Category: The captured state

Don Farrell: The Godfather of Business as Usual

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Jason Koutsoukis’ fawning Saturday Paper profile glosses over the hard truth: Don Farrell represents everything Labor has become. He’s the living fossil record of the Labor Right, the factional godfather who ensures the party never threatens capital’s fundamentals. He rose through the SDA—the union that collaborated with supermarket chains rather than fighting them. He helped orchestrate Kevin Rudd’s removal when the PM threatened mining profits. Now he controls trade policy, ministerial appointments, and the invisible machinery that keeps Labor compliant. The Saturday Paper presents this as diplomatic skill. It’s systematic capture of a workers’ party by those who’ve abandoned workers.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaking, illustrating post-election government scrutiny and accountability concerns

The Government That Isn’t: Labor’s Masterclass in Looking Busy

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They gave him 94 seats and a mandate like no other. But barely five months after his landslide re-election, Anthony Albanese’s government is already disappointing voters. From FOI requests plunging to just 25% approval, to $1 million in climate travel in two months, to a housing policy that makes homes less affordable—the second-term complacency is real. As independent MPs note: “We couldn’t go any lower than Morrison, but we have.”

“Albanese’s side offers rare-earth ore across a Washington negotiation table while a neglected submarine model sits out of focus — symbolising minerals over missiles.”

The Real Deal: Why Critical Minerals Matter More Than Submarines

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Nobody in Canberra gets the Trump 2.0 administration. When Albanese meets Trump on 20 October, Canberra will bang on about submarines. The real conversation should be critical minerals—where Australia actually has leverage and America has desperate need. China controls the supply chains that power everything from semiconductors to missiles. Australia can break that stranglehold. If we’re smart enough to see it.

Captured State: How Corporate Australia Wrote Labor’s Climate Surrender

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The real tragedy isn’t just pissweak climate policy—it’s the systematic corruption of democratic governance itself. We’ve cultivated a political class more eager to curry favour with the titans of industry than to tackle the programs that might actually drag our collective arses out of the fire. Cabinet ministers book more face-time with fossil fuel executives than climate scientists. Policy frameworks emerge from industry “working groups,” not public consultation.