Asked which major party she would support if both major parties came within spitting distance of leading a minority government, Zoe Daniel says:

“So, with apologies to the ABC lunchtime audience*, but I’m with a particular focus group – “Shit and Shitter”. I’m also in the polling booth and I’ve thought, “Who am I going to vote for? Because neither of these are really representing me.” And that will potentially translate to having to make a balance-of-power decision. So the really honest answer is – I’m still working through my thinking on that.“

*Daniel apologised to the ABC audience as the ABC broadcasts the Wednesday national press club address.

Goldstein independent MP Zoe Daniel is asked if the teal crossbench would work together in the event of a hung parliament and says:

“I think it’s good to put a set of priorities on the table and others will have different ones. I don’t think it would be any real surprise across the chamber that that is the range of priorities that I am flagging because these are the kinds of things I talk about all the time. I think the initial pillars of the 2022 election still stand because a lot of them haven’t actually changed much. Neither of the major parties have a 2035 climate target, economic policy is very vague, I don’t see any particular gender equality policy positioning from the Coalition specifically and I think the umbrella issue of integrity in politics and trust is still one of the driving issues or within the electorate. As to what the nature of these negotiations might be, I don’t know. With some distance out from the election, this is one of the reasons to have this conversation today and to put some of those priority areas out there. And to try to provoke the conversation potentially over the next couple of months.“

While we wait for the prime minister to respond, I can bring you what Greens leader Adam Bandt has said about Trump following his announcements he plans on ethnically cleansing the Gaza strip and have the US ‘own’ the sovereign territory (both illegal under international law, in case it needs stating).

Bandt:

“The Greens said, when Donald Trump was elected, that Donald Trump be a threat to peace and turning democracy and tragically this recent announcement that we’ve seen today in this further proof of this. This is wrong. This is the end of international law. This is Donald Trump talking about the takeover of another country, potentially by force. The Australian Government must make that it opposes a clear violation of international law. Whatever one thinks about the situation in the conflict in the Middle East, this is clearly wrong. Australia also unfortunately has a very poor record in the past of simply following the United States into conflict. The Australian Government must make it clear that it opposes this recent announcement from Donald Trump, and also that it will play no part in this matter.“

Anthony Albanese has announced a press conference which will be held in the next couple of minutes.

It will be the first opportunity to ask him about the response to Trump’s declaration on Gaza.

We’ll cover more of Zoe Daniel in the question and answer section of her address but this is the vibe of the speech so far:

“With an election imminent, as a nation and as a community we have a choice – not the uninspiring red tie/blue tie choice we are presented with almost every day, but a moment of real truth.

For decades, Australians have been told a lie that has shaped our politics, our media, and our expectations of government. We have been told that only the major parties can govern, that they and only they can solve the problems we face, but as I ask my constituents, when I go doorknocking around my electorate of Goldstein, let me ask you in this room, do you feel like they have been solving them?

Is the tax system fair? Is housing more available and affordable? Has climate action been strong enough? Are women safer? Is life getting easier for families? I can tell you the answer is almost always no.

….At this election we come to a fork in the road. One way is to continue with the same old, same old of politics as usual, swapping between two sides that promise change but reliably deliver disappointment. The other – a parliament that truly reflects what people really need and care about. A way that uses hope, aspiration, and problem-solving over fear and negativity – or a pathological lack of ambition. A way that finds an uncommon and welcome middle path in an increasingly polarised and angry left and right world.

A way that will permanently change the direction of politics in Australia. A way to the era of independents.”

If you were wondering how the Middle East was reacting to Trump’s absolute trashing of what was left of the international law with his ethnic cleansing plan for Gaza and the US takeover of sovereign territory, Saudi Arabia has responded before dawn:

The independent MP for Goldstein is speaking to the NPC on the future of independents.

This will no doubt have her Liberal (re)challenger Tim Wilson in conniptions over the free publicity she is receiving. WIlson is trying to win back Goldstein in what more than one Liberal MP has suggested to me is a ‘gift’ to Daniel’s re-election bid.

Although Wilson did get some attention of his own – we note that in the CBD column of the SMH, Wilson declined to answer why one of his volunteers was sporting a red MAGA style hat. SMH mused it was the Australian version – Make Albanese Go Away, but as the columnists noted themselves, probably not the look the moderate Liberal voters of Goldstein are going for.

Angus Taylor and Jane Hume are holding a press conference in a short little bit to discuss the selected living cost indexes data released today (Greg Jericho covered that off a little earlier but the takeaway is: the ABS divided households up into types – employees (ie someone working); government beneficiaries (so those on Jobseeker or Disability Support or Single Parenting Payment), Age Pension and “Self-funded (or let’s be honest, tax-break funded) retirees. The upshot is that in the past year the increase in the cost of living was: Employees: 4.0%, Age Pensioners: 2.5%, Other govt transfer recipients: 3.2%, “Self-funded” retirees: 2.5%, CPI: 2.4%. – The big reason for the difference with inflation is in the past year the cost of mortgage repayments went up 14.7% in 2024 (down from a 18.9% rise in the year to September.) And since March 2022, mortgage repayments have risen… (gulp) 159%)

Greg predicts that Taylor and Hume will say that since June 2022 employee cost of living has gone up 17.7%. He’d like you to keep in mind that in June 2022 it was rising at 4.6% – the highest for 11 years, whereas now it is rising at 4.0%

David Shoebridge continued:

“Even more tellingly, the Liberal Cormack Foundation has given Advance half a million dollars. It’s an investment, they see, in the Liberal Party’s political future. But they keep trying to hide it and pretend it’s an independent group.
What? An independent group of billionaires spruiking Liberal policies? That’s what it is.
Advance wants to bring Trumpian far-right politics here so that billionaires profit while communities and the planet suffer.

It’s no coincidence that Advance and its Liberal Party backers are sounding distinctly Trumpian right
now. In fact, the people who set up and funded Advance also set up and funded a bunch of other think tanks and astroturf groups around the world that are members of the US based Atlas Network. In fact, Atlas has hundreds of these organisations active around the world, many here in Australia and including one you might have heard of recently: the Heritage Foundation, which literally wrote Project 2025 for Donald Trump.

It is the same playbook everywhere these billionaire funded junk tanks and their astroturf groups operate. Advance and these other groups want to pit people in our community against one another.

They want to misinform and divide and conquer for their own interests, and we reject their division.”

He then moved on to youth justice – but it is to my knowledge the first mention of the Atlas Network in the parliament.

Reading back through the Hansard record to find out what happened overnight is always a mixed bag – once most journalists are switched off for the night, the speeches can go into some very strange territories.

But Greens senator David Shoebridge used his speaking slot in the adjournment debate to speak about something which is not often mentioned openly in Australian politics – the Atlas Network.

Shoebridge said in the senate:

“So-called Advance Australia is just the Liberal Party’s most extreme faction. Advance is a front group for the most conservative and divisive elements inside the coalition.
It was started by people who were literally Tony Abbott’s faction allies and mates.

They want Prime Minister Dutton so the grift can continue.
We hear from them that it’s all grassroots and common sense, but it’s literally billionaire climate change deniers trying to overturn our democracy to line their pockets. They are lining up against the Greens, and to that I say good.
If this lot don’t like you, then you’re doing the right thing by the planet and you’re doing the right thing by ordinary folks.
Advance claims to be powered by grassroots donations; that’s their social media spin, but AEC donations data shows this is far from the case. Some of the wealthiest Australians are recorded as being

Advance’s big backers, having funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars through shady holding companies to keep Advance’s campaigns to destroy climate action, to defeat progressive social policy and to stop justice for First Nations. They are the richest people in Australia drawing their battlelines to protect their wealth and their privilege. They hated the Voice because it could have challenged their pillage of natural resources of this country.

And they’re attacking the Greens because we don’t just roll over and have our bellies tickled by billionaires. In fact, we want to tax them back to Earth.
Advance was, in part, founded by Dr Maurice Newman, a Liberal Party insider and climate science denier, who, bafflingly, is apparently holding out for global cooling to chill his drinks. How Liberal is this block? Well, John Howard appointed him as chair of the ABC. He remains a close friend of John Howard, and he was chairman of Tony Abbott’s Business Advisory Council.

You might have heard about him in 2023, when Mr Newman wrote an article where he attributed the loss of the Australian cricket team in India that year to Australian cricketers being
‘too woke’.

Unfortunately for him the Australian cricket team then turned around and won the Cricket World Cup
that year, beating India in the finals and, in fact, won the Ashes. It turns out his takes on cricket are about as good as his takes on politics and climate!’

Post continued.