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Reposted by Skye Predavec

Bill Browne @browne90.bsky.social · 1d

Australia gives parties and candidates generous taxpayer funding, but it comes too late -- after the election has already happened.

@skyelark.bsky.social describes alternatives that make public funding available to new challengers -- when they can actually use it.

On @thepointau.bsky.social

Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · 3d

Australia should take many lessons from Mamdani's incredible victory, including learning from America on how to handle money in politics (yes, really)

New from me on @thepointau.bsky.social 👇
thepoint.com.au/news/251108-...

What Australia can learn from the US about money in politics

Zohran Mamdani’s successful campaign benefited greatly from New York’s funding innovations.

thepoint.com.au

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Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · 3d

Australia should take many lessons from Mamdani's incredible victory, including learning from America on how to handle money in politics (yes, really)

New from me on @thepointau.bsky.social 👇
thepoint.com.au/news/251108-...

What Australia can learn from the US about money in politics

Zohran Mamdani’s successful campaign benefited greatly from New York’s funding innovations.

thepoint.com.au

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Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · 5d

Barnaby Joyce says almost a third of his electorate – equivalent to Sydney and Melbourne combined – will be "carpeted" in renewables.

It might not surprise you to learn that he seems to have made it up out of thin air: thepoint.com.au/factchecks/2...

Will a third of Barnaby Joyce’s electorate be covered in renewables?

The point.com.au

thepoint.com.au

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 8d

A brilliant fact check by @skyelark.bsky.social "Will Net Zero cost $9 trillion to Australia?" #ThePoint

(spoiler, not even fucking close)
thepoint.com.au/factchecks/2...

Will Net Zero cost $9 trillion to Australia?

As the Nationals abandon their commitment to achieving net zero by 2050, leader David Littleproud has cited a stunning $9 trillion dollar price tag on the policy as a key reason for the move.

thepoint.com.au

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

Bill Browne @browne90.bsky.social · 9d

Taking reader questions on @thepointau.bsky.social live blog:

How many more seats would the Coalition lose if an election were held today?

@skyelark.bsky.social answers --
live.thepoint.com.au/2025/11/the-...

Australia Institute Live — Daily Updates

Stay updated with the latest from The Australia Institute.

live.thepoint.com.au

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

Gavin Miller @glmiller.bsky.social · 9d

@skyelark.bsky.social impactful article

thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

PM Albanese’s culture of secrecy, in three charts

If he doesn’t change course, the Prime Minister may end up leading exactly the kind of 'shadow government' that he derided his predecessor for.

thepoint.com.au

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

Nick Feik @nickfeik.bsky.social · 9d

Another historic achievement in transparency by the Albanese govt: cratering the FOI system.
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 9d

"PM Albanese’s culture of secrecy, in three charts"

Damning work by @skyelark.bsky.social on this govt's secrecy
#OffTheCharts #ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

PM Albanese’s culture of secrecy, in three charts

If he doesn’t change course, the Prime Minister may end up leading exactly the kind of 'shadow government' that he derided his predecessor for.

thepoint.com.au

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 13d

Missed this form earlier this week. By @skyelark.bsky.social "The Federal Government spends more on shredders than FOI training"
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

The Federal Government spends more on shredders than FOI training

The Federal Government has spent $2.3 million on shredders over the last five years, almost double the $1.3 million spent on freedom of information training over the same period.

thepoint.com.au

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

Amy Remeikis @amyremeikis.bsky.social · 20d

Excited to be able to talk about this publicly now - The Point is now up and running and from Monday, you'll find my parliament blog on it 💃

thepoint.com.au

The Point

The point.com.au

thepoint.com.au

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

The Point @thepointau.bsky.social · 20d

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme keeps Australian medicines affordable, and Big Pharma hates it. Now Trump is angling for Australians to pay US style prices for life-saving drugs. @skyelark0 explains ⤵️ #auspol

What is the PBS and why does Trump hate it so much?

This is part of America’s long-standing grudge against Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

thepoint.com.au

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

Bill Browne @browne90.bsky.social · 22d

What did we learn from yesterday's election data drop and why will we have to wait till February for the full picture?

@rashidajourno.bsky.social explains on SBS News. www.sbs.com.au/news/article...

Big bills, no seat: Some of the federal election's big spenders didn't actually win

Independent candidates received and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to get elected to federal parliament — some unsuccessfully.

www.sbs.com.au

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

The Australia Institute @australiainstitute.org.au · 23d

Proposed changes to Australia’s Freedom of Information (FOI) laws would make a repeat of the Robodebt coverup more likely according to new Australia Institute research.

‘Members of the public have a right to access government documents.'

- Skye Predavec, Researcher

@skyelark.bsky.social #auspol

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

The Australia Institute @australiainstitute.org.au · 23d

"What this Bill would do is make it harder and more expensive for Australians to get information from the government."

"FOI is not perfect, but this bill would make its issues much, much worse."

- Australia Institute Researcher Skye Predevac
#auspol @skyelark.bsky.social

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

The Australia Institute @australiainstitute.org.au · 26d

"Perhaps the single most effective democratic reform open to this Parliament is a large increase in the number of parliamentarians."

"More MPs would mean more local concerns are better represented."

Australia Institute researcher Skye Predevac
@skyelark.bsky.social #auspol

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

Bill Browne @browne90.bsky.social · Oct 7

Albanese Govt plans to make cabinet docs harder to access, in defiance of Robodebt Royal Commission – which recommended making cabinet docs available for public scrutiny.

More in @australiainstitute.org.au report with @skyelark.bsky.social australiainstitute.org.au/report/the-p...

The Price of Freedom

The Albanese government is lagging on transparency: Only 21% of 2023-24 FOI requests were granted in full compared to 81% in 2006-07. Whereas the

australiainstitute.org.au

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Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · Oct 6

That's true, though electorate officers aren't accountable to voters in the same way as an MP - and that way you don't get the other benefits of a bigger parliament.

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Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · Oct 6

Adding 50% more MPs would bring out electorates back to the size they were 40 years ago - and make our parliament one-vote-one-value for the first time ever.

australiainstitute.org.au/post/austral...

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Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · Oct 6

There are almost double the number of voters per seat as there were in 1984, leaving Australians less represented than ever.

Great article from @michellegrattan.bsky.social on the growing case to grow Australia's parliament: theconversation.com/grattan-on-f...

Grattan on Friday: believe it or not, there would be a case for more federal politicians

Very few voters trust (or even like) politicians, so it’s hard to imagine a world where the government would create more, but Don Farrell may well try.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Skye Predavec

The Australia Institute @australiainstitute.org.au · Sep 19

Australian artists helped the nation survive the COVID pandemic, but our governments have left them in the lurch.

“If people can’t earn a living while making their art, newsflash, there’s not going to be a lot of art.”

- Skye Predavec, Anne Kantor Fellow

@skyelark.bsky.social #auspol

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Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · Aug 27

ANU has had a lot of gall recently, but it might be hard to top comparing David Pocock's motions on transparency to Trump's attacks on tertiary education.

Read more on the @australiainstitute.org.au live blog 👇
live.australiainstitute.org.au/2025/08/aust...

Australia Institute Live: Linda Reynolds wins defamation case against Brittany Higgins, Iran expulsion fall out continues. All the day's events, live

The WA Supreme Court has ruled in the long-running legal battle between the former WA Senator and her staffer. Ms Higgins has been ordered to pay $315,000 in damages to Ms Reynolds. Meanwhile, the Ira...

live.australiainstitute.org.au

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Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · Aug 5

The polling I've seen shows the latter reason is stronger than the former- which actually enhances my point.

If a significant portion of Labor votes were cast because they seemed more likely to win and not because it was a voter's top choice, their 2/3rds share of seats is even less reflective.

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Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · Aug 5

Sure, but that's as true for any system as it is for ours. First past the post isn't designed to reflect any votes that aren't for 1st place candidates, but anyone who likes preferential voting would call that a flaw.

This post is about proportionality, and Aus does poorly on that measure.

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Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · Aug 5

It's true that going off first preferences is an imperfect measure- people would likely vote a little differently under a different system.

But the vast majority of voters put the party they want to win at 1, and our lower house electoral system isn't effective at reflecting those wishes.

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Skye Predavec @skyelark.bsky.social · Aug 5

That's why I lay the blame on winner-takes-all in this post!

I wouldn't agree that the system was designed to produce outcomes this disproportionate though, and that's what the point of the article is.

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