⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Saturday, 9 May 2026

Bluesky says Australian politics dominated discourse ahead of Farrer by-election, with housing, antisemitism inquiry, and One Nation’s rise the focal points.

BlueSky #auspol  ·  09 May 2026, 05:29 AEST  ·  504 posts  ·  AI-generated

The 24 hours to 9 May saw intense discussion of the Farrer federal by-election, dominated by concerns about One Nation’s grip on the seat and tensions within the Coalition. The race centred on independent Michelle Milthorpe versus Liberal incumbent and One Nation candidate David Farley, with polls suggesting either Hanson’s party or Milthorpe could prevail after more than 70 years of Coalition control. Separately, Julie Bishop resigned as Australian National University chancellor following months of pressure over financial management and governance scandals, while the ongoing Royal Commission into Antisemitism drew criticism for accepting testimony without rigorous scrutiny.

Key issues crystallised around several themes. Housing remained contested, with Labor pledging a budget boost to counter One Nation while critics attacked negative gearing and urged public housing investment. The Farrer contest itself reflected broader fractures: the Coalition’s rightward shift and preference deal with One Nation, independent candidates’ growing appeal, and rural voter disenchantment. Finally, debate over returning Australian ISIS brides and their children versus Australian fighters in the Israeli Defence Force exposed perceived double standards in legal accountability and media coverage.

The dominant tone was fractious. One post noted Hanson’s retraction of an apology within 24 hours, prompting bitter quips about authoritarian media control. Another viral post described One Nation’s campaign as disorganised—”like a bit of a chook raffle”—suggesting incompetence at the grassroots. Beneath the by-election theatre ran deeper anxiety about democratic norms, state accountability, and Australia’s geopolitical alignment.

Top topics: Farrer By-Election  ·  One Nation Rise  ·  Housing Policy  ·  Antisemitism Inquiry  ·  Coalition Tensions

AI-generated from BlueSky #auspol posts.

Donations Data Has Changed — +3 rows in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and 2015-16 and 2016-17 and 2017-18 and 2018-19 and 2024-25 – Interest update

Donations Data Has Changed — +3 rows in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and 2015-16 and 2016-17 and 2017-18 and 2018-19 and 2024-25 [link]

Australian Signals Directorate awards Hewlett Packard Enterprise $5.4 million in ICT hardware contracts

The Australian Signals Directorate has awarded two ICT hardware contracts worth a combined $5.4 million to Hewlett Packard Enterprise Australia, with the agreements running through to 2031. The larger contract, valued at $5.1 million, spans five years from April 2026 to June 2031, while a second agreement worth $287,000 covers a five-year period from April 2026 to April 2031.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is a multinational enterprise technology company that provides servers, storage, networking equipment, and hybrid cloud infrastructure to government and commercial clients. The company was established in 2015 when the original Hewlett-Packard split into two entities, with HPE focusing on enterprise IT infrastructure and services. HPE operates from Rhodes in New South Wales and serves clients across government research, defence, and corporate sectors with products ranging from AI supercomputing systems to secure networking solutions.

The contracts were awarded through open tender processes. ICT hardware procurement for intelligence and defence agencies typically encompasses computing servers, storage arrays, networking equipment, and related infrastructure components that must meet stringent security standards including compliance with the Information Security Manual published by the Australian Signals Directorate.

Sources: hpe.com; buy.nsw.gov.au; asd.gov.au [link]

All tenders

The Fed Govt announced $21,371,661 in contracts. Top of the list was HEWLETT PACKARD AUSTRALIA LTD ($5,400,677) [link]

Consultant Tenders

$114,853,359 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $2,681,808 yesterday. – PWC: $500,000 – KPMG: $1,650,368 – EY: $531,440 {772} [link]

What’s Parliament doing

Parliament… is not sitting today. There are no committees today. {69} [link]

Flights

The VIP fleet flew at least 985 km in the last few days. That’s 1 plane doing 2 flights over 1 hrs and 40 mins and costing around $7,670. [link]

Fed Govt Outsourced labour costs

Government Temporary Staff Tenders in the last day: $3,597,522 [link]

How does the tender money flow…

YTD tenders for Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency: $258,651 {2} [link]

Donations

$798,120 in Federal political donations from Ampol. {836} [link]

Politician Expenses

Rebecca White (Reps, Lyons, Lab) claimed $365,748 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $335,229 less than the average. #auspol [link]

Double Donors

Seven West Media donated $23,700 in 2023-24. That was $11,500 to Labor and $12,200 to the Coalition. {7651} #auspol [link]

Parliamentary attendance

Matt Thistlethwaite (representatives, Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party) attended 86.2% of possible votes. [link]

Votes-Like-Taylor-O-Meter

Sam Lim (Reps, Tangney, Lab) is 43.29% Angus Taylor [link]

Political advertising on Google

Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $38,100. (YTD: $1,839,150) [link]

Political advertising on Facebook

Political advertising on Facebook yesterday: $93,552. (YTD: $642,607) [link]

Votes-Like-Joyce-O-Meter

Jenny McAllister (Sen, NSW, Lab) is 44.34% Barnaby Joyce. {446} [link]