⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Tuesday, 28 April 2026
Today’s Political Gadgets digest covers: Parliament: not sitting; MP expenses: Leon Rebello (McPherson, Lib Nat) — $320,054 over 4 quarters; Political advertising: Google $14,550 (YTD $1,501,050); Facebook $93,552 (YTD $642,607).
Today’s digest includes:
- Parliament: not sitting
- MP expenses: Leon Rebello (McPherson, Lib Nat) — $320,054 over 4 quarters
- Political advertising: Google $14,550 (YTD $1,501,050); Facebook $93,552 (YTD $642,607)
Australian CDC Awards $3.6 Million Blood Safety Contract to Melbourne Research Institute
The Australian Centre for Disease Control has awarded a $3.57 million contract to St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research for work on the safety and quality of blood and plasma supplies. The three-month contract, running from late March through June 2026, was awarded under limited tender provisions citing technical reasons for the absence of competition.
St Vincent's Institute is an independent medical research organisation founded in 1951 and based in Fitzroy, Melbourne, with around 250 staff and students. The institute houses the National Serology Reference Laboratory, a global leader in infectious disease testing quality assurance that supports laboratories in more than 70 countries. The NRL holds TGA licensing for blood and tissue donor screening and is designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre. Its services include reference testing for blood-borne infections, quality control programs for diagnostic tests, and contract testing for infectious diseases including HIV, hepatitis B and C.
Blood safety work in Australia involves screening every donation for infectious diseases, blood group compatibility testing, and quality assurance to maintain one of the world's safest blood supplies. The Australian government provides ongoing funding to the National Reference Laboratory to support blood safety initiatives including research, quality assurance and testing services. The newly independent Australian Centre for Disease Control, which became a standalone agency on January 1, 2026, has responsibilities for communicable disease surveillance and health protection.
Sources: svi.edu.au; nrlquality.org.au; health.gov.au; cdc.gov.au [link]
All tenders
$8,168,481 in Fed Govt contracts given today. Top spend was with St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research ($3,571,540) [link]
Consultant Tenders
$95,168,212 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $0 yesterday. {348} [link]
Flights
The VIP fleet flew at least 1,039 km in the last few days. That’s 1 plane doing 2 flights over 1 hrs and 31 mins and costing around $6,990. [link]
How does the tender money flow…
YTD tenders for Australian National Maritime Museum: $442,354 {880} [link]
Politician Expenses
Leon Rebello (Reps, McPherson, Lib Nat) claimed $320,054 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $398,130 less than the average. #auspol [link]
Double Donors
Amazon Commercial Services donated $96,147 in 2023-24. That was $41,247 to Labor and $54,900 to the Coalition. {2574} #auspol [link]
Parliamentary attendance
Sam Rae (representatives, Hawke, Australian Labor Party) attended 85.9% of possible votes. [link]
Votes-Like-Taylor-O-Meter
Matt Thistlethwaite (Reps, Kingsford Smith, Lab) is 23.65% Angus Taylor [link]
Political advertising on Google
Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $14,550. (YTD: $1,501,050) [link]
Political advertising on Facebook
Political advertising on Facebook yesterday: $93,552. (YTD: $642,607) [link]
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