Andrew Brown
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ozrockfarmer.bsky.social
Andrew Brown
@ozrockfarmer.bsky.social
Producer & Co-Host of The Hard Rock Show, avid dog lover, love the rural life & music obviously but also passionate about sport, politics, literature and more.
Reposted by Andrew Brown
The ALP need to realise they will be criticised whatever they do, so how about do things that are good? And do things to please those who voted for you not those who never will.
The AFR run a 2 year campaign to get the ALP to weaken the changes to super tax concessions to make it easier to avoid paying the tax.

The ALP does it.

The AFR criticises the ALP for weakening the policy because people can avoid paying the tax.

My column #ThePoint

thepoint.com.au/news/251213
The rich get tax advice; the poor get lectures: super tax saga lays bare a skewed system
A new report on the amount of revenue expected to be raised by the changes to superannuation tax on balances over $3m highlights yet again how the tax system is weighted in favour of the rich and that...
thepoint.com.au
December 12, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
Been rather dispiriting how much ink has been spilled by the gallery on MP expenses, while the report into mutual obligations has been pretty much ignored. @amyremeikis.bsky.social is on it #ThePoint (what is The Point? It’s not news, but it SHOULD be)

thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
The welfare system isn’t just on fire, it’s burning out of control
The problem with having pattern recognition is that you can always see the fires before they start. Governments are a bit like that, too.  It’s not that they don’t see the fire before the smoke, it’s...
thepoint.com.au
December 13, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
"Anthony Albanese sidesteps calls for reform..."
is a handy headline with near universal application. #auspol
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Anthony Albanese sidesteps calls for reform amid growing community anger over MP travel perks
The federal opposition and crossbenchers have backed a review of expenses spending rules
www.theguardian.com
December 11, 2025 at 11:15 AM
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If any Americans are wondering why foreign tourism to the US is down, and is about to fall even further....
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Tourists to US would have to reveal five years of social media activity under new Trump plan
Proposed plan would apply to tourists of countries not currently required to get a visa to visit the US, including Britain and France
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
interesting choice to project "LET THEM BE KIDS" onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of the celebrations of the teen social media ban

It's not a line that came from Albanese or the government — it's the name of News Corp's campaign for the ban.
December 10, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
They ran out of room for the fine print:

"LET THEM BE KIDS [exclusions may apply:
- News Corp punching down on trans kids
- State govts locking up more & younger black kids
- the Albanese govt refusing to ban gambling ads or take real climate action, and keeping 1 in 6 kids living in poverty...]"
what the hell, i'm dying
December 10, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
Too young for Instagram, not too young for an ankle monitor...
December 10, 2025 at 5:09 AM
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I look forward to news.corp’s new found care for teenagers applying to all the trans kids.. *oh wait, I am being handed a note…*
December 10, 2025 at 8:03 AM
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Anyway if all you have is “doesn’t pass the pub test” try harder. Or push for all spending rules to be changed if you feel so enraged.

But cripes there’s a lot of bored journos counting down to Christmas holidays.
December 9, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
Every single person who is anti-trans is a slight scratch away from going full racist. It is basically a gateway drug for racism/bigotry.

It seems fine. You pretend it’s about protecting women. You can point to famous people on your side.

But it is only ever about hate. Disgusting & cruel hatred.
UK Labour is what happens when a party flushes its soul down the toilet.

A party of bigots.
Trans women to be barred from main Labour women’s conference in 2026
December 7, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
Both LNP and Labor "have made appointments to senior public positions with absolute disregard for integrity, transparency and accountability. This has been a significant blow to democratic principles."

Despite promises, the Albanese govt appears to have little interest in those principles. #auspol
‘Jobs for mates’ review is damning – and the government’s response is a failure of the highest order | Anthony Whealy
‘Jobs for mates’ review is damning – and the government’s response is a failure of the highest order | Anthony Whealy
Despite its high-flown rhetoric, the Albanese government has been tortoise-like in reforming the appointments process. It’s now clear why For years, governments of both persuasion have made appointments to senior public positions with absolute disregard for integrity, transparency and accountability. This has been a significant blow to democratic principles. It has resulted in a serious lack of trust in government institutions. The low watermark was perhaps the Morrison government’s appointment of a horde of political figures and staffers to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in the concluding days of the 46th parliament. The appointment for a term of four years, or in the case of statutory officers, for five years The notification of potential board vacancies on a regular basis The preparation of a skills matrix for proposed positions The creation of, and subsequent role to be played by assessment panels whose task will be to seek the widest choice of qualified candidates and make recommendations to the minister Those recommendations and assessments are to be considered by the minister who may select a candidate for submission to cabinet or, if making a direct appointment, must give reasons for doing so in a transparent manner. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:12 PM
As always, I’m pretty sure the sequel will be worse than the original… Clearly Labor are now occupying the space that the LNP used to own and aren’t actually trying to do good and useful things with their power.
What could possibly go wrong
EXCLUSIVE: Funding and support plans for national disability insurance scheme participants will be generated by a computer program and staff will have no discretion to amend them, under a major overhaul of the NDIS to be rolled out next year, @australia.theguardian.com can reveal.
December 3, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
Much of O'Brien's speech was about the need for greater press freedom, less government secrecy and real protections for whistleblowers.

But all that is pointless, if major mainstream news organizations are doing self-censorship,
with editorial direction outsourced to the Israel lobby. #auspol
The Age and Sydney Morning Herald have scrubbed references to Gaza and Palestine from their version of a Walkleys speech given by Kerry O’Brien last week.
The Age and SMH removed Gaza references from Kerry O'Brien's Walkleys speech
www.crikey.com.au
December 1, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
We may not have always agreed with Queensland Premiers Mike Ahern, Russell Cooper, Wayne Goss, Rob Borbidge, Peter Beattie, Anna Bligh, Campbell Newman, Annastacia Palaszczuk & Steven Miles.

But, the mediocrity of David Crisafulli is what is killing us up here. #qldpol
November 28, 2025 at 12:21 PM
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Blistering. Well worth a watch.
November 28, 2025 at 8:28 PM
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America
November 28, 2025 at 10:51 PM
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Good.
November 26, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Labor need to explain this, in detail. This is deplorable from the so called progressive side of our government.
What tf are Labor doing
New: 100+ legal experts, welfare groups & academics demand the Minister bin an amendment, allowing police to cancel welfare payments for people who have not been found guilty of any crime

@tanyaplibersekmp.bsky.social is trying to ram this amendment through today

Read more: archive.is/UHu9J
November 24, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
Another Labor obscenity.
New: 100+ legal experts, welfare groups & academics demand the Minister bin an amendment, allowing police to cancel welfare payments for people who have not been found guilty of any crime

@tanyaplibersekmp.bsky.social is trying to ram this amendment through today

Read more: archive.is/UHu9J
November 24, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
We south-east Queenslanders have been trying to tell the rest of Queensland & Australia for decades; Pauline Hanson is toxic. JFC, go ask former Qld Nats Premier Rob Borbidge if you don't believe me.

Media, enough now with her nonsense. #auspol
November 24, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
"Commercial media are stuck with the imperative to massify their largely disengaged audiences so they can sell them to advertisers. But what’s the ABC’s excuse?
How does the Murdoch-lite Cops aesthetic on the news help meet the corporation’s charter obligations to inform as well as entertain?"
In the USA, shock-and-awe crime stories dominate the nightly news as cable channels battle for eyeballs and advertisers. But why are the ABC's offerings going down the same path?
The ABC’s chase for crime’s news-lite audience is driving out the news we need
www.crikey.com.au
November 24, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
How can a website cost $96 MILLION?! 🤯

Yes the BOM website is complex, but this seems like is a waste of taxpayers dollars that we need see some accountability for so it doesn’t happen again.
www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...
Total bill for BoM’s new website came in at $96 million
In his first interview, new Bureau of Meteorology chief Stuart Minchin has revealed the eye-watering true cost of its lambasted new website.
www.smh.com.au
November 23, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
A government that can’t bring itself to tax fossil fuel, big tech or any wealth properly but defunds its critical institutions is not a good government, sorry
November 18, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
Australia’s greatest ally
November 18, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Reposted by Andrew Brown
Being better than toddlers isn’t good government, it’s babysitting.

www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politic...
No saving the Coalition – and that should be a warning to Labor
Labor is trying to present itself as the adult in the room, by pointing to the opposition's tantrums. That’s not governing, it’s babysitting.
www.thenewdaily.com.au
November 15, 2025 at 9:57 PM