500 days till the Victorian state election and Moira Deeming’s got the wheel, foot down, no brakes, driving the Liberals off the electoral cliff. Meanwhile, Brad Battin’s sitting in the back seat, arms folded, staring out the window.

If you can leave school, get a job, and pay taxes, you should have a say on the things that matter to you. It’s time to drop the voting age to 16 and give young Australians the voice they deserve. abc.net.au/news/2025-07-1…

Independent MP for Kooyong Monique Ryan has vowed to introduce another bill to parliament pushing for a lowering of Australia's minimum voting age, after the United Kingdom reduced its voting age from 18 to 16. ab.co/3IEexjT

Monique has been campaigning for this essential reform for years. I’m thrilled to see her leading the charge The UK has done it. Australia can too! #auspol

#BREAKING 🚨 Independent candidate Peter George has been elected to the Tasmanian seven-member seat of Franklin Current results show George with 18.4%, the highest personal vote for any candidate in Franklin

Wild what the Liberal party can achieve with a moderate agenda If they had a coherent environment and climate policy they may just have got a majority Instead they have to negotiate with 3 climate focused community independents #auspol

What a tediously toxic individual #auspol

"We can’t trick voters into thinking we care about the climate," says Matt Canavan, while single-handedly reminding every teal voter why they left.

Our lobbying system in Australia is a total joke. Monique Ryan and I have a bill in the House and Senate to fix it, but the major parties prefer the lack of transparency and accountability. Labor and the Coalition need to do better. theguardian.com/australia-news…

Delighted this absurd rant at a Liberal branch meeting in IND MP Nicolette Boele MP’s seat of Bradfield has been picked up by media. Anderson begins by using an outdated and debunked theory of the mind to explain how “teal” women vote using a “bird-brain” analogy. 🙄 1/..

Toxic negative campaigning and obstinate behaviour in government has consequences. It makes collaborative minority government unworkable. I suspect that the Tasmanian Liberals are about to learn this the hard way #auspol

#politas election finished Lib 14 (=) ALP 10 (=) Grn 5 (=) IND 5 (+2) SF+F 1 (+1) (numbers compared to 2024 election, one MP elected as JLN at that election recontested as IND, 2 as Nat)

The Tasmanian Crossbench is officially bigger than the Labor Party There are grounds for a non major party Premier and government #auspol

FINAL TAS RESULT 🟦 Libs: 39.8% (+3.2) / 14 seats (=) 🟥 Labor: 25.9% (-3.1) / 10 seats (=) 🟩 Greens: 14.4% (+0.5) / 5 seats (=) 🟫 Shooters: 2.9% (+0.6) / 1 seat (+1) 🟩 Nats: 1.6% (new) / 0 seats (=) ⬜ Indies: 15.3% / 5 seats (+2) 🟨 Lambie Network: 0 seats (-3), didnt run

TAS parliament now has just as many Independents as Labor Caucus members across both houses. Liberal: 17 (34%) Labor: 13 (26%) Independent: 13 (26%) Green: 6 (12%) Shooters: 1 (2%) Granted several different stripes of INDs, but perhaps a shape of parliaments to come?

The Australian government needs to improve the speed and effectiveness of our medicine and devices approvals and funding pathways - both to get ahead of a potential trade war with the USA, but also to improve our healthcare system. My op-ed in today’s AFR:

In her former life, Dr Ryan has been in the trenches - battling the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to secure treatments children desperately need. She’s lived the frustration, seen the harm, and is telling us the PBS approval system is broken. Let's use her expertise.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…