Erialc

Time to be brave Labor-deal “issues of integrity, religious protections, climate, sanctioning Israel, tax reform, poverty, inequality and housing “. No excuses, this is Australia’s chance. #auspol #binnight www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politic...

A nice piece about the challenges Australia's bigfeet, aka macropods, face. Great to see a cracking photo of Australia's best macropod, the antilopine wallaroo/kangaroo, in the article. Some comments from me too. news.mongabay.com/2026/10/worl... - @cooperwilliams.bsky.social @mongabay.com

So after all the Howard Govt's efforts in bugging the East Timor government to get Woodside an advantage in the Sunrise gas project, Woodside is selling out for not much. Little Timor now left with job of finding partners to finally develop the thing. www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jon...

Neither of the people in this photograph are qualified for an academic job (see also "Professor" Bill Shorten). I like Ardern a lot, and creating a role using her experience for mentoring is great, but hospitals don't say "we've hired Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman to do heart surgeries this month."

After 5 years of study, WA's independent environmental watchdog found Woodside's Browse gas project was an unacceptable environmental risk on multiple grounds. Read the confidential 2023 documents obtained by Boiling Cold in my story in The Guardian.

"Until defence leadership in London and Canberra abandons the Humpty Dumpty approach to terminology, where “on track” means whatever is politically expedient, the SSN-AUKUS program will remain trapped in a cycle of symbolic milestones" Peter Briggs johnmenadue.com/post/2026/10...

Tiny and beautiful lawn cohabitant. Erodium cicutarium or Common Storks'bill.

The lessons from Brazil and Serbia? Don't concede one inch of ground to the far right. Don't appease. Don't triangulate. Don't grovel. Don't say they have "legitimate concerns". Mobilise your base, and fight them with all the democratic means at your disposal.

The Tech Bros want to strip-mine Australia for their AI. Govt is letting them. Monte Dwyer reckons some serious oversight is in order. #auspol #Anthropic michaelwest.com.au/anthropic-ai...

Wombat antics! 🥰

Finally, a raisin to visit Mildura

Recently, there was quite a furore in Australia's parliament about invasive species management. It seemed to me there was some misunderstanding about terminology & the very important reasons for controlling some introduced & invasive species. So, I wrote this 👉 theconversation.com/calling-spec...

Thelymitra pauciflora (slender sun orchid) variations near the Genoa River, East Gippsland, VIC - pink and blue forms flowering next to each other. #orchids #inthefield #ozplants #spring #wildflowers

#Australia Not all men, but certainly this one?

The Audio has frogs and tiny shrub bird calls @drhilary.bsky.social

Galahs fighting over pole position. Amyton, South Australia.

Family and federal court transcripts appear to have been sent offshore by transcription company VIQ, and whistleblowers raised the alarm over a decade ago. At Estimates today I asked the AG’s Department which agencies were exposed and they couldn’t tell me. We need a full audit.

Obviously I want the utmost damage to Trump in the midterms, for Congress to constrain him & for a Democrat president in a couple years time. But honestly something broke in my relationship w America when Trump won the second time. I can't imagine feeling excited for an American president again.

Wagga Wagga council just approved sale of land for a huge fucking data centre near the city.

Seriously? You're the goddam prime minister, presiding over a deliberately destroyed welfare system.

"The country’s first National Climate Risk Assessment might have made a bigger splash in its exploration of the perils Australia faces from a warming world had its release not been delayed by the Albanese government until after the May 2025 election" Peter Hannam johnmenadue.com/post/2026/10...

And yet their own charts *in this piece* show overall crime rates in Melbourne basically static / small fall over 10 years (and aggravated burglary is down about 20%.) The politics of it is because every media outlet in the state chases clicks from scaring the shit out of people - eg this crap.

My article on AUKUS. AUKUS is about madness, militarism and money. Turning Australia into a US military base, sacrificing our sovereignty, and enriching retired politicians, military and public servants while battlers struggle to put food on the table

Water sounds, frog sounds and wee birds calling in a creek in the Taylor Waterway in northern Canberra Australia @drhilary.bsky.social

Your country might be great but does it follow Australia’s lead by colour-coordinating its currency with the nation’s favourite snack foods?

"If university bots graded bots, you would no longer have a university. You’d have a tomb, an academic mausoleum in which digital phantoms murmured emptily" theconversation.com/friday-essay...

Shame we demolished it for a quick buck.

I have refused many invitations to be interviewed by Piers Morgan over the years. This time I made an exception, on the condition that it be one-on-one, not a scream fest, and that it actually be about the book Astra and I wrote. It was... an experience. youtu.be/SMFQBQx-qSU

really appreciated how you and Astra ended the book looking forward to accountability. could not agree more:

“Australia’s nuclear submarine project is a gargantuan Australian subsidy for America’s own defence. This has been hidden from Australians, deliberately. Secrecy is the hallmark of AUKUS. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was deliberately excluded.” johnmenadue.com/post/2026/10...

Echidna!

Thanks Zimmi Forest for great workshop. Random weave basket using invasive pest cats claw vine. #basketweaving #sustainablemaking

Hurting from higher oil prices? Guess who ain’t. Guess who is not saying a word about it as they talk about the need to lower inflation. My column www.theguardian.com/business/gro...

Sure, we should, if we can (many cannot). But as I keep pointing out, the government itself is making no provision at all. No stockpiles, no back-up, no alternative sources. It's individuating the response to a collective problem, and that never ends well. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

ICYMI, a very fine KOS. Suspect the Jean-Claude Juncker quote applies: "We all know what to do, we just don't know how to get re-elected after we've done it." pearlsandirritations.com/post/2026/10...

Found on the Woolies site…some people are funny bastards

One Nation has a nasty idea of what's fun

My verge garden of indigenous wild flowers is blooming beautiful. 🌱 #flowers Gold, red, blue and purple amongst grey-green foliage.

Thelymitra longiloba (marsh sun orchid) in open heathland near Genoa, VIC. Was a bit late this year to see a lot of flowering at this location with only one still out (all other plants nearby had already finished). Flowers are v. small - tip of my little finger included here for scale! #orchids

Video of a regent parrot mum leaving her nest after feeding the kids - old river red gums are critical habitat for these birds but they’re under threat from logging and water stress

On Birdingplaces.com, each 1 of the 10,000+ dots represents a birding area that is described in detail by a local birder. A click on a dot reveals a wealth of birding info. With description, route, map, birdlist and all the info you need. A free resource to discover birding areas worldwide. #Birds

Two sacred kingfishers -terrible phone photography 🤣🪶 #birds

There she is. #moon

Billy buttons-with pollinator and baby pollinator???🌱

Queensland Government. Risking the Great Barrier Reef for a goldmine? Andrew Gardiner reports. Read it here: https://michaelwest.com.au/queensland-government-risking-the-great-barrier-reef-for-a-goldmine/