Patrick Gilligan
@rainingbear.bsky.social
980 followers 60 following 850 posts
Engaging in policy
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
rainingbear.bsky.social
The Coalition handed out $40B in JobKeeper to firms that increased profits, locked in $300B of debt before COVID, and left structural deficits in aged care and NDIS. Now they whine about “spending” while Labor delivers 2 straight surpluses #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
From the party that delivered about 2.2 percent average wage growth across its nine years in office from Abbott to Morrison per ABS wage data. Save the working class
#auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
This is where the right is now. Quoting a 19th century aristocrat who believed in tariffs, social unity and national infrastructure all things they spent 40 years dismantling. Disraeli would be denounced as a Marxist by today’s Liberals #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Menzies’ industrial strategy was a tariff-wrapped fantasy propped up by wartime conditions and British loyalty, not long-term planning. Tariffs don’t equal strategy they’re a band-aid for uncompetitive firms. His Australia wasn’t industrialised, it was economically infantilised. #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Menzies’ industrial strategy was a tariff-wrapped fantasy propped up by wartime conditions and British loyalty, not long-term planning. Tariffs don’t equal strategy they’re a band-aid for uncompetitive firms. His Australia wasn’t industrialised, it was economically infantilised. #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Menzies didn’t build an industrial base he built a primary economy wrapped in flags. Wool, wheat, and mining made us dependent, not sovereign. There was no industrial strategy, just tariffs to protect inefficiency #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
If Optus wants to block Triple Zero, that’s their freedom. Government interference would be socialist. If grandma dies waiting for an ambulance, that’s just the invisible hand giving her the finger. Free market, baby #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Hastie “speaks of industry” like he’s describing a dream. Labor’s building actual factories, funding supply chains, and regulating gig work. If he wants to fight constraints, he can start by voting for a budget #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
What “restlessness” produces a blowout TPP, a 59% lead among women, and a polling margin that holds after the honeymoon? That’s not volatility. That’s consensus #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Hastie “repudiates free-market economics”? Labor just legislated billions for sovereign manufacturing. He’s not dismantling neoliberalism he’s podcasting about it from the sidelines while Albanese rewires the grid #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Brisbane gets the flag Geelong gets a future. Rising seas, heatwaves, and flood risk will cripple Queensland but Victoria’s southern coast? Cooler, milder, safer
#auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Brisbane’s future isn’t premierships it’s heat stress, inland migration, and 300+ flood days a year. AFL glory, climate misery #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Brisbane may win the Grand Final. But it won’t win the next 30 years. Climate change will wreck that city before another premiership window even opens #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
An anonymous hack says Hastie has the “backbone” to defy what’s popular while Hastie parrots car manufacturing lines precisely because they poll well. It’s not courage. It’s cowardice with flags on it. And journos just quote it like it’s gospel #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
An anonymous hack says Hastie has the “backbone” to defy what’s popular while Hastie parrots car manufacturing lines precisely because they poll well. It’s not courage. It’s cowardice with flags on it. And journos just quote it like it’s gospel #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Calling Trump-style autarky “populism” lets media mask the real disease: authoritarian economic illiteracy. Hastie’s not a rebel. He’s a corporatist cosplayer pushing state-planned nationalism. And you’re handing him the mic like it’s a town hall #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Stop calling it “populism.” There’s nothing populist about gutting welfare, protecting capital gains, union-busting, or fearmongering about migrants while propping up landlords and billionaires. It’s elite power in hi-vis drag #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
A seat on the UN Security Council is a “vanity project” now? No vanity is parading around in hi-vis while the world moves on without you. This is why Australia got locked out under the Coalition: small minds, no vision, and a media class that confuses relevance with resentment #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Trump just slapped huge tariffs on Australian pharmaceuticals and the Coalition’s response is “disappointed.” These people scream about sovereignty when it’s China, but bow and mumble when it’s Trump. No principles. No strategy. Just submission #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Hastie calls himself a political strategist and claims every move is calculated yet he backs migration cuts supported by just 53%, while opposing net zero, which has 69% support. That’s not strategy. That’s cancelling yourself out by the numbers #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
The Liberals want nuclear and car manufacturing… from the party that killed TAFE. There’s no workforce, no industry, no trust. It’s fantasy politics funded by memories of industries they buried #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
62% of Australians say cost of living is their top issue a near-unheard-of consensus in politics. The Liberal Party’s reply? That you’re selfish. That you expect “free everything.” What even is that? Medicare? TAFE? Housing? All poll above 70%. They have no case #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
I suppose he got his wish
#auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
No suspect. No motive. No warning. Just one bullet, one body, and a government plane. Kirk didn’t need to betray Trump. He just needed to die when it was useful. That’s how autocrats operate. That’s how martyrdom is manufactured #auspol
rainingbear.bsky.social
Every time Epstein documents leak, chaos follows. Scandals. Killings. Distractions. Now Trump’s sketch leaks and Kirk, his loudest mouthpiece, is executed. No suspect. Full military sendoff. He didn’t need to know. He just needed to be useful #auspol