⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Saturday, 12 September 2026
Today’s Political Gadgets digest covers: Parliament: not sitting; MP expenses: Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Lab) — $438,039 over 4 quarters; Political advertising: Google $5,700 (YTD $3,464,100); Facebook $91,679 (YTD $25,300,959).
Today’s digest includes:
- Parliament: not sitting
- MP expenses: Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Lab) — $438,039 over 4 quarters
- Political advertising: Google $5,700 (YTD $3,464,100); Facebook $91,679 (YTD $25,300,959)
Bluesky says Australian politics fractured by Hanson extremism as Labor loses momentum on key policy
BlueSky #auspol · 12 September 2026, 05:29 AEST · 447 posts · AI-generated
A bitter week of recriminations between One Nation and the Coalition overshadowed substantive policy debates, as Pauline Hanson’s inflammatory cartoon attacking Andrew Hastie as a “traitor” drew rare bipartisan condemnation and forced the defence minister to apologise for his own contribution to the row. The incident exposed the volatility of Australia’s far-right insurgency and highlighted a broader collapse in political coherence as rising inflation, interest rate pressures and cost-of-living crises dominate voter anxiety.
Key Issues: Welfare mortality rates and equity gaps dominated discussion after research revealed Australians on disability or unemployment payments have a mortality rate nine times higher than non-welfare recipients, sparking calls to raise payments. Labor faced criticism over gas reservation policy backflips, with advocates noting the commitment to reserve gas exports has weakened from a firm 20 per cent to merely “up to 20 per cent”, effectively rendering the pledge meaningless. Meanwhile, data centre approvals and AI expansion continued to accelerate despite environmental and infrastructure concerns, with Tasmania alone considering six facilities. Foreign policy friction persisted as critics questioned the AUKUS alliance and 2,000 US marines stationed in Darwin, claiming Australia was surrendering sovereignty.
The standout post came from journalist Mary Kostakidis’s supporters celebrating the Zionist Federation’s withdrawal of its defamation suit, hailed as a victory for press freedom and a rebuke to legal intimidation. The overall tone was one of political exhaustion and disillusionment—Labor supporters frustrated with perceived policy failures, progressives alarmed by One Nation’s ascendancy and American cultural dominance, and civil society organisations warning of institutional decline.
Top topics: One Nation Political Extremism · Cost-of-Living Crisis · Labor Policy Backflips · Welfare Mortality Rates · AUKUS Alliance Sovereignty
AI-generated from BlueSky #auspol posts.
ATO Signs $212 Million Lease Renewal at Melbourne Docklands Tower
The Australian Taxation Office has awarded a 10-year building lease worth $212.3 million to The Trust Company (Australia) Ltd as trustee for the 747 Collins Street Trust, securing the agency's continued presence at 3 Collins Square in Melbourne's Docklands from May 2027. The contract represents a renewal at the 16-storey office tower where the ATO currently occupies 38,000 square metres.
The Trust Company (Australia) Limited, established in 1887, provides trustee and property management services and acts as trustee for property investment trusts. The building at 747 Collins Street is owned by Singapore-Malaysia backed CIMB Trust Capital, which purchased the Docklands tower in 2013 for $279 million with a 15-year ATO lease that expires in 2027. Collins Square comprises approximately 260,000 square metres of commercial and retail space across six office towers, making it Melbourne's largest commercial development.
The decade-long lease commitment comes after the ATO previously consolidated multiple Melbourne CBD locations into the single Collins Square site. The agency had been searching for new Melbourne office space in 2024-25, seeking 22,000 square metres with lease commencement in early 2027, before ultimately renewing at its current location.
Sources: wikipedia.org; bloomberg.com; greenstreetnews.com; creditorwatch.com.au [link]
All tenders
$382,347,381 in Fed Govt contracts given today. Top spend was with The Trust Company (Australia) Ltd A The 747 Collins St Trust and The Tr ($212,288,423) [link]
Consultant Tenders
$499,311,953 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $85,500 yesterday. – KPMG: $85,500 {1413} [link]
What’s Parliament doing
Parliament… is not sitting today. There are no committees today. {99} [link]
Flights
The VIP fleet flew at least 3,085 km in the last few days. That’s 2 planes doing 2 flights over 6 hrs and 43 mins and costing around $30,671. [link]
Fed Govt Outsourced labour costs
Government Temporary Staff Tenders in the last day: $7,175,979 [link]
How does the tender money flow…
YTD tenders for Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency: $13,276,442 {436} [link]
Politician Expenses
Mike Freelander (Reps, Macarthur, Lab) claimed $438,039 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $170,587 less than the median. #auspol [link]
Double Donors
Ampol donated $50,200 in 2023-24. That was $10,000 to Labor and $40,200 to the Coalition. {410} #auspol [link]
Parliamentary attendance
Tammy Tyrrell (senate, Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) attended 80.3% of possible votes. [link]
Political advertising on Google
Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $5,700. (YTD: $3,464,100) [link]
Political advertising on Facebook
Political advertising on Facebook yesterday: $91,679. (YTD: $25,300,959) [link]
Politicians’ Shareholding Index
Just for entertainment – here is our index of politicians’ shareholdings measured against the index. [link]
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