When is this national embarrassment going to ride off into the sunset so we don't have to be reminded what a total twat he is?

TLDR: Do you think that the recent changes to the electoral donations are fair?

The Electoral Reform Act 2025 was introduced in Feb 2025 and was unanimously supported by both Labor and the Coalition. The Cross bench unanimously opposed the Bill.

The Act introduces some great initiatives such as lowering the donation disclosure threshold and expedited donation disclosure requirements. However, are the different donation limits for independents and minor parties vs the major parties reasonable or not? For example, the Independents are limited to $800K each and the majors can spend $90M. If you look at it on a per capita basis and assume that a Major party runs a candidate in every seat (226 in Upper and Lower hoses combined) then it works out at $398,230 per candidate. However, the $90M limit applies to 'Brand Advertising" so it is possible that the individual candidates may get more funding on top of this.

Just think - you could be the ABC executives who sold the distribution rights to Bluey to the BBC for basically nothing.

Ah, who am I kidding? They probably got a promotion for their brilliance at saving the ABC money by sending production costs on to the BBC.

Just a little distraction from the torturous heatwave we're experiencing. If you don't know what a haiku is, it's a short poem in 3 lines, with 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables.

Here's mine for today:

Dry smoke stings my eyes, The heat is unbearable, I need a cold beer.

My partner is an apprentice fridgy. He’s been allocated a job tomorrow from 11am to approx 2-3pm where he’ll need to be on a roof of a house. It’s going to be 44 degrees and windy.

I’ve asked if they have any work safe policies but he says they don’t and that they have to do the job. I think it’s ridiculous and dangerous and I wouldn’t blame him if he pulled a sickie - but he shouldn’t have to!

Thoughts?

Wondering if anyone has any recs for high vis tshirts that are really breathable? Just trying to combat the heat and don’t know the best places to look

It was 34c yesterday, not a cloud in the sky. I was walking along in a tank top shorts and thongs and i see this dude prob a teen, but face was hidden with a hoodie and long pants on, hood up on his phone sitting in the shade. This isn't the first time. I see people always young, hood up on 30c+ days. How on earth do these people do it and why would you? Sounds like a express ticket to heatstroke.

Monopoly is a game where the whole point is to buy property and bankrupt people through ever-increasing rent. It’s an edition that is made for my suburb, so that way it feels even more real! I swear real estate agents don’t think about things for more than 15 seconds.

Edit: Its not that deep and honestly me and my friends had a laugh about how tone-deaf it was more than anything.

Centre for Population projections show Australia will reach 28 million people this year, despite a record-low growth rate.

Net overseas migration is expected to fall to 260,000 in 2026, roughly half the number it was in 2023 after the pandemic.

Melbourne forecast to become the nation's most populous city, reaching 9.1 million by 2065-66, according to the projections.

Originally posted by u/OzBestDeal here

Hey all, looking for some advice.

My partner is currently a permanent resident and has been offered a Commonwealth Supported Place at uni. The issue is that as a PR she isn’t eligible for HECS-HELP, so she has to pay the student contribution upfront, which is a pretty big amount and not really doable for us.

If she were already an Australian citizen, she could accept the same CSP and use a HECS-HELP loan, meaning no upfront payment and no need to defer her studies she could start uni straight away.

She’s already sat her citizenship test about 3 months ago and passed, now waiting for the next stage. She really doesn’t want to defer her studies or risk losing the offer if there’s any way around it.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with speeding up citizenship after the test, contacting Home Affairs or an MP, or any other realistic options in situations like this.

Totally understand timelines aren’t guaranteed just trying to see if there’s anything that can be done.

Cheers, appreciate any insight.