Is there any way to check if your polling booth has a sausage sizzle out the back, so you can buy your "democracy sausage" sandwich (and perhaps a cuppa) after you vote? Yes there is! The #DemocracySausage provides a searchable map! #auspol #AusVotes25 democracysausage.org

Coalition costings confirms that it will cut foreign aid if it wins power, but the Pacific and Indonesia will be excluded. Total cuts of around $813 million over four years (quite a bit less than some were predicting, but sector will still probably react with disappointment)

A very gracious speech by Petaren’t Dutton that I think speaks to the broader civility in Australian politics compared to in the United States

Does this mean Australia will see a prime ministerial wedding?

Trump officials, who have sought to expel hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, are celebrating the victory of Sovereignty at the Kentucky Derby. Sovereignty’s jockey, Junior Alvarado, is an immigrant from Venezuela.

Nice piece on ⁦Ted Hui (Chi-fung Hui)⁩ by ⁦Eryk Bagshaw⁩ “Ted Hui: The Hong Kong activist residing in Australia” smh.com.au/lifestyle/life…

It’s easy to make too much of these comments, but they do suggest ⁦Albanese has done an effective job of campaigning against Trump-like policies in 🇦🇺 without damaging his standing with Trump. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that Trump loves a winner smh.com.au/world/north-am…

Affected by US aid cuts, independent investigative journalists in Solomon Islands (who are Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project members) have launched an online crowdfunding campaign. Give them your support!

Interesting piece on Curtis Yarvin & the intellectual movement behind DOGE by Peter Jamison & Elizabeth Dwoskin "Yarvin’s DOGE disillusionment is somewhat surreal, almost as if Marx had lived long enough to troll the Bolsheviks for misreading 'Das Kapital.'" wapo.st/4357R4L

Truly

Fascinating piece by ⁦Rob Harris⁩ smh.com.au/world/europe/i…

A really smart piece about something that always vexes me: “deterrence”

This has been rolling on for a few days but in case you haven't seen it yet: absolutely wild story out of Port Moresby abc.net.au/news/2025-06-0…

Strong story from the PNG Post Courier about growing frustration in the Autonomous Bougainville Government, around the slow pace of implementation of commitments by Port Moresby. ABG President Ishmael Toroama again hints at option of UDI in September 2027, if PNG won’t act.

Good piece!

Astounding. Citizens from Tuvalu, Tonga and Vanuatu are amongst people from 36 more countries that face new entry bans into the United States, according to the The Washington Post. Even more damage to US soft power in the region (especially given Tuvalu is Taiwan-aligned!).

NEW + WEIRD one from @occrp The U.S. government charged and imprisoned a Chinese scam artist who who tried to create a Pacific city-state next to a U.S. ballistic missile range... but mixed his name up with his twin (who was already in prison in China) occrp.org/en/news/us-imp…

Worth reading. Very Australian vs very American — and just one example of what can happen in the gray zone of super empowered immigration and border control where everything and everyone is the target of dudes with badges and bosses demanding deportation numbers.

“It’s mad, ridiculous really that the best moment of my life is this at 40,” he said, looking out over a crowd that filled Avenida Galicia as far as the eye could see. Lovely piece by ⁦Sid Lowe⁩ on the little magician’s greatest — and last? — trick theguardian.com/football/2025/…

Quite an interesting quote!