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The proposed park ends native forest logging on the land and creates a vast sanctuary for koalas and 66 other threatened species.

But it’s always best to read the fine print and understand the Ts&Cs. In this case, they reveal a diabolical trade off.

The native forest will only be saved from logging if the government can monetise it as “carbon credits”.

“The final creation of the park is dependent on the successful registration of a carbon project,” the government makes abundantly clear.

It wants the Clean Energy Regulator to let it generate carbon credits, it seems, from a national park – an unprecedented step. If it can’t, the government says the vast koala sanctuary on the state’s mid north coast won’t go ahead.

Why is this demand a worry?

The NSW plan would only protect forests if they were monetised in ways that support continued carbon emissions.

Carbon credits are a license to pollute. If the NSW government is allowed to generate carbon credits from native forests earmarked for the great koala park, the most likely buyers would be big greenhouse gas emitters.

Under Australian law, these businesses can keep extracting and burning fossil fuels provided they “offset” their emissions by buying Australian Carbon Credit Units or ACCUs.

That’s how Woodside justifies its plans to open up new gas fields and process export gas on the North West Shelf until at least 2070 – with federal government approval.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Matt tells Elinor about the massive class action lawsuit settlement the Government made with the victims of Robodebt, Labor potentially getting cold feet on superannuation tax concession reform, and what they both tell us about how Australia views our poorest and wealthiest people.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 11 September 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Host: Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist, the Australia // @mattgrudnoff.bsky.social

Host: Elinor Johnston-Leek, Senior Content Producer, the Australia Institute // @elinorjohnstonleek

Show notes:

The Australia Institute Revenue Summit 2025

‘The changes to superannuation tax concessions are needed and very fair’ by Greg Jericho, the Australia Institute (May 2025)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

This article was co-written with contributions from Michelle Bilek, Jim Dunn, Jon Paul Mathias, Kateryna Metersky, Alex Nelson, Sophie O’Manique, Steven Rolfe, Colleen Van Loon, and Jeremy Wildeman.

Globally, researchers, service providers, advocates and lived experts who are trying to enact the prevention and ending of homelessness face various forms of government inertia. While United Nations member states have collectively signed onto the ‘right to adequate shelter’, ¹ actualizing this human right occurs in significantly varying degrees between them. While human rights are ubiquitous, there remains an underlying perception of ‘deserving poor’, even among adherents and advocates to those rights, whereby assistance is provided only to some and under limited criteria. The status quo, in the form of government inaction on the actualization of these human rights, resists the universalization of these rights by creating counter-narratives against those proposing policy action.

Since the late 2000s, Canada’s economic slowdown has been debated in terms of technological fatigue, demographic trends, monetary constraints, and global trade headwinds. This paper contends that the underlying source of stagnation fundamentally points to distributional imbalances and structural demand deficiency. Today’s stagnation is not cyclical, but a symptom of a structural trap—a regime of distributional stagnation rooted in the failure of the neoliberal paradigm to reconcile economic growth with social equity.

This analysis situates Canada’s stagnation within broader debates on “secular stagnation” and macroeconomic paradigm choice, drawing on leading theories that emphasize the role of demand, inequality, and institutional decline. There are three structural channels through which income inequality drives stagnation: (1) reduced household consumption due to top-heavy income distribution; (2) erosion of labour power weakening wage growth and demand; (3) a disconnect between rising profits and falling productive investment.

The American Mind’s ‘Editorial Roundtable’ podcast is a weekly conversation with Ryan Williams, Spencer Klavan, and Mike Sabo devoted to uncovering the ideas and principles that drive American political life. Stream here or download from your favorite podcast host.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics | The Roundtable Ep. 284

The editors open with an analysis of the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska by a repeat violent offender, and discuss what it reveals about crime, media spin, and a legacy media more fixated on “Republicans pouncing” than the literally pouncing criminal himself. Follow-up discussion ranges from Europe’s disappearing crime stats to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s downward revision of nearly a million jobs during the Biden presidency, probing whether institutions still merit public trust and what a reality-based politics on immigration, safety, and the economy might look like. The editors also touch on an immigration sweep at a Georgia battery plant and the gap between GDP and lived experience before closing with fresh culture picks.

Introduction: Passive Revolution in 2025

In the spring of 2025, when Canada narrowly avoided being swept up in a global wave of electoral successes for the (far) right, it was a puzzling moment. After years in which it appeared to be all but inevitable that Pierre Poilievre’s federal Conservative Party of Canada would form the first government of the post-Justin Trudeau era, the election of another minority Liberal Party government, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, could seem an occasion for relief. An apparently ascendant right-wing in Canada was not so ascendant after all. However, notwithstanding the contingency of the minority Parliament and the initiation of US trade war upon the inauguration of the second Trump administration, it may be wrong to think that Canada has rejected or been spared the rise of the right. For the time being, at least, Canada’s Liberals have succeeded in a classic passive-revolutionary exercise: metabolizing and re-presenting elements of a threatening movement to ensure political survival and, as much as possible, re-establish electoral and policy dominance. 

Woodside Energy is apparently baulking at strict new limits on nitrous oxide emissions the Albanese government wants to impose on its massive gas project to protect the ancient Indigenous rock art at Murujuga in WA.

The emissions limits are the “major sticking point” in the way of final approval for Woodside’s North West Shelf gas development, according to the AFR Rock art protections behind Woodside North West Shelf gas project delay.

Which begs the question: why is this a negotiation?

It tells you a lot about who wields power in Australia that Woodside is being allowed to haggle in secret over the conditions.

In May, Environment Minister Murray Watt gave provisional approval to a 45-year extension of the oil and gas giant’s liquid natural gas export hub on the Burrup, and an associated gas power plant.

This was subject to “strict conditions” – but they were never made public.

Supposedly, the secrecy was imposed to provide “procedural fairness” to Woodside. The gas giant was given 10 days to respond. It missed the deadline.

Four months later, the conditions are still cloaked in secrecy – and Woodside is still chipping away at them behind closed doors. So much for transparency.

Woodside’s gas facilities are adjacent to what many experts consider the most significant Indigenous rock art site in the world: The Murujuga Cultural Landscape.

In a democracy, the right to vote is a cornerstone of civic participation—yet for unhoused individuals across Canada, this right remains largely theoretical. Despite legislative guarantees under the Canada Elections Act, practical barriers continue to disenfranchise one of the country’s most marginalized populations. This article explores the persistent challenges that individuals experiencing homelessness face in accessing the ballot, using the Waterloo Region in Southwestern Ontario during the 2025 Ontario General Election as a case study to better understand these barriers across Canada. Through an analysis of systemic, logistical, and social obstacles, including restrictive identification requirements, inconsistent policy implementation, transportation challenges, and social stigma, this study aims to identify evidence-based strategies for advocacy and outreach that increase voter participation among unhoused individuals. The study combines a thematic analysis of interviews with representatives of organizations in direct engagement with unhoused people, alongside a comprehensive literature review, and offers recommendations to bridge the gap between electoral rights and electoral access for unhoused individuals in the Waterloo Region and across Canada.

This study was conducted as a community partnership with Waterloo Region Community Legal Services (WRCLS) and completed as part of the Policy Research in Action course in the Master of Applied Politics program at Wilfrid Laurier University. 

Scandals have wracked Bell’s tenure, and a variety of surveys have shown widespread dissatisfaction with the ANU’s current leadership.

But the problems at the ANU are systemic.

They will not be solved with the departure of any one figure. Indeed, the governance crisis at Australia’s universities is sector-wide. In May, Dr Joshua Black and I wrote that the ANU’s rolling crises were predictable because they stem from its flawed governance structure.

Like all of Australia’s universities, the ANU lacks effective mechanisms for transparency, accountability, and representation. Every new scandal the sector has seen in the last four months is further proof.

The core problem is a vacuum of accountability. In the university sector, no one is held responsible for failure, at least no one at the top.

While vice-chancellors have CEO-like million-dollar pay packets, the university councils they answer to do not face nearly the same scrutiny as a public company’s board of directors.

It describes changes in other jurisdictions as “rushed, self-interested and poorly justified”.

The Australia Institute submission also warns that rules on early voting, roadside election signage and a 100-metre exclusion zone for handing out how-to-vote cards could undermine election day as a “festival of democracy” in the very heart of the nation’s democracy.

Research shows that a “reimbursement” model for public funding, as recommended by the ACT Electoral Commission, would favour wealthy incumbents at the expense of new entrants.

On 6 September 2025 we revealed in The Age that Victorian dentist Ian Lomax is a member of the National Socialist Network.

Lomax previously practiced dentistry in New South Wales. We first saw him training at Elwood with the National Socialist Network in February this year, in footage taken by The Age:

White supremacist bootcamp takes over Elwood beach

Lomax has also featured on a National Socialist Network Telegram channel, in a training photograph for the Victorian Rural West chapter, alongside Hamish Cameron and Gus Hartigan:

Lomax attended the March for Australia rally in Melbourne on 31 August. Blair Cottrell badly blurred him in a video he published, attempting, “This man is a dentist so we can't show you his face on video. Morning Ian.”

We, as Nathan Bull’s family, are utterly devastated and remain in disbelief at his decision to join this group. From the very beginning, we made it clear that if he chose this path, we could no longer be an active part of his life. Sadly, that is the decision he made.

We are deeply concerned about the continued spread of misinformation and incorrect assumptions about our family. For clarity:

Nathan’s father has not been a member of Victoria Police for more than three years.

He is not “Luke Bull,” the officer charged and found guilty in relation to a separate matter last year.

He is in no way racist, nor did he have a negative influence on Nathan growing up.

We would also like to address a photo of Nathan shared publicly from his 21st birthday, where his father expressed pride in him. At that time, we had no knowledge of any association Nathan may have had with this group, nor any understanding of the meaning behind the T-shirt he wore. At that point, Nathan was working, engaged with his family, and we believed he was becoming a fine young man. Not long after, our trust in that belief was sadly shattered.

We respectfully ask the community and media to stop contacting us. I personally have received abusive phone calls today, including many from private numbers that I have not answered. This is deeply distressing.

We are embarrassed to see Nathan continually featured in the media and saddened by the possibility that he may never leave this group. His choices are his alone.

You may have landed here because you want to talk about neo-Nazis without helping them. Excellent.

You have an important role in combatting the rise of these groups. You must remember at all times – however they present themselves – the underlying ideology of all neo-Nazis is murderous.

Remember: They are a cult that want journalists to help launder their image and legitimise their movement and beliefs.

Above all – don't be fooled

Neo-Nazis look “normal”. They have families, friends, work colleagues. They shop at the same places you do. They go to the gym. They go to university. They work on building sites and in offices. They have respectable careers. This isn't “Romper Stomper” – most do not have shaved heads, swastika tattoos and broken teeth.

Don't be fooled.

Remember: All neo-Nazis share the same murderous beliefs. They want an extremely conservative white-only Australia. Anyone else “must go,” a euphemism that oscillates between deportation and mass murder. Never lose sight of that.

1. Do not assist their media strategy.

Neo-Nazis have a simple strategy when it comes to media:

If they can't get an opportunity to appear in the media, they create one.

On the 26th of January 2025, 17 people were arrested in Adelaide over a public stunt organised by members of the National Socialist Network (NSN).

We've provided a list of the 16 adult arrestees as an open call-out for any further detail you might be able to provide:

• Do you know one of them through work?
• The local shops?
• Are they mates with your mates?
• Did you go to school together?
• Anything else of interest no matter how big or small.

Help us by sharing any verifiable information by securely dropping us a line at thewhiterosesociety@protonmail.com. You'll remain anonymous.

The information we're providing here is not exhaustive and is only given as an identification aid. We've omitted some information we already possess, but don't let that deter you from sending us a tip. Suburbs listed below are retrieved from either court or police reports, and may not exactly reflect the person's home suburb.

tl;dr: Racist bigot who pals around with neo-Nazis is a well-connected Victorian Liberal Party member who stood for local council elections as an independent.

Ex Victorian Liberal Party parliamentarian Moira Deeming has told the court over the past few weeks that she has no association with the far-Right whatsoever – we're not quite sure that's true. Join us as we pull the thread on one Deeming ally with dubious connections.

Excerpt from our submission to the Senate inquiry Right wing extremist movements in Australia.

On July 24, 2024, at the Senate Committee investigating right wing extremist movements in Australia, practitioners from the Counter Extremism Project presented an embarrassingly incorrect account of the state of the Australian extreme right landscape, particularly concerning Active Clubs.

This highlights a key problem with the Countering Violent Extremism industrial complex—individuals who have spent the past twenty years focusing on the Islamophobic war on terror often lack substantial knowledge about the extreme right. Despite this, they are positioned as experts while chasing grant money into the right-wing space.

On September 15, 2023, neo-Nazis from National Socialist Network, armed with knives, attempted to attack an anti-fascist gig in Thornbury at Café Gummo. The gig was a fundraiser for us and the Black Peoples Union.

If you recognise any of these cowards e-mail us thewhiterosesociety@protonmail.com. Please share this image in your networks and on your social media in case anyone recognises them. We have numbered the faces of those we do not yet know the names of.

If you would like to amplify our X post/tweet of these faces you can repost it at this link.

Video of National Socialist Network running like rats:

A group of neo nazis has squared off with anti-fascists, in a terrifying brawl that took over Thornbury's main street. @ajhegarty9 #9News pic.twitter.com/B4OmCJmI9f

My motion at council tonight to reaffirm our commitment to the LGBTIQA+ community after rainbow storytime events were cancelled due to threats from the far right, has passed!

Red text are the small changes made by request from other councillors. pic.twitter.com/0YHY21bfB4

— Cr Tim Baxter 🏳️‍🌈 (@BaxterTim) June 21, 2023

On 21 June 2023, Councillor Tim Baxter from the City of Port Phillip successfully tabled a motion to reaffirm the council's commitment to the LGBTIQA+ community after rainbow story hour events were cancelled due to threats from the far-right. This has come in the wake of a wave of cancellations from councils and other event organisers this year, particularly related to IDAHOBIT Day and during Pride Month. This motion allows the City of Port Phillip to begin work on how to hold safer events in the future, an urgent issue for many other councils that requires leadership. We are pleased that the City of Port Phillip is showing leadership on this issue and hope it will lead to safer events for the Rainbow Community and families.

Content warning for extreme misogyny, racism, Antisemitism, Islamophobia and violence, discussions of neo-Nazi terrorist attacks, and mention (but no description) of rape.

Gabriel Llewellyn Russell Seymour from Thornlands is the leader of the Queensland branch of Australia's largest neo-Nazi network, the National Socialist Network (NSN). Posting simply as ‘Gabe’ in Nazi online chats or as ‘Gabe Smith’ on wider social media, Seymour's identity was unknown until our research was used to profile him in the recent expose by The Age of Australian neo-Nazi leaders:

Seymour’s identity was confirmed by anti-fascist researchers from the White Rose Society using online surveillance. They matched photos he posted of neo-Nazi propaganda at his Queensland home to pictures of a house listed for sale on a real estate website. Public records linked Seymour to this home address.

On December 3rd 2022, the National Socialist Network (NSN)/European Australian Movement (EAM) held a Mixed Martial Arts event at an undisclosed location. In advertising for the event, they said that it would take place in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne.

The Age newspaper today disclosed the location of this event. We provide the following information for the benefit of parents whose children attend this gym.

On December 11, the EAM Telegram channel posted a photo from the event. It depicted 47 people in an industrial gym setting with EAM and swastika flags hanging from the walls. Most of the people in the photo had their faces blurred in addition to wearing face coverings. For some reason, it seemed a few remained unsure about the quality of the NSN's opsec.

The gym in the photograph was very quickly identified by a number of anti-fascist researchers as belonging to Legacy Boxing Gym, and located in Sunshine West.