⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Saturday, 26 September 2026

Bluesky says Labor’s rightward turn and Israel stance dominate Australian political discourse

BlueSky #auspol  ·  26 September 2026, 05:29 AEST  ·  475 posts  ·  AI-generated

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dominated Bluesky conversation over 24 hours, with critics both inside and outside Labor expressing dismay at perceived policy shifts and Australia’s refusal to walk out during Netanyahu’s UN address. The dominant tension centres on Albanese’s alleged abandonment of his faction’s left-wing roots and capitulation to US and Israeli interests, drawing sharp rebukes from longtime supporters.

Key Issues discussed include: Albanese’s positioning within Labor factionalism and succession planning, with Senator Doug Cameron voicing shock at the PM’s “veering to the right” and questioning whether basic needs like housing and food security are being delivered; Australia’s stance on Palestine and international law, with extensive criticism that staying during Netanyahu’s UN speech represented moral cowardice and complicity in genocide; and corporate accountability for artificial intelligence, following OpenAI’s breach of Medicare systems, sparking calls for stronger regulation of foreign tech companies.

A standout exchange saw senior Labor figures quoted questioning whether the party had lost ideological vigour, with one powerbroker stating Albanese “will always be counting those who didn’t pick his side.” The overall tone remains deeply fractious and disillusioned, with left-aligned voices expressing betrayal while critics from multiple perspectives attack the government’s handling of housing affordability, fossil fuel policy, and what they characterise as sovereign compromises to Washington and Tel Aviv.

Top topics: Labor’s Rightward Turn  ·  Israel-Palestine Stance  ·  Housing Affordability Crisis  ·  Labor Factionalism  ·  AI Corporate Regulation

AI-generated from BlueSky #auspol posts.

Facebook political advertising database

Completed a massive upgrade of our Facebook political advertising tracking: better figures, aggregation, history and a database you can dig into. Take a look. [link]

CPB Contractors Wins $50 Million High-Speed Rail Tunnelling Contract

CPB Contractors has been awarded a $50 million contract for Major Delivery Package – Area Package 1 on Australia's first high-speed rail project, running one year from September 2026. The company is part of the GoFar Joint Venture alongside Ferrovial Construction and VINCI Construction, one of three consortia shortlisted in August 2026 to develop plans for the 35-kilometre twin tunnel section between Berowra and Ourimbah on the Newcastle to Sydney route.

CPB Contractors is a major Australian construction firm established in 2016 through the merger of Leighton Contractors and Thiess Construction, though its roots trace back to 1949. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of CIMIC Group, which is majority-owned by German construction giant Hochtief. With over 10,000 employees and annual revenue of $7.6 billion, CPB specialises in large-scale infrastructure including roads, rail, tunnelling, defence, and water projects across Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.

Area Package 1 involves design and construction of approximately 35 kilometres of twin tunnel boring machine tunnels, an underground station at Gosford, and installation of rail systems. The work forms part of the High Speed Rail Authority's early contractor involvement process to finalise costs, scope and design for the proposed 320 km/h line connecting Newcastle and Sydney in around one hour. The project is expected to support up to 15,000 construction jobs annually at peak.

Sources: zoominfo.com; consultanz.com.au; hsra.gov.au; minister.infrastructure.gov.au; railjournal.com; devex.com [link]

All tenders

Fed govt contracts given today came to $367,151,588. The winner is CPB CONTRACTORS PTY LIMITED ($50,000,000) CPB CONTRACTORS PTY LIMITED has received $53,763,673 in contracts this year. [link]

Consultant Tenders

$503,511,390 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $0 yesterday. {136} [link]

Flights

The VIP fleet flew at least 3,022 km in the last few days. That’s 1 plane doing 6 flights over 5 hrs and 12 mins and costing around $23,958. [link]

What’s Parliament doing

Parliament… is not sitting today. There are no committees today. {77} [link]

Fed Govt Outsourced labour costs

Government Temporary Staff Tenders in the last day: $13,372,488 [link]

How does the tender money flow…

YTD tenders for Australian Research Council: $7,963,988 [link]

Donations

Luis Fleiszig made $20,954 in Federal political donations. [link]

Politician Expenses

Alison Byrnes (Reps, Cunningham, Labor) claimed $558,158 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $41,965 less than the median. #auspol [link]

Double Donors

PremierNational donated $51,134 in 2024-25. That was $24,774 to Labor and $26,360 to the Coalition. {9200} [link]

Parliamentary attendance

Pauline Hanson (Sen, Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) attended 53% of possible votes. [link]

Political advertising on Google

Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $17,550. (YTD: $3,603,150) [link]

Political advertising on Facebook

Political advertising on Facebook on 22 Sep: $129,087 ($30.1m so far in 2026). Top spender: Queensland Government ($11,356). Biggest categories: Advocacy $33k, Charity $21k, Government $19k. Full breakdown: https://politicalgadgets.com/SocialMedia/facebook_stats/2026-09-22.html [link]

Votes-Like-Taylor-O-Meter

Slade Brockman (Sen, WA, DPRES) is 86.66% Angus Taylor [link]

Politicians’ Shareholding Index

A little diversion – here is our index of politicians’ shareholdings measured against the index. [link]