⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Friday, 10 July 2026
Today’s Political Gadgets digest covers: Register of Interests: Andrew McLachlan (SA) — interests updated; Register of Interests: James Paterson (VIC) — interests updated; Federal contracts: $124,631,227 awarded; largest to WSP Australia pty Limited ($47,585,221); Parliament: not sitting.
Today’s digest includes:
- Register of Interests: Andrew McLachlan (SA) — interests updated
- Register of Interests: James Paterson (VIC) — interests updated
- Federal contracts: $124,631,227 awarded; largest to WSP Australia pty Limited ($47,585,221)
- Parliament: not sitting
- Political advertising: Google $8,550 (YTD $2,899,200); Facebook $64,089 (YTD $890,688)
Bluesky says Australian politics dominated by backlash to antisemitism commission and Telstra outage fallout.
BlueSky #auspol · 10 July 2026, 06:00 AEST · 585 posts · AI-generated
The 24-hour period ending 10 July saw two major tensions collide: fierce criticism of Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal’s appearance before the Royal Commission, where she urged ABC and SBS oversight of Israel coverage, and mounting scrutiny of Senator Sarah Henderson’s decision to test emergency call systems during the Telstra nationwide outage. Both dominated social discussion, with the former drawing vastly higher engagement and harsher language.
Key Issues: The Segal testimony sparked accusations from left-wing and pro-Palestine voices that she is a “Zionist propagandist” conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism, with critics citing her family trust donations to the conservative group Advance and calling for her removal. The Telstra outage—caused by a software time-sync error affecting mobile networks, trains, and emergency calls—triggered debate about infrastructure privatisation and regulatory failures, while Henderson’s triple-zero test calls drew accusations of political grandstanding. Separately, One Nation’s criticism of Coalition climate and economic policy intensified concern about right-wing fragmentation of conservative politics.
The tone was overwhelmingly hostile to the Albanese government’s appointments and decisions. One post with 155 reposts asked why Segal appeared twice while Palestinian advocacy groups were excluded; another with 186 reposts quipped that “she can’t put lipstick on a genocide.” Posts on the Telstra crisis were more technical but no less damning about decades of infrastructure neglect.
Top topics: Antisemitism Commission Backlash · Israel Coverage Oversight · Telstra Outage Infrastructure · Emergency Services Privatisation · One Nation Climate Criticism
AI-generated from BlueSky #auspol posts.
Register of Interests Update — McLachlan, Andrew
South Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
Additions
| Person | Item | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Self | Sponsored Travel Or Hospitality | The Guardian – Mid-Winter Ball Ticket |
| Self | Share Holdings | LGF – L1 GOLD FUND LIMITED |
Deletions
None
Register of Interests Update — Paterson, James
Victoria
Liberal Party of Australia
Additions
| Person | Item | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Self | Sponsored Travel Or Hospitality | Return flights to Canberra for family to attend McKinnon Prize event, courtesy McKinnon |
| Self | Sponsored Travel Or Hospitality | One ticket to Press Gallery Mid-Winter Ball, Parliament House, Canberra, 1 July, courtesy News Corp |
Deletions
None
Register of Interests Update — Anne Webster
Mallee, Victoria
National Party · Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories
Additions
| Person | Item | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse/Partner | 1. Shareholdings | Vanguard Australian Shares – ASX |
Deletions
None
See the end of the newsletter for more Interests.
WSP Australia Wins $47.6 Million High-Speed Rail Advisory Contract
WSP Australia has been awarded a two-year contract worth nearly $48 million to serve as Technical and Architectural Adviser for the High Speed Rail Authority. The global engineering consultancy, which employs approximately 6,000 professionals across 14 Australian offices, will provide expertise in engineering, design, architecture, and transport planning for the Newcastle to Sydney corridor.
WSP is one of the world's leading professional services firms, with around 83,000 employees globally and annual revenues exceeding $16 billion. The Australian arm generated $1.4 billion in revenue in 2024 with over 5,500 employees. The firm specialises in transport infrastructure, property, environment, water, and energy sectors, working on major projects across government and private clients.
The Technical and Architectural Adviser role requires significant expertise across multiple disciplines to develop safe, reliable high-speed rail solutions based on global best practice. The position is expected to blend Australian infrastructure delivery experience with international high-speed rail expertise. The High Speed Rail Authority is currently in the development phase for Line 1, which will connect Newcastle to Sydney with trains capable of 320 kilometres per hour, reducing travel time from over two hours to approximately one hour.
Sources: wsp.com; hsra.gov.au; ibisworld.com; linkedin.com; wikipedia.org [link]
All tenders
Fed govt contracts given today came to $124,631,227. The winner is WSP Australia pty Limited ($47,585,221) [link]
Consultant Tenders
$204,776,713 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $3,025,000 yesterday. – EY: $3,025,000 {1772} [link]
What’s Parliament doing
Parliament… is not sitting today. There are no committees today. {42} [link]
Fed Govt Outsourced labour costs
Government Temporary Staff Tenders in the last day: $506,660 [link]
How does the tender money flow…
YTD tenders for Office of the Inspector-General of Aged Care: $589,486 {424} [link]
Politician Expenses
Susan Mcdonald claimed $1,137,082 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $413,197 more than the average. #auspol [link]
Double Donors
Idameneo (No.789) donated $122,100 in 2023-24. That was $52,200 to Labor and $69,900 to the Coalition. {7313} #auspol [link]
Parliamentary attendance
Ed Husic (representatives, Chifley, Australian Labor Party) attended 87.7% of possible votes. [link]
Political advertising on Google
Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $8,550. (YTD: $2,899,200) [link]
Political advertising on Facebook
Political advertising on Facebook yesterday: $64,089. (YTD: $890,688) [link]
Register of Interests Update — Michael McCormack
Riverina, New South Wales
National Party
Additions
| Person | Item | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Self | 12. Travel Or Hospitality | 2 x tickets and hospitality to the Midwinter Ball at Parliament House on 1 July 2026, provided by the CEO of Sky News |
| Spouse/Partner | 12. Travel Or Hospitality | Hospitality at the Midwinter Ball at Parliament House on 1 July 2026, provided by the CEO of Sky News |
Deletions
None
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