⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Thursday, 22 October 2026
Today’s Political Gadgets digest covers: Register of Interests: Ellie Whiteaker (WA) — interests updated; Register of Interests: Ross Cadell (NSW) — interests updated; Parliament: not sitting; MP expenses: Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Labor) — $731,187 over 4 quarters.
Today’s digest includes:
- Register of Interests: Ellie Whiteaker (WA) — interests updated
- Register of Interests: Ross Cadell (NSW) — interests updated
- Parliament: not sitting
- MP expenses: Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Labor) — $731,187 over 4 quarters
- Political advertising: Google $27,600 (YTD $3,993,450)
Bluesky says political violence against Helen Haines dominates #auspol as grief and outrage collide with calls for civility
BlueSky #auspol · 22 October 2026, 04:29 AEST · 667 posts · AI-generated
The attack on Indi MP Helen Haines, who has now lost both legs after an alleged vehicle ramming, dominated the 24 hours to 4:29am AEST on 22 October. Posters moved between sympathy and fury, with many arguing the attack reflects a broader problem of threats against politicians, and others directing blame at News Corp, One Nation and the Coalition. Accused driver Brendan Nugent’s court appearance and reports of his mental health history fuelled competing narratives.
Key issues included threats against MPs, with reports that threats to lawmakers doubled between 2021 and 2025, and calls for a royal commission into violence against women. Cost-of-living and housing pressures featured heavily, as RBA warnings of a possible November rate rise and falling house prices in every capital city drew reactions. Data centres faced sustained opposition over water use, power lines and NextDC’s share price drop, while AUKUS, Israel and Gaza remained persistent flashpoints for left-leaning posters criticising Labor.
The standout exchanges centred on the Haines attack, with a post from a Haines supporter describing her as a much-loved parliamentarian and a widely shared post accusing Murdoch media of stoking hate. Overall tone was angry, grieving and polarised, with frequent profanity, and many users seizing the tragedy to condemn their opponents rather than the violence itself.
Top topics: Political Violence Against MPs · Helen Haines Attack · Cost of Living · Housing and Rate Rises · Data Centre Opposition
AI-generated from BlueSky #auspol posts.
Register of Interests Update — Whiteaker, Ellie
Western Australia
Australian Labor Party
Additions
| Person | Item | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Self | Sponsored Travel Or Hospitality | Sponsored economy flights, accomodation and travel allowance paid by European Union Visitor Program September 2026 |
| Self | Other Income | Occasional rental income |
Deletions
None
Register of Interests Update — Cadell, Ross
New South Wales
The Nationals
Additions
| Person | Item | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Self | Sponsored Travel Or Hospitality | Being a former employee and dedicated supporter of my local NRL team the mighty Newcastle Knights, the transformation from 2025 wooden spooners to 2026 grand finalists was electrifying for our passionate region, and while initial plans for the big day were to gather the 3 generations of Cadell men together to watch the spectacle on TV those plans changed thanks to the NRL’s Anthony Trimarchi and his team of dream facilitators who gifted me 4 general admission tickets in section 626 row 25 so my father, sons and I could join 80,000 other league fanatics experience the spectacle that was the 2026 NRL grand final live. While our Knights were unable to become the first team in the NRL era to win the premiership from outside the top four our big hearted team played strong and did us proud, forcing our opponents to have to come back from 12-0 down at half time to wrestle the trophy from us in what was an absolute thriller of a game – Cost unknown |
Deletions
None
CACI-owned Mastodon Design wins $10.2m Defence electronic systems deal
Mastodon Design LLC, a US firm, has been awarded a $10.2 million Department of Defence contract for electronic systems equipment.
Mastodon is based in Rochester, New York. It was founded in 2013 and designs and manufactures rugged signals intelligence (SIGINT), electronic warfare (EW) and cyber operations products. CACI International acquired it in January 2019, alongside the larger LGS Innovations deal. PitchBook lists it with about 132 employees. Its founders are Mark Benoit and Christopher McLaughlin. Its modular radio designs are small, lightweight and low-power.
Its best-known work is for the US Army. In 2024 it won a single-award contract worth up to $498.4 million for the Terrestrial Layer System Brigade Combat Team Manpack. The Manpack is a modular, land-based system that integrates SIGINT and EW signal collection, on-board processing and electronic jammers. GovTrie reports L3Harris as the major subcontractor and about $134.8 million in delivery orders as of June 2026. Competitors named by Crunchbase include BAE Systems, L3Harris and Epirus.
The public sources I found do not describe the scope of the Australian contract.
Sources: govtribe.com; alston.com; militaryaerospace.com; pitchbook.com; crunchbase.com; rbj.net; s21.q4cdn.com [link]
All tenders
The Fed Govt announced $233,020,419 in contracts. Top of the list was CIGNA HEALTH CARE (A-BASED) GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA A-BASED ($133,799,857) CIGNA HEALTH CARE (A-BASED) GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA A-BASED has received $133,799,858 in contracts this year. [link]
Consultant Tenders
$515,044,155 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $342,149 yesterday. – EY: $237,243 – Deloitte: $104,906 {1604} [link]
Flights
The VIP fleet flew at least 4,404 km in the last few days. That’s 2 planes doing 12 flights over 16 hrs and 27 mins and costing around $228,565. [link]
Fed Govt Outsourced labour costs
Government Temporary Staff Tenders in the last day: $6,317,334 [link]
Politician Expenses
Jo Briskey (Reps, Maribyrnong, Labor) claimed $731,187 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $83,481 more than the median. #auspol [link]
Double Donors
TABCORP HOLDINGS donated $193,093 in 2024-25. That was $100,263 to Labor and $92,830 to the Coalition. {9581} [link]
Parliamentary attendance
Lisa Chesters (Reps, Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) attended 78% of possible votes. [link]
Political advertising on Google
Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $27,600. (YTD: $3,993,450) [link]
Political advertising on Facebook
Political advertising on Facebook on 18 Oct: $168,043 ($33.8m so far in 2026). Top spender: Queensland Government ($9,193). Biggest categories: Party/Candidate $42k, Advocacy $33k, Business $26k. Full breakdown: https://politicalgadgets.com/SocialMedia/facebook_stats/2026-10-18.html [link]
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