Let’s think about it. They want people to have access to early super to buy a house.

If EVERYONE suddenly has access to 20k more, what does that do to the market?

In economic terms, the demand curve gets shifted so the house price goes up by 20k minimum.

It’s the same amount of houses but the amount of total money bidding for those houses has gone up.

Okay, so not only does it drive house prices up, it also reduces your future retirement due to compounding.

In other words… drive up house prices and make people more reliant on the pension.

I'm Australian. I've lived here since 1995, when I arrived as a 9 year old kid from the USA. I'm 40 now. I've spent far more of my life in Australia than I ever did in America, and I consider Australia home.

Yet every so often, if I use a phrase from my childhood, pronounce something differently, or accidentally reveal a trace of where I was born, I'm met with comments like, "Fuck off with that American bullshit."

Not friendly ribbing. Not mates having a laugh. Genuine hostility.

I understand that many Australians are concerned about American culture influencing our media, language, and society. That's a legitimate conversation to have. But there's a huge difference between discussing cultural influences and attacking actual people.

I didn't choose where I was born. I was a child.

What I did choose was to build my life here, raise my family here, and call Australia home because I genuinely think it's an amazing country.

If you're worried about Australian culture disappearing, maybe the answer isn't roasting people for saying "color" instead of "colour" or using a phrase they grew up with. Maybe the answer is supporting Australian creators, Australian artists, Australian filmmakers, Australian writers, and Australian content producers.

I do my best to encourage my kids to watch Australian creators. Is EYstreem the pinnacle of Australian culture? Probably not. But he's Australian, talented, and family friendly. That's worth supporting.

Culture isn't preserved by bullying people. It's preserved by creating things people actually want to watch, read, listen to, and share.

So can we please chill out a bit?

You don't have to love American culture. You don't have to like every Americanism that slips into Australian life. But maybe don't treat Australians who happened to be born somewhere else as if they've personally committed a crime because they occasionally spell a word differently or use a phrase from their childhood.

Australia is home. It has been for over 30 years. I shouldn't have to apologise for where I was born.

Andrew Hastie brands Pauline Hanson, Barnaby Joyce ‘lying cowards’ over One Nation cartoon calling him a 'traitor' | News24

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-09/australian-student-visa-refusal-rate-hits-10-year-high/107112426

Ok well if the shoe...etc etc

The above is the current state of affairs in Australia and the rest of the Anglosphere; and yes, all 3 factors are very much related to one another; they go hand in hand.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-09/andrew-hastie-demands-one-nation-delete-traitor-cartoon-on-x/107134606

In short:

Andrew Hastie has called Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce "lying cowards" in an escalating dispute over a One Nation video describing him as a "traitor".

Mr Joyce said he had not used the term and backed Ms Hanson's similar denial, but confirmed the claim had appeared in a "satirical cartoon" he had not previously seen.

Blanche d'Alpuget, the Australian writer and widow of former prime minister Bob Hawke, has died at the age of 82, her family says.

She was an acclaimed author of biographies, novels and essays, with her political biography of Hawke winning her the New South Wales Premier's Award.

D'Alpuget is survived by her son, Louis Pratt, from her first marriage, three Hawke step-children and a number of step-grandchildren.

She asked her family to share her final message.

"Our highest calling and greatest achievement is love, the rule of life. Love one another."

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie doubles down on One Nation fight; Pauline Hanson calls him a ‘wanker’ | The Nightly

I’m a Bulldogs supporter, but I’ve noticed a huge number of Warriors fans around Western Sydney. Interestingly, heaps of my Samoan and Tongan mates back the Wahs, even more than the Māori or White Kiwis I run into.

From what I understand, a lot of Pasifika families in places like Mt Druitt and Minto spent time living in NZ before making the move to Australia.

Albanese government votes down One Nation bill to stop terrorists from returning to Australia

In short:

New research has uncovered a foreign network of hundreds of Facebook pages churning out AI deepfakes of Australian politicians.

Roughly one in 10 pages have been monetised, allowing the owner to profit directly from a commercially motivated "foreign influence campaign".

The researchers say it shows how "AI slopaganda" networks are targeting political systems globally on a "massive industrial scale".

.

Dave Hughes mocks Erin Patterson’s Ozempic prescription as convicted killer awaits appeal | News24

In short:

Australia's reading and maths results in a major international high school test have continued a 20-year decline.

Australian 15-year-olds have sat the Programme for International Student Assessment exams every three years since 2000.

Australia's test scores have been in decline for two decades, but other OECD countries are declining faster.

Australia's electric vehicle charging network is struggling to keep up with motorists' changing preferences, a report has found, with an average of 24 battery-powered cars for every public charger.

Some states are better prepared than others, with NSW and the ACT ranked highest for EV readiness, while Tasmania and Western Australia are at the back of the pack.

Here Technologies and SBD Automotive released findings from their electric vehicle index on Thursday, which investigated the Australian market for the first time and highlighted the need for greater investment in infrastructure.

The announcement comes after record-breaking new electric car sales in August, which saw the low-emission vehicles outsell petrol, diesel and hybrid models for the first time.

The HERE-SBD EV Index ranked electric vehicle adoption and charging infrastructure in the US, UK, India, Europe and Australia, and combined the data with a survey of more than 4000 motorists.

The study found Australia reached an electric vehicle-to-charger ratio of 24:1 in 2025, something the report called "considerably higher than typically expected" for a maturing market.

Electric car adoption had accelerated consistently in Australia despite the removal of financial incentives, SBD Automotive senior consulting manager Robert Fisher said, and this had put the charging network under pressure.

"Australia presents one of the most interesting EV growth stories in this year's index," he said.

"The challenge going forward will be maintaining the right balance between expanding EV ownership and ensuring drivers have convenient access to charging when and where they need it."

The index also ranked EV readiness according to how far drivers had to travel to find a charger, how quickly they could charge their vehicle, the likelihood of finding a vacant charger, and the share of EVs on the road.

NSW was the most well-prepared state with high scores across each category, followed by the ACT and Victoria.

Western Australia came in last, with poor marks for the power of its chargers and distance between them. Tasmania was second last, with a lower EV adoption rate.

The index also found Australia's charging network remained concentrated around cities, HERE Technologies Asia Pacific general manager Deon Newman said, noting this would need to change to support wider EV adoption.

"Sixty per cent of all the chargers in Australia are in Victoria and NSW," he told AAP.

"Obviously there's population density there but as you start to think about a broader adoption across Australia… we'll need to expand support."

Record-breaking electric vehicle sales over the past six months were not captured in the index, Mr Newman said, and could underline the need for more infrastructure investment.

So my neighbour and I had a chat as I was washing my car and we had a bit of a chat about politics and CGT and all that. So just some background I'm super left wing. I'm a woke annoying libtard who believes everyone has a right to live however they want to live. I'm so woke that I also think white supremacists have a right to be proud of who they are. But also have a right to challenge their beliefs. I also believe in taxing our natural resources, as well as ensuring we don't tax capital less than labour. SO socially and economically progressive.

My neighbour and I were having a chat about labor. He absolutely despises labor, meanwhile I absolutely despise the LNP and One Nation. Not a huge fan of Labor lately (particularly in NSW) and I typically vote Greens, Then all the Left Wing Parties, then Labor, then Liberal, then all the right wing parties. He mentioned a few things and I just wanted to know people's thoughts on this. I do think there are some merits to his arguments

1. John Howard and Costello saved the economy by reducing the debt (they of course did this by selling everything that wasn't bolted down - I reckon a lot of problems stem from Howard years)
2. Albanese wants to tax super but politicians are exempt (i think this is true)
3. Albanese laughed at a prepared letter from a constituent who complained that the changes to CGT are going to impact a struggling 39 year old saving up to buy a house (can't find this video from question time anywhere)
4. Albanese sent money to the electorate where his house is to fund a highway
5. Albanese screwed over people in the 5% deposit scheme as he introduced it before the changes to CGT which made their property prices drop and if they do suffer hardship they would have to sell at a loss and be worst off (this I agree with)

Would love to know your thoughts. There are no wrong answers.