⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Monday, 28 September 2026
Today’s Political Gadgets digest covers: MP expenses: Terry Young (Longman, Lib Nat) — $556,598 over 4 quarters; Political advertising: Google $9,000 (YTD $3,621,900).
Today’s digest includes:
- MP expenses: Terry Young (Longman, Lib Nat) — $556,598 over 4 quarters
- Political advertising: Google $9,000 (YTD $3,621,900)
Bluesky says Labor’s AI accountability stance and One Nation’s grifting dominate Australian political discourse.
BlueSky #auspol · 28 September 2026, 05:29 AEST · 415 posts · AI-generated
The dominant tension across the 415 posts centres on two overlapping crises: the OpenAI breach of Australian government websites and the unfolding revelations about One Nation’s predatory candidate-funding scheme. On the first, commenters express frustration that Labor appears reluctant to hold the US tech firm legally accountable, with Greg Sheridan’s argument against prosecution drawing particular scorn. On the second, former One Nation members describe a systematic money grab, with candidates charged hidden fees up to $5,500 and describing the party as a “scam” rather than a political organisation.
Key Issues include the AI regulation debate, where the Coalition and commenters clash over whether penalising breaches would deter investment; One Nation’s internal dysfunction, which multiple posts suggest undermines its electoral threat despite polling gains; and the cost-of-living crisis, with recurring posts noting that JobSeeker recipients face weekly shortfalls of $250–$428 after basic expenses. A fourth theme concerns data centres, where posts question whether Australian voters understand the scale, purpose, or environmental cost of planned AI facilities.
The standout exchange features journalist Amy Remeikis arguing that “the sensible centre is somewhere sitting with Pauline Hanson at the moment,” prompting widespread agreement that “civility politics” has allowed fringe positions to shift the mainstream debate. The overall tone is one of frustration with political elites across both major parties, combined with exasperation at One Nation’s apparent appeal despite transparent internal corruption.
Top topics: AI Accountability Stance · One Nation Funding Scheme · AI Regulation Debate · Cost-of-Living Crisis · Data Centre Environmental Impact
AI-generated from BlueSky #auspol posts.
More Google political advertising coverage
We’ve upgraded our Google political advertising coverage to aggregate parties, make it searchable, and more. Have a play at: [link]
Consultant Tenders
$503,511,390 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $0 yesterday. {1569} [link]
Flights
The VIP fleet flew at least 16,564 km in the last few days. That’s 1 plane doing 4 flights over 21 hrs and 48 mins and costing around $349,062. [link]
Politician Expenses
Terry Young (Reps, Longman, Lib Nat) claimed $556,598 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $43,525 less than the median. #auspol [link]
Double Donors
Idameneo (No.789) donated $122,100 in 2024-25. That was $52,200 to Labor and $69,900 to the Coalition. {343} [link]
Parliamentary attendance
Terry Young (Reps, Longman, Liberal National Party) attended 62% of possible votes. [link]
Political advertising on Google
Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $9,000. (YTD: $3,621,900) [link]
Political advertising on Facebook
Political advertising on Facebook on 24 Sep: $121,077 ($30.4m so far in 2026). Top spender: Queensland Government ($9,823). Biggest categories: Advocacy $34k, Party/Candidate $20k, Charity $19k. Full breakdown: https://politicalgadgets.com/SocialMedia/facebook_stats/2026-09-24.html [link]
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