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Why Charlie Kirk’s Death Has Been on My Mind - September 2025

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I’m not so sure why the murder of Charlie Kirk is playing on my mind so much. A day has passed since he was shot at an event, in front of a couple of thousand people who came to hear him speak and debate. I believe his wife and children were also present. I can only imagine what they are going through right now. While I don’t share their obvious religious devotion , I am sure that their faith is helping them through this unimaginable horror. So I’ve been thinking about Charlie’s murder for a day and a half now. It’s really troubling me — more than I thought it would. What does his murder say about our society? I have never listened to one of Charlie’s podcasts or watched one of his shows, although I’ve caught bits and pieces that inevitably pop up on social media from time to time. I did search up Charlie’s reactions to the South Park episode that made fun of him. He took it exactly how I thought he would — he laughed at the satirical take on him. Charlie was trying to make a di...
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Labor’s First Move: Writing Off Student Debt. With Your Money. July 2025

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So, Mr Albanese and Labor have been returned to Government with an increased majority. (Somehow they increased that majority with a primary vote of less than 35%. Go figure). The opposition coalition, primarily the Liberal party, were hopeless during the campaigning. But that's another article for another day. The first order of business for the returned Albanese government was to wipe 20% off some students’ HELP (Higher Education Loan Program) debts. Mr Albanese was very pleased with himself on social media and pitched the initiative as "fair" - some relief after years of high indexation and cost-of-living pressures. I saw the post on FaceBook, and I’ve thought about it for a while. I’ve thought about my own kids. And honestly? It's made me a bit cranky. I’m not angry at the students. They signed up to study, took on a debt, and now they've been told they won’t have to pay all of it back. I don’t blame them one bit for taking the win. Most of them are just doing ...
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“It’s really disappointing that you support Trump!” - January 2025

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D uring a Facebook-based conversation, shortly before the US election, a friend said to me, “It’s really disappointing that you support Trump!” His post continued with common tropes: “He wants to be a dictator …” “He wants to replace all government agency heads with people loyal to him and the dollar …” “He's a mad loose cannon…” and, of course, “(Trump) may well lead the world to WWIII or economic ruin, or both.” He also threw in a couple of new ones: “He has given foreign powers access to US national security and nuclear sensitive information.”  And finally: “Economic studies have stated that the US debt will increase to more than double the current amount within 12 months.” For the record, I have no problem with people challenging my thoughts that I post on Facebook, X, here on this blog, or in conversation. It’s through discourse and conversation that ideas are shared and I always enter a conversation thinking that I may just learn something. As I’ve said, I’ve changed my mind ...
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Australia's Digital Identity Bill - June 2024

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Our connected world is very convenient. The things that you can do with your phone were unthinkable just twenty or so years ago. For example, I have a very handy banking app. Not only can I get instant account balances, I can check upcoming regular transactions, past transactions, I can even apply for a loan on my phone. I can suspend my cards if I lose my wallet, or suspect that there’s something nefarious going on. I am also able to self-restrict my own purchasing. Not just “how much” I spend, but what I spend my money on. I can ban my own spending on things like gambling, or overseas purchases, should I wish. Good idea, isn’t it?! At least one other Australian bank has taken their app a little further. It actually calculates how much Carbon emissions your purchases are responsible for. Handy for those who want to keep track of their personal carbon footprint. My boss recently bought himself a new ute. From his phone he can track the vehicle's information, things like engine tem...
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Location: Ganmain NSW 2702, Australia
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Dear National Party of Australia - April 2024

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 Below is an open letter that I presented to a member of the local National Party branch.  The letter was presented to a meeting which included our (State) local sitting member. As yet, I have had no reply. I'll keep you posted. Dear Nationals I am one of the many thousands of conservative voters looking for somewhere to park my vote. I have been voting for around 35 or 40 years and while I traditionally voted Liberal or Nationals, I have not voted Nationals or Liberal since the 2007 Federal Election. And I will explain why shortly. At the recent Tasmanian state election, something like 34% of voters selected a minor party, with the bulk of those votes going to the Greens. At the most recent Federal election in 2022, the LNP and the Nationals (not including Liberal Party) combined primary was less than 12%. (To be fair, the Nationals don't contend that many seats, but these are the statistics from the AEC Tally Room web page). At the same election, around 20% voted for indepen...
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Farming is Under Attack - March 2024

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  Farming is under attack. Globally. I first shared my thoughts on this in 2022 . Since then, there's been a movement of action throughout Europe, who's farmers have been the hardest hit. Farmers have been protesting in parts of Europe for a few years now, but over the last few months their numbers have increased immensely. Not that you’d know by watching/listening/reading our mainstream media in Australia. For some reason our legacy media have decided that this uprising across Europe isn’t worth reporting. It’s not that it isn't interesting…. It’s because the protests are standing up to, and fighting against, the accepted common narrative that the elites of our world have commanded. Therefore, finding facts and pinpointing just what the Farmers are demanding, and which policies they object to, has proven difficult. There’s nothing of substance on any of our major media outlets' websites. But the protests are in fact big news. In recent weeks the protest activity has ra...
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