⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Saturday, 17 October 2026

Bluesky says Gaza, Greens scandal and RBA pay dominate #auspol as Labor faces leadership anxiety

BlueSky #auspol  ·  17 October 2026, 04:29 AEST  ·  487 posts  ·  AI-generated

The day’s conversation on #auspol was dominated by a cluster of intersecting controversies: the Plymouth Brethren church’s alleged role in the 2025 election campaign, a Greens senator facing a harassment probe, and sustained criticism of Australia’s Israel policy. Posters across the spectrum framed these as evidence of hidden influence in politics, while Labor’s standing and the government’s negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms drew both praise and anger.

Key issues included the Brethren inquiry, in which Bruce Hales and his son were questioned by parliamentary committee members about church involvement in pro-Liberal campaigning and whether charitable status should extend to partisan activity. Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John faced allegations that prompted a 47-page internal dossier, which drew commentary about who might have benefited from its release. Housing policy was another flashpoint, with supporters welcoming the tax changes as a step toward affordability and critics arguing they fall short. Calls to dump AUKUS and to sanction Israel also recurred, alongside criticism of the RBA governor’s $1.22 million remuneration.

The most widely shared post was a commentary on housing from Michael West’s account, which drew more than 60 likes, while a post remembering the Balibo Five, the journalists killed in East Timor in 1975, drew over 150. The overall tone was sharply critical and polarised, with frequent hashtags calling for accountability from both major parties and the Greens alike.

Top topics: Plymouth Brethren Inquiry  ·  Greens Senator Harassment Probe  ·  Australia Israel Policy  ·  Negative Gearing Reform  ·  RBA Governor Pay

AI-generated from BlueSky #auspol posts.

Sell & Parker, a Sydney scrap recycler, wins Home Affairs destruction services deal

Sell and Parker Pty Ltd has won a $59.0 million Department of Home Affairs contract for nationally managed destruction and disposal services.

Sell & Parker is a privately held, Australian-owned company based in Banksmeadow, Sydney. It began in 1966, when Ross Parker bought two trucks from scrap dealer Max Sell and kept the Sell & Parker trading name. It started in ferrous scrap and has since moved into non-ferrous metals. Its company materials describe more than 400 employees and yards in NSW, Darwin and Port Hedland. It has run a 4,000-horsepower auto shredder since 2002. It is also one of only three accredited suppliers to BlueScope Steel.

The group has widened its services. Its subsidiary Australian Frontline Machinery refurbishes, resells and recycles Australian Defence Force vehicles. In 2026 the recycling arm was reorganised into five divisions: metal recycling, container return, secure destruction, battery recyclers and public weighbridges. The secure destruction division is the most relevant to this award. It is also an accredited collector-sorter under the B-cycle battery scheme. Its sites use extensive CCTV. The sources reviewed did not give details of the scope of the Home Affairs work.

Sources: recyclingtoday.com; recycling.sellparker.com.au; au.linkedin.com; insidewaste.com.au; sellparker.com.au [link]

All tenders

The Fed Govt announced $142,561,273 in contracts. Top of the list was SELL AND PARKER PTY LTD ($59,037,441) SELL AND PARKER PTY LTD has received $59,687,780 in contracts this year. [link]

Consultant Tenders

$514,702,006 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $0 yesterday. {233} [link]

Flights

The VIP fleet flew at least 5,430 km in the last few days. That’s 3 planes doing 8 flights over 15 hrs and 34 mins and costing around $156,281. [link]

What’s Parliament doing

Parliament… is not sitting today. There are no committees today. {28} [link]

Fed Govt Outsourced labour costs

Government Temporary Staff Tenders in the last day: $7,637,183 [link]

How does the tender money flow…

YTD tenders for Australian Centre for Disease Control: $146,069,234 [link]

Donations

David Steele made $226,500 in Federal political donations. [link]

Politician Expenses

David Shoebridge (Senate, NSW, Australian Greens) claimed $602,525 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $45,181 less than the median. #auspol [link]

Double Donors

Australian Hotels Association (SA Branch) donated $118,300 in 2024-25. That was $73,951 to Labor and $44,349 to the Coalition. {8082} [link]

Parliamentary attendance

Scott Buchholz (Reps, Wright, Liberal Party) attended 79% of possible votes. [link]

Political advertising on Google

Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $23,850. (YTD: $3,885,000) [link]

Political advertising on Facebook

Political advertising on Facebook on 12 Oct: $152,934 ($32.9m so far in 2026). Top spender: These ads ran without a disclaimer ($13,533). Biggest categories: Party/Candidate $30k, Advocacy $25k, Business $25k. Full breakdown: https://politicalgadgets.com/SocialMedia/facebook_stats/2026-10-12.html [link]

Votes-Like-Taylor-O-Meter

Alice Jordan-Baird (Reps, Gorton, Lab) is 78.41% Angus Taylor [link]

Politicians’ Shareholding Index

Just out of interest – here is our index of politicians’ shareholdings measured against the index. [link]