lucie digitální

I'm a policy nerd and velocipedestrian, sometimes trying to grow veggies and on a quest to become more tolerant and empathetic.

I like tea, libraries, jigsaw puzzles, fridge magnets, cooking, mountains, trains, rescue dogs and tropical islands.

When I grow up I want to be a train driver. Or a librarian. Or maybe a character in a William Gibson novel.

I only boost pics with Alt Text. Most of my posts vanish after three months.

Cover: Sam Kerr post-goal backflip

Location: [#Ngambri](https://aus.social/tags/Ngambri ) [#Ngunnawal](https://aus.social/tags/Ngunnawal ) country, [#Canberra](https://aus.social/tags/Canberra )
Sportsball: [#Matildas](https://aus.social/tags/Matildas ) [#Bloods](https://aus.social/tags/Bloods )
Interests: [#AusPol](https://aus.social/tags/AusPol ) [#History](https://aus.social/tags/History ) [#InternationalRelations](https://aus.social/tags/InternationalRelations ) [#MentalHealth](https://aus.social/tags/MentalHealth ) [#Housing](https://aus.social/tags/Housing ) [#Trains](https://aus.social/tags/Trains ) [#Dogs](https://aus.social/tags/Dogs )
Age Verification: I own a music CD collection

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Published at

2026-10-17T01:51:13Z

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Last Notes

2026-06-04 02:59:09 UTC

"AUKUS has always been a one-sided deal in which the US reaps the benefits while Australia accepts the risks. The agreement Australia entered into provides the US with numerous opportunities to cancel or modify the deal. Washington simply acted on what was permitted."
#AUKUS #AusPol
https://thepoint.com.au/opinions/260603-australia-has-been-the-victim-of-an-aukus-bait-and-switch

2026-05-20 01:58:09 UTC

"As everyone outside the government and the shills of the defence lobby readily accepts, those timelines are anything but credible. Far from being a decision that will “reduce risk” and “enhance capability”, as Marles insists, it will increase the risk that the AUKUS debacle leaves us with no submarines while the Americans and the British take our money."
#AUKUS #AusPol
https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/05/20/aukus-collins-class-submarines-defence-australia-richard-marles/

2026-05-02 21:43:32 UTC

"This move may well deliver One Nation its first election win in the lower house in the federal parliament. In doing so, the Coalition may be putting the final nail in its own coffin.
"And given the place the seat of Farrer holds in the history of conservative politics – Robert Menzies hosted the formative Albury Conference there in 1944 – arguably the Liberal party is coming home to be buried."
#AusPol
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/02/the-coalition-is-nailing-its-own-coffin-shut-in-farrer-it-should-have-had-the-courage-to-put-one-nation-last

2026-04-30 12:51:46 UTC

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I'm trying to find the right word for my email to my local Labor MP. Disappointed isn't strong enough.

2026-04-30 09:29:47 UTC

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I'm becoming increasingly convinced that he's actually always been a nasty little man

2026-04-22 01:05:13 UTC

"A uComms poll done for Milthorpe on April 9-10 showed One Nation’s David Farley leading her by a whisker, 30.9% to 30.0%, on primary votes.
"The electorate-wide poll of 1116 people, with an error margin of about 3%, had the Liberals’ Raissa Butkowski on 16.1% and the Nationals’ Brad Robertson polling 7.1%."
#AusPol #FarrerVotes
https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-its-a-chilly-campaign-for-matt-canavan-in-farrer-280583

2026-04-21 10:10:05 UTC

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very strong interview on 730

2026-04-21 09:48:22 UTC

Good work, Mr Pocock
#AusPol

2026-04-19 08:12:35 UTC

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it seems careless not to have at least included the original Arabic phrase

2026-04-18 09:15:06 UTC

The Queensland ban on the phrase 'from the river to the sea' is going great. I only heard it three times on the ABC News tonight.
#AusPol

2026-04-18 03:58:29 UTC

“Every other US ally is busy rethinking decades-long assumptions and plans based on a reliable America. Australia is lonely in resisting admitting anything has changed, and even more extraordinarily, continuing with plans to make Australia’s military more dependent on America and American military production than we are now.”
#AusPol #AUKUS
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/defence/2026/04/18/exclusive-keatings-aukus-sit-down-with-the-new-defence-chief

2026-04-17 08:34:09 UTC

Few things in life are certain - death, taxes and the IDF breaching a ceasefire.

2026-04-16 04:31:04 UTC

"Farrer includes the vibrant and exceptionally diverse centres of Griffith and Leeton, producing huge harvests of citrus, grapes and other horticultural crops. Without migrant workers, there’s nobody to pick the fruit. Without migrants, there would be no Griffith."
#AusPol
https://region.com.au/as-farrer-goes-to-the-polls-regional-voters-will-make-up-their-minds-independently/957932/

2026-04-15 03:57:31 UTC

“Today’s judgment makes it clear: governments cannot rig electoral laws in favour of major parties and expect to get away with it,” she said.
#AusPol
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/15/victoria-political-donation-laws-unconstitutional

2026-04-14 11:03:20 UTC

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to be fair, Dutton already lost many of them

2026-04-14 05:47:41 UTC

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I saw an interview with a sheep farmer on the ABC news a while ago, expressing his genuine concern about the trees that will be cut down to run power lines through the area while he was standing in the middle of a completely cleared paddock, without a tree in sight

2026-04-10 09:49:15 UTC

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I have lovely new trakkie daks!

2026-04-10 09:33:47 UTC

No heater before Anzac Day challenge begins.
#Canberra
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/116/379/716/810/279/594/original/eeb833917cc59be4.png

2026-04-09 01:05:43 UTC

Yes, BRS represents everything that I dislike about what Anzac Day has become.
#AusPol #Anzac
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/116/372/053/824/732/919/original/92cd8a5846a348a5.png

2026-04-02 11:07:54 UTC

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for anyone who wants to understand the full story, this is a fascinating read https://andrewtink.com/index.php/honeysuckle-creek-new
#Canberra #Apollo11

2026-04-02 11:02:25 UTC

Reminder that 'The Dish' in Parkes was not the main game in 1969 and still isn't in 2026.
"The heavy lifting on Australia’s side of the Artemis II mission will be done by the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC), part of Nasa’s Deep Space Network (DSN), which is run by the national science agency the CSIRO.
"The CDSCC, then known as the Tidbinbilla deep space tracking station, was somewhat sidelined in The Dish, as was the Honeysuckle Creek tracking station, which actually captured the initial images of Armstrong before Parkes took over."
#Artemis #Apollo11 #Tidbinbilla #Canberra
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/02/humans-are-en-route-to-the-moon-for-the-first-time-in-54-years-and-australias-dish-is-tracking-them

2026-04-02 07:45:19 UTC

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just!

2026-04-02 06:28:42 UTC

I am about to make the mistake of going to a supermarket the evening before a four day weekend.

2026-04-02 06:24:31 UTC

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'at driver's discretion', apparently

2026-04-02 04:57:30 UTC

So the poor gambling companies will only be able to run ads once EVERY 20 MINUTES in prime time.
How can they possibly survive?
#LaborValues #AusPol #Gambling

2026-04-02 01:16:14 UTC

Doggo on the bus!
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/116/332/463/916/652/649/original/42f6cebfa88128c9.jpg

2026-04-01 08:05:08 UTC

Just put Jim Chalmers in charge already.
#AusPol

2026-04-01 08:03:34 UTC

Meh. That was a total nothing burger.
#AusPol

2026-04-01 03:34:55 UTC

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Obviously not so great for all the 'guest workers' who aren't in a position to flee so easily, if at all.

2026-04-01 03:30:05 UTC

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I have to say that the bursting of the fantasy that westerners can go and live risk and tax free in the gulf is one of the upsides of the current omnishambles

2026-03-31 11:42:12 UTC

Deflect, deny, distract
#AusPol
https://youtu.be/63tGuLELe1A

2026-03-31 10:37:07 UTC

Wait, the Shoppies did something good for workers? There must be a catch.
#AusPol
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-31/fair-work-comission-junior-pay-rates-retail-fast-food/106514948

2026-03-31 01:36:53 UTC

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The other factor is the Nazi paradox: there are people who should not be heard. Actual racist supremacists should be silenced, boxed up and banished, with no quarter for civility afforded to them. It’s easy, however, to take this too far and start cancelling for discomfort, as we’ve been seeing done by pro-Israel lobbyist groups.
The problem presented by Newman is not that he will spout propaganda. Of course he will — he’s the spokesperson for a regime waging a propaganda war in the West to provide cover for its long-term designs in its own neighbourhood that include the destruction of the idea of a Palestinian homeland.
The problem is that we live in a country with a government that has completely normalised the actions of that regime. This is the awkward point: objectively, Israel is behaving as a rogue state. Consider this fact: its prime minister is under indictment by the International Criminal Court for suspected war crimes, and Israel’s attitude to that is to deny the ICC’s legitimacy.
But the reality is that we maintain diplomatic relations with Israel and treat it as a close ally. The entirety of Australia’s mainstream political and media class makes no pretence at challenging Israel’s freedom of action, beyond mild rhetorical criticism from time to time. Israel is, in short, our friend.
At the same time, Australia is a democracy. Free speech remains an important value, at least to the extent that our constitution protects it in the realm of government and political issues. Democracy, not just in theory but also reality, depends on robustness in public forums.
If our government is in bed with a nation committing crimes, that’s both hardly unusual and something for which it should be held to account in the open. If our legacy media players are in practice quiescent and cravenly pandering to Israel’s desires, that should also be called out and exposed as another reason for their terminal decline.
And if the National Press Club is playing along with this — which, to be clear, it is, as betrayed by its cowardice in platforming Newman but not advertising his appearance — then sure, call it out for that.
None of this justifies silencing the ambassador.
We the people can do nothing about Israel; it is outside our reach. But we can do something about our own institutions — governments, media, universities and so on — that defend and coddle its acts, while acting themselves as its avatars in the silencing of all dissent here.
We are still a democracy. We have power. Participating in the cancellation game is the wrong way to wield it.
2/2 #AusPol

2026-03-31 01:36:17 UTC

https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/03/31/israel-ambassador-speech-hillel-newman-national-press-club/
Cancelling Israel ambassador Hillel Newman’s speech isn’t the answer
The instinct to cancel is a pervasive one. But that doesn’t make it right.
Michael Bradley 31 March 2026
Today, the National Press Club is hosting Hillel Newman, the recently installed ambassador to Australia from Israel, as its special guest. His speech will be broadcast by the ABC.
On social media, there have been widespread expressions of outrage and calls for Newman to be cancelled. The NPC’s board has been told it should resign. Some of these calls have come from journalists I admire greatly and with whom I would be surprised to find myself disagreeing, but on this point I do.
In fairness, here’s the case against the NPC. It has three parts. First, Israel has been targeting and killing journalists in Gaza and now Lebanon since 2023, with the death toll now well over 250. As Nick Feik put it in an open letter to the NPC, “What sort of a press club welcomes murderers of journalists?”
Second, there is Newman’s position as representative of a state that has flagrantly committed international crimes, is engaged in illegal invasions of Iran and Lebanon while continuing to ramp up its settlements program in the West Bank, and just overnight passed a new law that targets Palestinians alone for judicial execution. Why, as Greg Jericho posted, is the NPC “giving a voice to this murderous regime?”
Finally, Newman himself has made controversial statements that downplay or deny the reality of Israel’s actions and assert that the United Nations has no legitimacy, the argument being that he does not deserve to be platformed as he is a propagandist.
I posted a counter-argument: that Newman should be allowed to speak, but that he should be asked extremely awkward questions about his own words and the actions of the state he represents, and that he is not entitled to politeness. Part of the response I received was: sure, good in theory, but our media won’t ask him hard questions because they’re all captive to the pro-Israel lobby and terrified of being Segaled.
These are all valid arguments, but I have a different view.
The instinct to cancel is a pervasive one. It derives from a sense of powerlessness, that the deck is stacked. Two complicating factors deserve unpacking here. One is that it’s true: the deck is stacked; the public space is overwhelmed by voices who — consciously or unconsciously — say words Israel would like to hear. This imbalance is by design. It’s critical that we recognise that and don’t reflexively fall into the trap it sets.
1/2 #AusPol

2026-03-28 01:53:55 UTC

"Will a gas export tax harm our diplomatic relationships? No. Foreign companies being sad about having to pay some tax in Australia is quite different to foreign countries losing trust in Australia as a reliable trade partner."
#AusPol
https://thepoint.com.au/explainers/260326-gas-export-tax-wont-harm-trade-or-diplomacy-despite-industry-scare-campaign-claims

2026-03-28 01:49:19 UTC

Guardian Australia has spoken with several other Labor MPs who believe there is support within caucus for the change. One Labor MP, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “I’m getting a lot of heat and I think David Pocock’s run a pretty good campaign on this.”
Email your MP today!
#AusPol
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/28/its-fired-people-up-support-grows-including-within-labor-for-new-gas-tax-to-curb-wartime-profits

2026-03-24 22:33:53 UTC

"For too long, policy has treated housing primarily as a vehicle for wealth accumulation. But a home is not simply another financial asset. It is the foundation for health, stability and participation in society.
"The government now has the evidence, the mandate and the opportunity to act. The question is whether it will choose genuine reform, or allow a once-in-a-generation chance to fix Australia’s housing system slip away."
#Housing #AusPol
https://region.com.au/a-test-of-political-courage-on-housing-tax-reform/952287/

2026-03-24 10:03:32 UTC

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From what I've read, he's really only listening to V'Landys and just isn't interested in hearing about the harm.

2026-03-24 09:51:58 UTC

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this is all on Albanese personally. He's the blockage.

2026-03-24 09:20:41 UTC

Pocock: the Albanese Government has failed Australians
#LaborValues #Gambling #AusPol
https://youtu.be/daK9kj11lJo

2026-03-24 04:48:35 UTC

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I'm in an income bracket that makes it either hospital insurance or more tax. I wish it were otherwise. I'm also very good at getting more back on extras than I pay.

2026-03-24 03:24:29 UTC

I was just about to switch health insurers but in trying to confirm one small detail, I've discovered just how shit the customer service of my prospective new provider is, so I will happily continue to pay a slightly higher premium to my current provider who is responsive to email and answers their phone quickly.

2026-03-23 20:09:35 UTC

“Energy investors are like butterflies. When they are scared, they fly away,” he said at the National Press Club.
So, gas producers would just abandon a highly lucrative situation in a safe country with extensive established infrastructure because of a 25% tax, when about a third of global capacity is offline?
What complete, utter bullshit.
#AusPol
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/23/albanese-australia-gas-profit-taxes-international-energy-agency-warning

2026-03-23 10:32:08 UTC

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yes

2026-03-23 08:49:41 UTC

Old Fishnets Downer doesn't seem to be very well

2026-03-23 03:37:14 UTC

Many people seem to be under the misapprehension that duct tape and gaffer tape are the same thing.

2026-03-21 12:05:13 UTC

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he and Poorlean will have their first fight within weeks, I reckon

2026-03-21 12:01:10 UTC

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until his quits to start his own party

2026-03-21 10:59:20 UTC

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from what I've seen as a scrutineer, the vast majority of informal votes are completely blank

2026-03-21 01:10:12 UTC

Gentle folk of the bush capital
ACTgov wants to ban more single use plastics, including soy sauce fish, plastic-lined coffee cups and takeaway containers and other things.
If you want to see less plastic in our environment, you can support this proposal by doing a short online survey.
#Canberra #Plastics
https://yoursayconversations.act.gov.au/plastics-next-steps/act-plastic-reduction-plan-community-survey

2026-03-20 10:40:14 UTC

If you're not up to speed on the Afroman situation, I can recommend this update from the Daily Show.
https://youtu.be/rIEGz9LtF3I

2026-03-18 08:15:31 UTC

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yeah, ditto

2026-03-18 08:02:09 UTC

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I stopped buying Tasmanian salmon last year

2026-03-17 09:56:31 UTC

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it's back at Hoyts in Woden https://www.hoyts.com.au/movies/one-battle-after-another

2026-03-17 08:01:50 UTC

If you haven't seen One Battle After Another, you really should. It's an extraordinary movie. Nearly 3 hours long but absolutely worth the effort.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt30144839/

2026-03-17 03:21:26 UTC

In the words of Housing Minister Clare O’Neil: “We’re not trying to bring down house prices…That may be the view of young people, [but] it’s not the view of our government.”
Likewise, Anthony Albanese made clear that because of his new housing policy called the First Home Guarantee that: “There will be a slight increase in prices”.
Indeed, during the last election, both the PM and then-Opposition Leader Peter Dutton clarified that they wanted house prices to keep rising, with the former Leader of the Liberal Party saying he wanted house prices to “increase steadily.”
To be clear, neither the banks, the property speculators nor the Albanese Government want house prices or rents to fall.
When we talk about a ‘housing crisis’ in Australia, we need to be clear that Australia does not have a ‘shortage of housing’ crisis, but an ‘access to housing’ crisis.
#AusPol #Housing
https://thepoint.com.au/opinions/260317-the-fake-gas-and-housing-shortage-is-australias-real-crisis

2026-03-15 00:07:34 UTC

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I don't see the Greens winning any of the ACT House seats anytime soon, unless/until Labor becomes seriously toxic, but like all 'safe' seats they're all potentially vulnerable to a strong independent who can pull in votes from across the spectrum.
I also don't think the Greens can win an ACT Senate seat until there are more than two, and even then, not while Pocock's around. I think at least one of their MLAs is also vulnerable to a strong independent in 2028.

2026-03-13 22:42:58 UTC

The difficult truth
Writing exclusively for Crikey, Grace Tame reflects on the prime minister calling her ‘difficult’, the media storm following her pro-Palestine chant, and which social causes do and don’t ignite public support.
13 March 2026
https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/03/13/grace-tame-difficult-anthony-albanese-globalise-the-intifada-palestine/
I do not support violence. I do not condone antisemitism, Islamophobia or hatred of any kind. I am a human rights activist who advocates for the safety of all children, no matter their background.
I shouldn’t have to say this, but I’m currently up against a well-oiled, well-funded political propaganda machine whose aim is to frighten everyone into complicity by maligning its critics. We’re living in an Orwellian nightmare. The same powerful democracies that are bombing and starving children to death throughout the Global South are portraying anti-war protestors as a threat to social cohesion.
Let’s be real, there’s only one reason that the prime minister thinks I’m “difficult”. It’s not because I’m a woman or a child sexual abuse survivor. It’s because I have been outspoken about Australia’s toxic alliance with the US and Israel, and whether you agree with my methods or not, they have cut through.
For the past month, our conservative politicians and media have been running a concerted smear campaign against me because I led chants of “globalise the intifada” outside Sydney’s Town Hall on Monday, February 9, at a peaceful rally protesting Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s state visit. It didn’t matter that the core message of my speech that day was one of hope; that seconds before I spoke the contentious phrase, I said, “You can buy bombs and you can buy politicians, but you cannot buy the truth; you cannot buy our compassion and you cannot buy our love — these are our weapons and we will keep on fighting with them until the very end”.
It also didn’t matter that Isaac Herzog stands accused of inciting genocide, nor that he represents a rogue apartheid regime found to be committing genocide in the Gaza Strip by the UN. It didn’t matter that he signed his name on an artillery shell later deployed by the IDF. All that mattered was that I crossed one of many grey lines manufactured to obstruct dissent.
Language means different things to different people. The Arabic word “intifada” literally translates to “shaking off” or “uprising” and is often used in reference to two periods of Palestinian resistance that began with labour strikes, boycotts and peaceful protests against Israel’s violence.
“Globalise the intifada” is a call for widespread nonviolent resistance to Israel’s ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people, but along with other pro-Palestine catch cries like “from the river to the sea”, it has been coopted, decontextualised and disingenuously redefined as hate speech by pro-Israel lobbyists, who equate it to threatening collective violence against Jewish people. This is not my interpretation.
#AusPol 1/n

2026-03-13 08:29:33 UTC

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Lib Dems + UAP got 5.13% in 2019. PHON + UAP got 5.6% in 2022. I'm assuming Jessie picked up most of that in 2025. A higher PHON vote would presumably come mostly from Libs, so may not have a big effect on the final 2CP. Might even help JP if they also take a bit of Labor primary.

2026-03-13 08:05:18 UTC

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a PHON candidate in Bean will mix things up a bit, likely pulling some of the 'none of the above' primary vote away from Jessie

2026-03-13 07:50:16 UTC

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I wouldn't call Jessie Price a teal. Indy Jamie Christie also did very well in NI in 2019 and 2022, at least partly because he actually went there. It will be good to have Woden back together in one electorate.

2026-03-13 04:19:31 UTC

Proposed redistribution of ACT federal electorates has dropped.
- Lyons, Curtin, Hughes and Garran move from Canberra to Bean
- Molonglo Valley moves from Bean to Canberra
- Norfolk Island moves from Bean to Canberra
- Mitchell and Crace move from Canberra to Fenner
- Hawker, Weetangara and Macquarie move from Fenner to Canberra
#Canberra #ACTpol #AusPol #Elections
https://www.aec.gov.au/redistributions/2025/act/proposed-redistribution/

2026-03-11 23:05:37 UTC

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There are no charges and no referrals to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The NACC found that nothing the robodebt royal commission dredged up, or its own second inquisition, could sustain a criminal prosecution.
But it’s the litany of smaller actions that so adroitly skirted, ducked, and weaved black-letter legislation and established respected norms to make robodebt a reality that have finally been brought into the open through NACC evidence.
“One of the important questions in this investigation…has been what was it that motivated Mr Withnell intentionally to mislead,” NACC deputy commissioner Kylie Kilgour observed.
The name that keeps cropping up is erstwhile former public servant Malisa Lourdes Golightly, a former deputy secretary of DHS who died in December 2021 and thus cannot give evidence.
While the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme unearthed certain elements of Golightly’s management style in evidence, the NACC went far further into what propelled DHS culture at the time of robodebt.
“Mr Withnell did not say that Ms Golightly or any other officer of DHS instructed him to mislead DSS. Nor is there any documentary evidence that he was instructed to do so. But at some points in this investigation, I was inclined to suspect that Ms Golightly may have instructed him to go that far,” the NACC found.
“It is a remarkable coincidence that Mr Withnell’s misrepresentations of February 27, 2015, and the production of the ‘revised proposal’ followed so shortly after Ms Wilson articulated DSS’ ‘bottom line’ to Ms Golightly on February 26, 2015.”
And then it gets worse. Much worse.
“There is, too, evidence that Ms Golightly was extraordinarily driven to succeed in all that she did, and hence it is possible she was so driven to achieve the implementation of OCI that she was prepared to deceive DSS. But at best, that is speculation,” the NACC found. Although Withnell wore the albatross.
“Given the inherent improbability of a public servant as senior as Ms Golightly conniving in the deliberate deceit of DSS, and having regard to the evidence of several credible witnesses that, whatever Ms Golightly’s shortcomings may have been, she was honest, it is more likely that Mr Withnell relevantly acted alone,” the NACC observed.
And then it really goes south because while deceased senior public servants can’t speak, staff reporting to them can.
“Evidence was given by Mr Withnell and several other witnesses that the business integrity division, including the customer compliance branch of DHS, was in effect a career-ending ‘grave yard’ populated by a significant cohort of incompetent, burnt-out, or broken public servants, suffused with a smaller number who, although competent, had been sent there after falling out of favour with those above them in the hierarchy,” the NACC documented.
#AusPol #NACC #RoboDebt 2/n

2026-03-11 23:02:44 UTC

'A shit show’: normalised bullying turbocharged robodebt’s illegality
ANALYSIS
A sidelined, institutionalised, and bullied administrative cohort, turning a blind eye to cling to their jobs. The story of a whatever-it-takes culture laid bare by NACC evidence.
Julian Bajkowski
The Mandarin
MAR 12, 2026
https://www.themandarin.com.au/309403-a-shit-show-how-normalised-bullying-turbocharged-robodebts-illegality/
Of all the additional evidence dredged up by the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s probe into bureaucrats, politicians, and staffers who presided over the disastrous, deadly, and illegal robodebt scheme, arguably the most illuminating is the culture of fear and reprisal that gripped responsible staff at the then-Department of Human Services.
To recap: following a referral in the so-called sealed section of the
Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, six individuals were referred to the NACC, with Mark Withnell, former Department of Human Services general manager, found to have engaged in ‘serious corruption’, along with Serena Wilson, a Department of Social Security deputy secretary.
The bottom line of the finding is that Withnell “engaged in serious
corrupt conduct by intentionally misleading officers of the Department of Social Services during the preparation of a cabinet submission in 2015”.
The finding relates to the New Policy Proposal submitted to the
expenditure review committee of the cabinet, which argued that no
legislative change was needed to lawfully stand up robodebt, when it was. The key reason the illegal debt-manufacturing and collection racket ultimately collapsed was a federal court finding.
But the blame for the critical governance checks and safeguards being bypassed and sidestepped has been laid squarely at the feet of mid-level public servants who, when put in the NACC’s star chamber, finally tipped the bucket on robodebt’s internal enforcers.
The NACC’s finding that Withnell acted corruptly was buttressed by a highly illustrative tranche of new evidence that illuminated the
pressures placed on DHS staff by Senior Executive Service members of the agency.
The key section of the NACC’s robodebt corruption inquiry finding on his corrupt conduct contains an evaluation of motive and asks, “Why did Mr Withnell act as he did?”
It is beyond excoriating, but also somewhat paradoxical to anyone other than a lawyer, in that “motive is not an essential element of ‘corrupt conduct’ comprised of intentionally misleading DSS about the true nature of OCI (robodebt)”.
The bottom line is that you can act out of fear, institutionalisation,
and its psychological paralysis, but that won’t get you off a corruption finding.
#AusPol #NACC #RoboDebt 1/n

2026-03-03 19:50:48 UTC

Wow.
#AusPol #ForeignInterference
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/03/isaac-herzog-israeli-president-asio-meeting-australia-visit-ntwnfb

2026-02-27 19:15:12 UTC

❌❌❌❌❌✅✅✅✅✅
The Saturday Paper Quiz No. 589
I got 5/10!
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/quiz/2026/02/28?rival=0000011111

2026-02-25 09:33:17 UTC

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someone got bought

2026-02-25 08:21:48 UTC

Just a reminder that "jobs being replaced by AI" and "job cuts being blamed on AI" are very different things.
#AusPol #AI

2026-02-25 04:24:23 UTC

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#Canberra #ACAB #Censorship #AusPol
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-25/police-to-return-posters-after-hate-law-seizures/106387066

2026-02-25 04:22:50 UTC

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#Canberra #ACAB #Censorship #AusPol
https://region.com.au/where-is-the-apology-police-decide-not-to-prosecute-civic-bar-owner-over-antifascist-posters/945712/

2026-02-25 03:54:10 UTC

ACT cops finally admit they overstepped in seizing posters and shutting down a gig at Dissent bar.
#Canberra #ACAB #Censorship #AusPol
https://police.act.gov.au/news/2026-media-releases/february/update-to-the-removal-of-posters-from-city-bar

2026-02-23 08:41:31 UTC

I reckon I could drink 50 litres of Passiona
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/116/119/044/856/896/714/original/5bf9e7e1075b310b.png

2026-02-20 19:43:50 UTC

A PB for me
✅❌✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅
The Saturday Paper Quiz No. 588
I got 9/10!
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/quiz/2026/02/21?rival=1011111111

2026-02-20 05:23:37 UTC

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Investor is the wrong word when the topic is existing housing. They are speculators.

2026-02-19 00:23:58 UTC

This is one of the pictures the ACT cops confiscated when they shut down a gig at Dissent bar in Canberra last night. Obviously you should not share it.
#Canberra #ACAB #AusPol
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9178481/canberra-bar-raided-over-trump-and-netanyahu-posters/
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/116/094/441/869/463/043/original/cd8d64a5208efccb.png

2026-02-17 10:25:30 UTC

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That was fun.

2026-02-17 10:16:22 UTC

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Muppet Labs™
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/116/085/445/913/324/062/original/043de3acf03496b3.jpg

2026-02-17 10:08:36 UTC

Tonight's viewing
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/116/085/415/940/413/133/original/051a0c7cff8c8de6.jpg

2026-02-13 22:20:40 UTC

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well played!

2026-02-13 19:47:50 UTC

✅❌❌❌✅✅✅✅❌❌
The Saturday Paper Quiz No. 587
I got 5/10!
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/quiz/2026/02/14?rival=1000111100

2026-02-13 04:00:43 UTC

Without looking it up, where was Sussan Ley born?
#AusPol

2026-02-12 09:38:50 UTC

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Doctor YouTube tells me magnesium is important to help absorb vitamin D

2026-02-11 19:16:45 UTC

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I think that's exactly what he's doing

2026-02-11 10:52:11 UTC

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I think that's the one thing that is certain

2026-02-11 09:00:23 UTC

I think there's a good chance Angus Taylor won't win this contest.
#AusPol

2026-02-11 07:56:30 UTC

Financial regulators have the power to restrict lending to property speculators. They've done it before and it led to house prices dropping.
"CBA data shows that residential investment lending is particularly strong, with investors accounting for 43% of new business, up from 37% of the portfolio two years ago. At the same time, lending to owner-occupiers has decreased as a percentage of its loan book.
"Investors who have already built up equity in their housing portfolios are routinely winning bidding wars against first home buyers in a tight market, expanding the wealth divide that is fraying relations between the generations."
#AusPol #Housing
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/feb/11/commonwealth-bank-cba-profits-shares

2026-02-09 11:12:08 UTC

So, when we start banning phrases, are they going to be banned only in their English versions or are the cops going to have to learn all the translations too?
I feel rhyming slang might also be useful.
I can't wait to see how they're going to draft that legislation, and then to watch Anne Twomey dismantle it.
#AusPol

2026-02-09 11:05:01 UTC

He said initially, police were “getting good cooperation from the crowd”, but then an officer pushed his bike into a woman and “clearly hurt her”. When she got angry, another officer pushed her into the crowd and other bystanders, who fell over, were shocked and angry and started yelling.
“That then resulted in a number of other officers joining the fray,” D’Adam told Guardian Australia.
“They grabbed someone and threw them onto the ground,” he said, alleging punches were thrown.
“It just seemed totally over-the-top in terms of the police reaction.”
D’Adam said if the government, which he is a member of, had allowed the protesters to march up George Street, it wouldn’t have happened.
#AusPol
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/09/nsw-police-pepper-spray-protesters-at-sydney-rally-opposing-isaac-herzogs-visit

2026-02-08 05:01:59 UTC

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I wonder if the Zionist Genocide Enthusiasts have some really bad kompromat on him. Would explain a lot.

2026-02-07 02:22:24 UTC

"But the Israeli president's visit in the next few days has now not only crystallised the divisions in the community. Very unfortunately, it has also represented a direct link between events that, until now, there have been considerable efforts to keep separate in the wake of Bondi.
"That is, it has linked Israel's actions in Gaza to the antisemitic killings in Bondi."
- LaTingle
#AusPol
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-07/isaac-herzog-visit-australia/106294858

2026-02-06 05:32:47 UTC

Misconceived and ignorant is an accurate description of Tony Abbott
#AusPol
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/06/tony-abbott-chief-justice-criticism-harbour-bridge-judge

2026-02-05 07:37:33 UTC

So who's the new special envoy for combatting anti-first nations racism?
#AusPol

2026-02-01 19:59:06 UTC

Ban the ads. All of them. Now.
#LaborValues #AusPol #Gambling
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/02/government-gambling-ads-reform-labor-wells

2026-01-30 07:41:48 UTC

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he will be just as successful as Liberal leader as Fishnets Downer, and for all the same reasons

2026-01-28 02:36:30 UTC

This is clearly not going to happen, but I love how it must be making people in ACT Labor squirm, which is of course the entire point of the exercise.
#AusPol #ACTpol #Canberra
https://region.com.au/greens-to-thrash-out-coalition-proposal-but-liberals-cant-be-trusted-warns-member/937512/

2026-01-26 08:00:41 UTC

Happy India Republic Day

2026-01-21 02:50:48 UTC

“Ultimately the feedback from the Canberra community was very clear that they wanted action in response to the Bondi terror attack but did not support the rushed passage of complex legislation that risked getting things wrong while making significant changes to hate speech and migration laws."
#AusPol #Canberra
https://www.davidpocock.com.au/amendments_on_hate_speech_and_firearm_bills

2026-01-16 21:00:53 UTC

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In another article, Chris Wallace is suggesting Albo could send Richard Fucking Marles off to DC to replace the Ruddbot, which seems perversely appropriate.

2026-01-16 20:11:08 UTC

“What our Australian political leaders on both sides are betting on is that neither of our supposed partners are going to pull the plug, and so the problems will emerge after the present generation of political leaders has left parliament, at which point, of course, Australia’s submarine capability will have collapsed. We won’t have any submarines,” he says.
#AusPol #AUKUS
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2026/01/17/rich-dummy-how-the-aukus-deal-set-fail

2026-01-16 02:44:25 UTC

#Canberra #Moths
https://region.com.au/canberras-seasonal-moths-signal-endangered-species-is-on-the-mend/934902/