⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Saturday, 7 November 2026

Bluesky says Jillian Segal row, AUKUS and One Nation dominate #auspol as US midterm fallout spills over

BlueSky #auspol  ·  07 November 2026, 04:29 AEST  ·  584 posts  ·  AI-generated

Debate over Commissioner Jillian Segal’s antisemitism work and the AUKUS submarine deal dominated the 24 hours to Saturday morning, with many posters demanding the Prime Minister sack her and scrap AUKUS. The Trump-era midterm results were also widely read as a warning for Australian governments, with commentators arguing Labor should draw a lesson on cost of living and foreign alliances. Posters across the spectrum tied these threads together, linking the US midterms to Australian debates over Israel, the US alliance and the cost of living.

Key issues included the AUKUS public inquiry report, which posters said confirmed the deal was a costly “worst ever” decision, and proposed second submarine base sites at Newcastle and Port Kembla. One Nation dominated the other conversation, with scrutiny of its $3,000-a-head Sydney fundraiser non-disclosure agreements, the removal of pages linking its policies to Donald Trump, and a resurfaced 2016 clip of Pauline Hanson celebrating Trump’s first win. Cost-of-living concerns featured heavily, from Qantas fare rises and the David Jones administration to inflation and the RBA. Victorian and NSW state politics, including the Jess Wilson campaign bus crash and a string of NSW Liberal resignations, rounded out the day’s discussion.

The most-liked posts included a Michael West Media item on the AUKUS report, and a widely shared post from Qld Labor-aligned account reposting Hanson’s 2016 Trump celebration. Overall tone was highly partisan and angry, with frequent calls to “sack Segal,” “dump AUKUS” and “put LNP last,” though many posts were spam or automated trending-hashtag bots that inflated the count.

Top topics: Jillian Segal Antisemitism Row  ·  AUKUS Submarine Deal  ·  One Nation Controversies  ·  US Midterm Fallout  ·  Cost of Living

AI-generated from BlueSky #auspol posts.

Defence routes $8.7m sustainment support through US Foreign Military Sales account

The Department of Defence has awarded an $8.7 million sustainment support contract to the FMS Account Reserve Bank of Australia, a New York-based entry.

The supplier is not a conventional company. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) is a US government programme. In it, the US government acts as the contracting intermediary. The buyer sends a Letter of Request, and Washington then contracts with US industry on its behalf. Australia is among the countries that get a shortened 15-day congressional notification period. Once the buyer accepts the offer and makes an initial deposit, the case moves into implementation and execution. Execution is usually the longest phase. It covers manufacturing, supply, maintenance, training and financial management.

Defence's Washington materiel branch manages purchases from the US Department of Defense under FMS. Its FMS directorate handles about 10% of the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group's annual budget, according to an Australian Embassy job advertisement. Analysts at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute have noted that Defence increasingly uses FMS for sustainment as well as acquisition. They argue this does little to build support capability in Australia. For example, they cited a $1.5 billion Super Hornet and Growler sustainment contract.

FMS gives buyers access to US spare parts, depot-level maintenance and sustainment programmes. The tender data does not say which system this contract supports, and the public sources found do not identify it.

Sources: aspistrategist.org.au; usa.embassy.gov.au; corvusintell.com; everycrsreport.com; waru.edu [link]

All tenders

$39,480,990 in Fed Govt contracts given today. Top spend was with FMS ACCOUNT RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA ($8,711,110) FMS ACCOUNT RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA has received $2,423,133,267 in contracts this year. [link]

Consultant Tenders

$559,709,715 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $0 yesterday. {389} [link]

Flights

The VIP fleet flew at least 1,780 km in the last few days. That’s 2 planes doing 4 flights over 3 hrs and 27 mins and costing around $15,908. [link]

What’s Parliament doing

Parliament… is not sitting today. There are no committees today. {61} [link]

Fed Govt Outsourced labour costs

Government Temporary Staff Tenders in the last day: $8,376,903 [link]

How does the tender money flow…

YTD tenders for Australian Public Service Commission: $14,504,051 [link]

Donations

Schaffer Corporation made $589,921 in Federal political donations. [link]

Politician Expenses

Alison Penfold (Reps, Lyne, Nat) claimed $611,946 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $35,760 less than the median. #auspol [link]

Double Donors

Bayer Australia donated $61,609 in 2024-25. That was $30,000 to Labor and $31,609 to the Coalition. {6990} [link]

Parliamentary attendance

Madonna Jarrett (Reps, Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) attended 98% of possible votes. [link]

Political advertising on Google

Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $2,100. (YTD: $4,991,100) [link]

Political advertising on Facebook

Political advertising on Facebook on 3 Nov: $151,156 ($36.4m so far in 2026). Top spender: Victorian Labor ($16,366). Biggest categories: Party/Candidate $52k, Advocacy $30k, Other $18k. Full breakdown: https://politicalgadgets.com/SocialMedia/facebook_stats/2026-11-03.html [link]

Votes-Like-Taylor-O-Meter

Melissa Price (Reps, Durack, Lib) is 99.60% Angus Taylor [link]

Politicians’ Shareholding Index

End of week amusement – here is our index of politicians’ shareholdings measured against the index. [link]

Federal Grants – Last 24 Hours

In the last 24 hours the Australian Government awarded $47,174,941 across 24 grants. Biggest: National Heavy Vehicle Regulator ($19,392,000). Full electorate breakdown: https://politicalgadgets.com/grants/map/ [link]