Travis Jordan
@grugstan.bsky.social
professional good boy // democracy, cities and tech
// travisjordan.work // these are my own opinions and not those of my employer
he/him // living in Meanjin Brisbane
// travisjordan.work // these are my own opinions and not those of my employer
he/him // living in Meanjin Brisbane
I’m real late to this party but goddamn Slow Horses is good stuff. Scratching the itch I’ve been left with since Deutschland ‘89.
November 11, 2025 at 8:51 AM
I’m real late to this party but goddamn Slow Horses is good stuff. Scratching the itch I’ve been left with since Deutschland ‘89.
Reposted by Travis Jordan
On the partner income test, a commenter mentioned they knew people who had broken up "on paper". I've heard about this too. Understandable response to a broken system - but it is a risk. Centrelink do investigate and their relationship investigations can be *very* intrusive.
November 10, 2025 at 11:50 PM
On the partner income test, a commenter mentioned they knew people who had broken up "on paper". I've heard about this too. Understandable response to a broken system - but it is a risk. Centrelink do investigate and their relationship investigations can be *very* intrusive.
Reposted by Travis Jordan
One chart that didn't make it in the final paper was looking at party membership more recently. The result is steady decline for all parties except for brief flash-in-the-pan bursts around successful elections (further complicated by NSW Labor's strange habit of offering three-year memberships)
November 9, 2025 at 11:15 PM
One chart that didn't make it in the final paper was looking at party membership more recently. The result is steady decline for all parties except for brief flash-in-the-pan bursts around successful elections (further complicated by NSW Labor's strange habit of offering three-year memberships)
One chart that didn't make it in the final paper was looking at party membership more recently. The result is steady decline for all parties except for brief flash-in-the-pan bursts around successful elections (further complicated by NSW Labor's strange habit of offering three-year memberships)
November 9, 2025 at 11:15 PM
One chart that didn't make it in the final paper was looking at party membership more recently. The result is steady decline for all parties except for brief flash-in-the-pan bursts around successful elections (further complicated by NSW Labor's strange habit of offering three-year memberships)
I’m honoured to be featured alongside some of Australia’s biggest names in wonkdom in the summer issue of Inflection Points.
My paper is the culmination of 4 years work on declining civic participation — and why other researchers into the phenomenon have a blind spot for political parties.
My paper is the culmination of 4 years work on declining civic participation — and why other researchers into the phenomenon have a blind spot for political parties.
November 9, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I’m honoured to be featured alongside some of Australia’s biggest names in wonkdom in the summer issue of Inflection Points.
My paper is the culmination of 4 years work on declining civic participation — and why other researchers into the phenomenon have a blind spot for political parties.
My paper is the culmination of 4 years work on declining civic participation — and why other researchers into the phenomenon have a blind spot for political parties.
I realised today is my six month anniversary of being unemployed (a handful of freelance contracts notwithstanding).
November 9, 2025 at 7:30 AM
I realised today is my six month anniversary of being unemployed (a handful of freelance contracts notwithstanding).
ATTN the rusty kurrajong are in bloom at Sherwood Arboretum. You have been warned.
November 9, 2025 at 6:21 AM
ATTN the rusty kurrajong are in bloom at Sherwood Arboretum. You have been warned.
Reposted by Travis Jordan
Graham Richardson’s career was the paradox of neoliberalism: he was actually an incredibly effective and innovative figure for *governance*, in that he had vast skills in making the State, his Party, unions, all work together. But those acts were at the expense of *politics* in our democracy. >
November 8, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Graham Richardson’s career was the paradox of neoliberalism: he was actually an incredibly effective and innovative figure for *governance*, in that he had vast skills in making the State, his Party, unions, all work together. But those acts were at the expense of *politics* in our democracy. >
I’ve been looking into comparative total representation and broadly Australia is pretty underrepresented (ie has more residents per elected rep) than most comparable countries.
Except the US. Who have infinity elected positions but the ones that matter are so big to out of reach of any insurgent.
Except the US. Who have infinity elected positions but the ones that matter are so big to out of reach of any insurgent.
November 7, 2025 at 10:05 PM
I’ve been looking into comparative total representation and broadly Australia is pretty underrepresented (ie has more residents per elected rep) than most comparable countries.
Except the US. Who have infinity elected positions but the ones that matter are so big to out of reach of any insurgent.
Except the US. Who have infinity elected positions but the ones that matter are so big to out of reach of any insurgent.
Reposted by Travis Jordan
damn i wish australia had mayors
November 5, 2025 at 6:57 AM
damn i wish australia had mayors
Reposted by Travis Jordan
Housing in Australia is both too scarce and too expensive. Yet our major cities are among the least dense of their size in the world. Our latest Grattan report show how we can reform our urban planning rules to allow for more homes and better cities. 🧵
More homes, better cities: Letting more people live where they want
Three-storey townhouses and apartments should be permitted on all residential land in all capital cities as part of a concerted policy assault on Australia’s housing crisis.
grattan.edu.au
November 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Housing in Australia is both too scarce and too expensive. Yet our major cities are among the least dense of their size in the world. Our latest Grattan report show how we can reform our urban planning rules to allow for more homes and better cities. 🧵
How soon can we get @dropout.tv to a million Australian subscribers so they're forced to do an Amazing Race to Australia Gamechanger ep.
The Australian government has announced it will impose a 10% local content quota on video streamers operating in Australia. It will apply to services with more than 1 million local subscribers. The bill will be introduced to Parliament this week.
November 4, 2025 at 6:54 AM
How soon can we get @dropout.tv to a million Australian subscribers so they're forced to do an Amazing Race to Australia Gamechanger ep.
I'll obviously write a more fulsome submission with my colleagues at @abundanthousing.org.au but I'm gonna also write a personal submission responding to (e) with my Most Annoying Opinion Yet:
The Electoral Systems Theory of Political NIMBYism: how single member districts make NIMBYs kingmakers
The Electoral Systems Theory of Political NIMBYism: how single member districts make NIMBYs kingmakers
⚡️BREAKING💥We Greens have just secured a Senate Select Inquiry into Intergenerational Housing Inequity which I will be delighted to Chair. Starts March 17 2026, reports September 30th 2026. 🏠
November 4, 2025 at 6:08 AM
I'll obviously write a more fulsome submission with my colleagues at @abundanthousing.org.au but I'm gonna also write a personal submission responding to (e) with my Most Annoying Opinion Yet:
The Electoral Systems Theory of Political NIMBYism: how single member districts make NIMBYs kingmakers
The Electoral Systems Theory of Political NIMBYism: how single member districts make NIMBYs kingmakers
I got all hopped up to write an oped about Brisbane City Council for its 100th birthday only to find I got beaten to the punch two years ago by the very outlet I was pitching to!
A great article but in a classic journalist move doesn't actually explore any reform pathways.
A great article but in a classic journalist move doesn't actually explore any reform pathways.
Is Brisbane’s mega-council experiment a success or a monster misstep?
When Brisbane’s councils merged into a single entity in 1924, it was applauded as sensible. But what have we gained and lost in the “great experiment”?
www.brisbanetimes.com.au
November 4, 2025 at 1:47 AM
I got all hopped up to write an oped about Brisbane City Council for its 100th birthday only to find I got beaten to the punch two years ago by the very outlet I was pitching to!
A great article but in a classic journalist move doesn't actually explore any reform pathways.
A great article but in a classic journalist move doesn't actually explore any reform pathways.
Brisbane City Councillors now have 3 FTE staff - the same as a Queensland state MP - a direct repercussion of Brisbane City Council shrinking from 28 ward to 26 wards in the 1970s despite workload and complexity in governing both increasing exponentially.
Fun fact: By 2044, three councillors of Brisbane City Council will represent more people in it than the entirety of Redland City Council, the next council east, which has 10 full time councillors and a Lord Mayor.
November 3, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Brisbane City Councillors now have 3 FTE staff - the same as a Queensland state MP - a direct repercussion of Brisbane City Council shrinking from 28 ward to 26 wards in the 1970s despite workload and complexity in governing both increasing exponentially.
Fun fact: By 2044, three councillors of Brisbane City Council will represent more people in it than the entirety of Redland City Council, the next council east, which has 10 full time councillors and a Lord Mayor.
November 3, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Fun fact: By 2044, three councillors of Brisbane City Council will represent more people in it than the entirety of Redland City Council, the next council east, which has 10 full time councillors and a Lord Mayor.
One of the few upsides of slogging through rewriting your CV is getting to reflect on your working life and realising just how much impact you really had. When you work in knowledge jobs without $$$ deliverables, you can feel like you're just shovelling words into a void while you're doing it.
November 2, 2025 at 2:09 AM
One of the few upsides of slogging through rewriting your CV is getting to reflect on your working life and realising just how much impact you really had. When you work in knowledge jobs without $$$ deliverables, you can feel like you're just shovelling words into a void while you're doing it.
Toasted marshmallow crispy treats with dark chocolate chunks. And boy I have so much of it.
November 1, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Toasted marshmallow crispy treats with dark chocolate chunks. And boy I have so much of it.
Today I’m backwards engineering rice crispy treats from memory. I will NEVER check a recipe.
November 1, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Today I’m backwards engineering rice crispy treats from memory. I will NEVER check a recipe.
I can’t believe I’m gonna get a Letterboxd
October 31, 2025 at 9:23 AM
I can’t believe I’m gonna get a Letterboxd
I’m running my next council campaign on one pillar and one pillar only: more ice creameries for Brisbane.
We cannot fall behind Melbourne in the Ice Cream Race.
We cannot fall behind Melbourne in the Ice Cream Race.
October 30, 2025 at 8:20 AM
I’m running my next council campaign on one pillar and one pillar only: more ice creameries for Brisbane.
We cannot fall behind Melbourne in the Ice Cream Race.
We cannot fall behind Melbourne in the Ice Cream Race.
Reposted by Travis Jordan
Reposted by Travis Jordan
Updated tonight with confirmation from LGBTI Legal Service of new action in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal on discrimination and human rights grounds.
The Queensland government could yet face another courtroom push against its pause on gender-affirming care for children, with the legal service behind this week’s successful ruling considering options to fight Health Minister Tim Nicholls’ new directive. Story w Courtney Kruk
‘Exploring options’: Nicholls could face fresh court challenge over gender care ban
The Crisafulli government has defended its decision to reinstate the controversial ban within hours of a court ruling an earlier version was unlawful.
www.brisbanetimes.com.au
October 29, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Updated tonight with confirmation from LGBTI Legal Service of new action in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal on discrimination and human rights grounds.
This is genuinely noteworthy. There is now a substantial chunk of Australia's population - around 90,000 people - that aren't unrepresented by a conservative party at any level. This might be the first time in living memory where that's the case.
For the first time in my life, I join the ranks of the very few Australians who are represented by zero (non-suspended) Liberals
October 29, 2025 at 1:14 AM
This is genuinely noteworthy. There is now a substantial chunk of Australia's population - around 90,000 people - that aren't unrepresented by a conservative party at any level. This might be the first time in living memory where that's the case.
I spend more time writing my To Write list than actually writing the damn things.
October 27, 2025 at 1:33 AM
I spend more time writing my To Write list than actually writing the damn things.