Tag: Gina Rinehart

A darkly comic editorial illustration showing a scoreboard reading ONE NATION 1, LIBERAL PARTY 0, DEMOCRACY: ONGOING, with the word ONGOING struck through. Below, grey-suited figures hold blank newspapers before a shuttered regional newsagent and a featureless television broadcaster.

The Scorecard

May 12, 2026 · 1 Comment ·

One Nation has won the seat of Farrer. The Liberal vote collapsed by 31
points. The journalists filed the numbers. Urban Wronski asks the harder
question: what does a win like this mean when the information ecosystem that
democracy depends on is owned, hollowed out, and burning? A Martin Amis-
flavoured reckoning with journalism, dark money and the Palace of Lies.

A political campaign graphic for the Division of Farrer in 2026. The background shows an aerial view of the Murray River and agricultural plains. Centered is a parchment-style map overlay depicting a tug-of-war between "Coalition" and "One Nation" figures over a large money bag. The text reads: "Farrer 2026: From 77 years of Coalition rule to One Nation’s first lower-house seat. But who owns the party now?"

That Was the Week That Was, Part 3: “The Farrer fracture:

May 10, 2026 · 2 Comments ·

One Nation’s David Farley has taken the once‑impregnable Coalition seat of Farrer. But with Gina Rinehart’s funding and the party’s rural base, who really owns the populist rage?

Satirical editorial illustration showing a politician speaking at an outback podium labelled "For the Battlers" while a giant billionaire figure in shadow pulls puppet strings from behind. A private jet sits in the red dirt.

One Nation’s battler lie unravels

May 2, 2026 · 3 Comments ·

One Nation calls itself the battler’s friend. Gina Rinehart’s plane, the NRA’s phone calls and Big Coal’s Senate votes tell a different story. Howard sowed the tares.

Abbott’s Bondi Grandstanding: Who Elected Fox News to Speak for Australia?

December 24, 2025 · 3 Comments ·

Picture Tony Abbott at the IPA lectern, Bondi’s blood barely dry, branding the killings “an attack on all Australians.” Before we accept the performance, it’s worth examining the script – and the stagehands. Abbott is not a former PM quietly offering reflection. He is a paid director of Fox Corporation, Rupert Murdoch’s US outrage sausage-machine, earning well over AU$500,000 a year. When he inflates tragedy into civilisational war, he speaks from inside the Fox wheelhouse, not from civic conscience.

The Midas Curse: How Mining Interests Own Australia’s Democracy

November 23, 2025 · 3 Comments ·

Scott Morrison waves coal in Parliament. The Minerals Council supplied it. He thought he was conducting. He was the instrument.
That moment wasn’t an aberration. It was testimony.
For decades, the mining lobby has achieved what every industry dreams of: complete bipartisan capture. Not just influence. Not just access. Ownership.
Today’s analysis maps the complete system; from dark money pipelines to media amplification, and asks whether we’re willing to build a movement powerful enough to break it.

The Great Immigration Scare, 2.0: Facts versus the Mining State Panic Machine

November 18, 2025 ·

Guardian reporting shows Advance has pumped out at least 44 anti-immigration ads on Meta since the 2025 election campaign began, with more than 1.5 million impressions, drenched in talk of “mass immigration” and “threats” to Australian values. Some Liberal MPs have called the campaign “disturbing” and warned it will poison relations with migrant communities.

**Alt text:** Split-screen political cartoon showing stark inequality. Top half: Pauline Hanson and Gina Rinehart sit atop a melting golden iceberg in front of Parliament House, clinking champagne glasses under a banner reading “Meritocracy & Mimosas.” A butler fans them with shredded welfare applications. Bottom half: elderly pensioners huddle in a flooded basement. One stirs instant noodles with a Centrelink rejection letter; another warms hands over a flickering gas bill. Champagne drips from the ceiling above but never reaches them. The cartoon contrasts elite indulgence with pensioner hardship.

The Hypocrisy of Hanson: Howard’s Political Love Child

November 8, 2025November 9, 2025 · 7 Comments ·

Pauline Hanson wags parliament for Mar-a-Lago while One Nation surges to 15%. From Tampa to Family Court, how Howard’s bastard child betrays her voters.

Urban Wronski Writes

New, fearless, fresh and original Australian political comment, satire and more.