerd events but I’m at RACQ MotorFest today and there’s a whole distinct new funk for car nerds. I can only describe it as smoking a pack of black market cigarettes, soaked in mushroom soup made with the mould scraped off an armchair that hasn’t been cleaned in a decade.

🐸🔫 put the money in the bag

Freeplay@free-play.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Help make sure Parallels stays open to everyone. Donate to Freeplay’s end of financial year appeal. x artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2...

The Tele out today with a bold “ban election campaigning” stance

A common political archetype that’s critical to understanding the world today is the guy who gets so incensed at the idea of someone else getting something they don’t deserve that they think everyone’s scamming, so they should scam it too — then gets angry when their unfair benefit gets taken away.