Hi @matildagirl, I'm so pleased Labor won and PM Albanese is back from a second term. It just proves how unppopular Trumpism has become when many voters are seeing those who are trying to emulate it as toxic now. I'm pleased both Canadian and Australian voters now realise this.
I wish that I could say the same for the UK - our most right-wing party called Reform UK just made huge gains in the local elections. It looks like we are heading in the opposite direction to Canada and Australia.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cev4dve4970o
Australia's conservative Liberal-National coalition - currently the nation's main opposition political party - has split after a partnership lasting almost 80 years.
The move marks a seismic change in the country's political landscape and comes just weeks after a federal election that saw Labor win a second term in a landslide victory.
Nationals leader David Littleproud on Tuesday said his party would not re-enter a coalition agreement, amid policy disagreements with the Liberal Party as it goes on a journey of "rediscovery" after the empathic loss.
The Coalition has been broken and repaired before, Mr Littleproud said, and he hoped the parties would be able to do it again.
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens before the next election. The 2 parties of the coalition never get enough votes apart to be elected they always have to band together while the Labor party can get enough seats to govern in their own right.
The other thing was the lack of women in the party and it is ironic that after Dutton lost his seat they have elected Sussan Ley who was the Deputy Leader with Dutton at the last election.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussan_Ley
There is a lot of talk about a glass cliff instead of a glass ceiling meaning they get a woman in to repair the damage then once it’s sorted push her off the cliff and go back to a man in charge.
She seems to have had a varied life from waitress, cleaner, a commercial pilot, was a farmer and a shearer’s cook and director of technical training at the Tax Office. Will see what happens.
Regards to all
Matildagirl
Well it looks like the Nationals and Liberals have decided to kiss and make up, both realised they were nothing without the other, they are just ironing out who takes out the rubbish and does the ironing and it will be like it never happened. They have form, did it in 1987 as well. They are doing it for the kids. The knives will probably come out at a later date for the architect of the split, but they will wait awhile.
in reality if they don’t get back together both parties could disappear and we won’t have an opposition capable of keeping a government in check which is probably not a good idea.
Regards to all
Matildagirl
This isn’t Australian news but rather New Zealand.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/08/12/really-difficult-nz-woman-son-detained-by-us-immigration/
Sarah Shaw had taken her two older children to Vancouver so they could catch a direct flight back to New Zealand on July 24 to visit family, and she then planned to travel back to her home in Washington state with her younger son.
Shaw’s lawyer Minda Thorward told local media that she had a temporary immigration document that allowed her travel and re-enter the US but there was an ‘administrative error’ with it.
Her friend Victoria Bescancon told 1News that she was stopped at the border by immigration agents and told there was a problem with her documents, so she and her son would be detained immediately.
“Sarah slept on the floor with her son in a room. They had an emergency blanket,” said Besancon.
Shaw and her son were then transferred to a facility in South Texas – one of only two that can house families together.
“Sarah is trying really hard to stay positive and trying really hard to adjust to the situation, but watching your child be detained in an immigration facility being the only two people who speak English in that facility and being treated every single day like a criminal has been devastating to her,” said Bescancon.
Shaw and her son are now sharing their room with four other families, she said.
“She's not even able to have a conversation with anybody or just relate. And it's been really difficult for her.”
She is still there but now with publicity maybe it can be worked out.
Matildagirl
https://apple.news/AkT6g7y_KQAem_lu_8gHDkQ
Thousands of monarch butterflies have taken over Nannup, in south-west Western Australia, although experts warn their high numbers are evidence of the advance of invasive weeds.
Horticulturalist Chris Barlow said the butterflies, which have a life cycle of about six weeks once hatched, feed as larvae on one of two weeds, varieties of cotton bush and milkweed, which are prevalent in surrounding pine plantations.
Monarch butterflies are native to North America and are believed to have been blown across to Australia via the Pacific islands during cyclonic weather in the early 1870s.
The species only took hold in the last 30 years when the invasive weeds also gained a footing, describing the situation as “a delicate balance”, but still “a beautiful sight
You learn something new every day.
Regards
Matildagirl
@matildagirl @lenor Dear Matildagirl this is a beautiful story and I think this is also a prediction hit as this was predicted on 08/03/2025 for September 2025: I see Monarch butterflies in hoards flying. (Tonya W)
Netanyahu isn’t happy with us and is attacking our PM.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the ABC that Mr Netanyahu had "lashed out" at a number of countries who have issued their support for Palestinian statehood.
"Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry," he said.
"Strength is much better measured by exactly what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has done, which is when there's a decision that we know Israel won't like, he goes straight to Benjamin Netanyahu.
"He has the conversation, he says exactly what we're intending to do, and has the chance for the objections to be made person to person."
While Mr Burke issued a rebuke of the Israeli prime minister, Mr Albanese's response was more restrained when he was asked about the comments on Wednesday.
He said he treated "leaders of other countries with respect" and did not take Mr Netanyahu's missive personally.
"My job is to represent the Australian national interest and I think very much that Australians want two things to happen," he said.
"One, they want people to stop killing each other, whether it be Israelis or Palestinians. The second thing that they want is the conflict to not be brought here."
”There are risks in Australia’s row with Israel, but it’s Netanyahu who is trashing the relationship”
Will see how it goes.
Regards to all
Matildagirl
This is an analysis by Alan Kohler on what is happening in America and is well worth a read. The link to the article is below and I have also put some excerpts from it to give you an idea of his thoughts on what is happening.
Market traders are watching each other, not the world, or as JM Keynes put it, what matters for investors is understanding the average opinion of the average opinion.
If they were watching the world, they would see a highly focused, carefully planned and very significant change in the way government is carried out in the United States.
The Trump/MAGA regime has made no secret of its belief that Article II should be taken literally and that all executive power should be vested in the president and his cabinet and staff.
Also note that no government institution, including the Federal Reserve, has legislative independence from the White House.
Now it's the Fed's turn and given its revered independence from the caprices of politics — along with that of most other central banks, including Australia's — it is a Rubicon once crossed there will be no part of the government not under the president's direct day-to-day control.
The trouble is Trump has also stacked the Supreme Court and is ignoring or bypassing Congress, which was not anticipated back in 1787 when the constitution was signed.
Have a read of it as the above is from different parts of the article. He explains his reasoning on what he sees as happening.
Regards
Matildagirl
@matildagirl Thank you very much for sharing this article! Its content is as convincing as it is horrifying and chilling. While reading it, I couldn't help but think of Baba Vanga, the Bulgarian fortune teller said to be the modern-day Nostradamus. She supposedly prophesied that Obama would be the last U.S. president, likely in reference to the next president's attempt to alter the office beyond recognition. However, I am also critical of the figure of Baba Vanga. Many of her statements sound as if they originated with Russian trolls and were further spread by them, and there are no reliable original sources of Baba Vanga's words. The article's persuasive and informative power would even increase if Russian trolls were the original source of the idea that someone alike to Nostradamus predicted the end of the traditional U.S. presidency under T.
Trump had said: "I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the President of the United States."Trump's statement was a statement that did not get the attention it deserved.
Just a little feel good story for Australia. Our Prime Minister got married.
Regards to all
Matildagirl
@matildagirl How lovely! Thank you for sharing! Love and commitment is a wonderful thing.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/03/economy/superannuation-australia-retirement-trump
“The Trump administration is looking Down Under for inspiration on how to improve the United States’ retirement savings system.
Australia’s super funds are the fourth-largest retirement savings pool in the world despite the country’s ranking as the 55th largest country by population size, according to JPMorgan Chase.
Australian super funds are major investors in US assets, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke at a superannuation summit in Washington, D.C., in February, where he touted the program’s success.”
Our superannuation scheme is compulsory so that every employer has to do it and every employee has a superfund for the money to go to which we can choose. We can also contribute to it with a cap on how much each year.
Young people now working will have a lot of super for their retirement because it is now 12% of wages and investments and compounding interest etc. to add to the total. When I started it had only begun at 3% which slowly grew, when I retired it had gotten to 9% I think.
I added a small inheritance to it so when I retired 11 years ago I had $311,000. I still have $265,000 and have taken out a pension each year plus a couple of lump sums totalling approx $210,000 over that 11 years. I am in a good industry superannuation fund, Industry funds perform better then retails ones run by banks and insurance companies.
My balance would be a bit higher if Putin hadn’t invaded Ukraine and you guys hadn’t voted in Trump, and Elon Musk hadn’t joined in and affected Tesla shares, those events dampened some of the investments and lowered their value. A lot of the investments are in America so we are very very interested in what happens there. You literally affect our retirement plans.
Being over 60 (76) the income derived is tax free so no more tax returns. I also get a part pension from the government as well so live quite comfortably in retirement. We also have free healthcare and subsidies from the government on things like car registration, electricity bills, council rates, phone bills.
Socialism is not a dirty word.
It’s a very good system and would greatly benefit the average American who is never going to be a millionaire/billionaire.
It might be hard to get going though we only have 27 million people you guys have 343 million and compulsory is not a word you guys like.
Regards to all
Matildagirl