⚙️ Political Gadgets News | Wednesday, 11 November 2026

Bluesky says Victorian election tensions over One Nation preferences dominate #auspol as Dutton appointment and Qantas job cuts draw fire

BlueSky #auspol  ·  11 November 2026, 04:29 AEST  ·  544 posts  ·  AI-generated

The dominant conversation on #auspol in the 24 hours to 4:29am AEST on 11 November was the Victorian state election, with the Liberal Party’s preference arrangements with One Nation drawing sharp criticism ahead of the 28 November poll. Posters described the arrangement as a “cookerlition” and urged voters to put One Nation last, while One Nation’s candidate vetting came under fire after a Preston candidate was dropped over social media posts praising Hitler. The Greens and independents were promoted as alternatives in a wave of posts.

Key issues included the Albanese government’s appointment of Peter Dutton to the Australian War Memorial Council, which many users condemned as a betrayal of First Nations Australians and a reminder of Robodebt. Qantas’s plan to cut nearly 1000 jobs and outsource roles to India, shortly after a billion-dollar profit, prompted widespread anger over past COVID-era support. AUKUS, US Embassy posts on X and Israel-related foreign policy generated sustained commentary, while the government’s proposed AI safety regulator and digital duty of care laws drew both support and censorship concerns.

The standout exchange came when a post from Peter Murphy describing the US Embassy’s social media posts as an attempt to make Australia “know its place” attracted more than 130 likes, with users calling for Albanese to stand up to Washington. Pauline Hanson was another frequent target, with one widely shared post likening her answers to empty post-match interviews. Overall the tone was angry and sardonic, with many users expressing frustration with both major parties and a sense that the duopoly is failing voters.

Top topics: Victorian Election  ·  One Nation Preferences  ·  Peter Dutton Appointment  ·  Qantas Job Cuts  ·  AUKUS and US Embassy

AI-generated from BlueSky #auspol posts.

Kinetic IT’s Defence ICT work: a long-running relationship

Kinetic IT has won ICT support services contracts from the Department of Defence worth about $98 million combined.

Kinetic IT describes itself as Australia's largest sovereign, independently owned technology services provider and systems integrator. It was founded more than 25 years ago and is based in Perth. The company says it supports over 700,000 end users across government, defence, utilities, transport, education, mining and healthcare. It also says it has more than 1,500 employees, and that hundreds of its staff hold clearances from the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency. It lists ISO 27001 certification, an IRAP-assessed 24×7 security operations centre and ServiceNow Elite Partner status.

Its Defence relationship goes back to 2019. That year it won two Defence contracts, worth $59.1 million and $32.3 million, for ICT service desk operations and service integration and management (SIAM). Later it was reported to have won two of three service towers in a Defence ICT contract refresh worth more than $90 million over three years. Those towers covered service integration, which means coordinating multiple suppliers, and a service desk serving about 100,000 Defence personnel.

Earlier this year Defence selected Kinetic for a two-year contract with options to extend to four years. It covers the ICT Service Desk and Switchboard, and adds a new national Base Services Contact Centre. That centre handles on-base enquiries as part of Defence's Base Services Transformation program.

Sources: australiandefence.com.au; arnnet.com.au; itwire.com; kineticit.com.au; securitybrief.com.au; cyberdaily.au [link]

All tenders

$353,060,113 in Fed Govt contracts given today. Top spend was with KINETIC IT PTY LTD ($97,997,258) KINETIC IT PTY LTD has received $99,678,941 in contracts this year. [link]

Consultant Tenders

$562,997,438 in Federal contracts to the big consultants in 2026. $1,192,443 yesterday. – Deloitte: $1,192,443 {668} [link]

Flights

The VIP fleet flew at least 3,764 km in the last few days. That’s 3 planes doing 8 flights over 7 hrs and 30 mins and costing around $50,311. [link]

What’s Parliament doing

Parliament… is not sitting today. There are no committees today. {52} [link]

Fed Govt Outsourced labour costs

Government Temporary Staff Tenders in the last day: $6,230,050 [link]

How does the tender money flow…

YTD tenders for Clean Energy Regulator: $71,624,642 [link]

Donations

Clifford James Obrecht made $750,000 in Federal political donations. [link]

Politician Expenses

Matt Keogh (Reps, Burt, Labor) claimed $1,246,540 in expenses over the last 4 reported quarters for major categories such as travel, offices and cars. That is $598,834 more than the median. #auspol [link]

Double Donors

Insurance Australia Group donated $105,700 in 2024-25. That was $47,000 to Labor and $58,700 to the Coalition. {1300} [link]

Parliamentary attendance

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Reps, Swan, Australian Labor Party) attended 93% of possible votes. [link]

Political advertising on Google

Political advertising spend with Google in last 24 hours: $106,650. (YTD: $5,526,900) [link]

Political advertising on Facebook

Political advertising on Facebook on 7 Nov: $155,885 ($37.0m so far in 2026). Top spender: Victorian Labor ($17,056). Biggest categories: Party/Candidate $57k, Advocacy $42k, Business $19k. Full breakdown: https://politicalgadgets.com/SocialMedia/facebook_stats/2026-11-07.html [link]

Votes-Like-Taylor-O-Meter

Patrick Gorman (Reps, Perth, Lab) is 6.80% Angus Taylor [link]

Federal Grants – Last 24 Hours

In the last 24 hours the Australian Government awarded $728,974 across 10 grants. Biggest: NSW In Home Care for Early Childhood ($414,348). Full electorate breakdown: https://politicalgadgets.com/grants/map/ [link]