⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Friday, 30 October 2026
Today’s Political Gadgets digest covers: Parliament: not sitting; Political advertising: Google $76,500 (YTD $4,398,600).
Today’s digest includes:
- Parliament: not sitting
- Political advertising: Google $76,500 (YTD $4,398,600)
Bluesky says One Nation, Gina Rinehart and the cost of living dominate #auspol as Labor faces growing left and right pressure
BlueSky #auspol · 30 October 2026, 04:29 AEST · 533 posts · AI-generated
The day’s conversation was driven by One Nation, with Pauline Hanson’s party drawing sustained criticism over a colouring book, racist stickers targeting Senator Lidia Thorpe, and a staffing dispute that users framed as hypocrisy. Many posters tied the party to mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, whose funding was described as a driver of divisive campaigning, while the Victorian and New South Wales state elections were frequently referenced.
Key issues included AUKUS, which many users called for scrapping over cost and US alignment, alongside renewed calls for a wealth tax and higher taxes on gas exports and billionaires. Inflation and interest rates were a second major thread, with posts criticising the RBA, the Coalition’s “silent tax” framing from Andrew Hastie, and rising fuel prices. Israel and Gaza, including calls to sanction Israel and a proposed Australian embassy and defence ties debate, generated a large volume of posts, as did the Labor government’s move to restrict AI data centres near homes.
The tone was overwhelmingly hostile toward both major parties, with left-leaning users attacking Labor from the left and conservatives largely absent from the most-engaged threads. A widely liked post from Strangerous, with over 200 likes, showed Senator Barbara Pocock pressing ASIC over the KPMG data leak scandal, while a viral post from Milton Dick praising the Speaker’s removal of Llew O’Brien for swearing at the Prime Minister drew more than 130 likes. Many posts were partisan or abusive, and several promoted satire, activism or independent candidates rather than debating policy directly.
Top topics: One Nation Controversy · Gina Rinehart Funding · AUKUS Scrapping · Inflation and Interest Rates · Israel and Gaza
AI-generated from BlueSky #auspol posts.
Register of Interests Update — Fatima Payman
Western Australia
Australia's Voice · Australia's Voice Whip
Additions
None
Deletions
| Person | Item | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Self | Sponsored Travel Or Hospitality | Qantas Chairmans Lounge Membership – provider Qantas |
| Self | Sponsored Travel Or Hospitality | Virgin Club Membership – provider Virgin |
Register of Interests Update — Sue Lines
Western Australia
Australian Labor Party · President of the Senate
Additions
| Person | Item | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Self | Gifts | 20 October 2026 – Flower & Mantra Ray hand blown glass gifted by H.E. Surangel S. Whipps Jr., President of the Republic of Palau |
Deletions
None
What they’re talking about
Most used words in parliament on 29 Oct 2026: GAS (177) ALP (171) QUESTION (145) TAX (140) … [link]
Chemring Australia: the Victorian flare maker behind a Defence weapons deal
Chemring Australia Pty Ltd has won a Department of Defence military weapons contract worth about $10.2 million.
Chemring Australia is based in Lara, near Geelong, Victoria. It is part of the UK-owned Chemring Group, which has factories in the UK, Europe, the US and Australia. The group makes countermeasures such as chaff and flares, equipment to detect and destroy improvised explosive devices, and grenades and ammunition. A directory listing gives the Australian business a 1966 founding date and about 60 employees. Its Lara site covers 60 hectares and is described by the group as one of the world's most advanced countermeasures plants. It uses remotely operated, automated production.
The company develops, produces and tests air-launched countermeasure flares. Its products include the KC-38 36mm infrared decoy flare, which is used to defeat heat-seeking missiles. Its traditional business has been supplying the Australian forces, including flares for RAAF aircraft. In 2020 it won a US$107.5 million US Navy contract to supply flares for Australian, US and international F-35 operators, after a qualification effort that began in 2011. A later US Navy contract modification covered 19,570 MJU-68/B flares, with about 32% of the work to be done in Lara.
The Lara plant was upgraded with an $18 million investment, supported by the Victorian Government's LIFT fund and the US DoD's Cornerstone agreement. Government has described domestic munitions manufacturing as one of its Sovereign Industry Capability Priorities. Chemring Group has also signed an MoU with Thales Australia on future grenades.
Sources: asiapacificdefencereporter.com; chemring.com; sldinfo.com; defensedaily.com; austandnzdefence.com; en.wikipedia.org [link]
All tenders
$78,301,125 in Fed Govt contracts given today. Top spend was with CHEMRING AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ($10,199,052) CHEMRING AUSTRALIA PTY LTD has received $13,299,065 in contracts this year. [link]
Consultant Tenders
$515,477,574 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $0 yesterday. {203} [link]
Flights
The VIP fleet flew at least 2,164 km in the last few days. That’s 2 planes doing 5 flights over 4 hrs and 25 mins and costing around $20,319. [link]
Fed Govt Outsourced labour costs
Government Temporary Staff Tenders in the last day: $12,760,770 [link]
Donations
Australian Automotive Dealer Association made $834,290 in Federal political donations. [link]
Politician Expenses
Kristy Mcbain claimed $737,262 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $89,556 more than the median. #auspol [link]
Double Donors
Network Ten donated $63,000 in 2024-25. That was $33,000 to Labor and $30,000 to the Coalition. {3991} [link]
Parliamentary attendance
Jennifer McAllister (Sen, NSW, Australian Labor Party) attended 77% of possible votes. [link]
Political advertising on Google
Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $76,500. (YTD: $4,398,600) [link]
Political advertising on Facebook
Political advertising on Facebook on 26 Oct: $159,484 ($35.1m so far in 2026). Top spender: Victorian Labor ($24,002). Biggest categories: Party/Candidate $59k, Advocacy $29k, Business $21k. Full breakdown: https://politicalgadgets.com/SocialMedia/facebook_stats/2026-10-26.html [link]
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