Helen Portus

[ShiannonCorcoran💉x4 @shiannonc.bsky.social @ShiannonC]

Niki Savva is, as always, the undisputed Queen of the scathe. Regardless of what side of the political spectrum she sits - she writes with a clarity, integrity and insight that is sadly lacking in much of our journalism today.

Savva says what many of us are thinking. Much more eloquently and from a powerful base of hard-won respect built through her decades of experience within the political spectrum.

When Savva speaks about the state of our politics, it’s not from a manifestation of social media fairy farts or the latest version of troll-bot-fest toxic meanderings that are ingested into the psyche of doomscroller-dom central on a daily basis. It’s from decades of factual observations, first-person conversations and evidential analysis.

Those who did see Pauline Hanson’s NPC Titanic moment who exhibited a modicum of critical thinking would be asking themselves similar questions about the motivation of somebody who professes to want to lead the country but instead displays a distinct lack of legitimacy in policy and leadership skills every time she opens her mouth. They would be questioning the increasingly toxic authoritarian likemindedness that we see elsewhere in the world. They would ask themselves if this person is more likely to be motivated by the monetary rewards of stirring up hate and division rather than for any benefit financially and/or socially for the majority of Australians. They might agree with Savva.

To be sure, what Hanson has unpacked and unleashed has frightened the fence sitters and the half-asses. Her adoring loyal supporters are another story, however. They’ve been anger-washed & fitted with rose coloured glasses. They can’t see the hypocrisy of “I’m just like all yous” while financially benefiting from a billionaire who would ultimately punish orangearmy loyalists without blinking.

The real losers of the Hanson-Rinehart bulldozer bash will ultimately be the coalition, regardless of how much Labor bashing the media aspires to on a daily basis. An ineffective & incompetent opposition leader will ultimately bear the brunt of an exodus of discontent right-wing voters with nowhere to go. Alternately, the more moderate Liberal voters will be both horrified by Hanson’s authoritarian impersonations & be despairing of no credible alternative within their own ranks. They will likely defect to alternative MPs like the Teals & independents.

Angus Taylor will not stand up to One Nation. His ineffectual response to the hard-right push is rooted in the perpetual interference of Tony Abbott, Peta Credlin & her husband, Brian Loughnane who have more or less succeeded in destroying the Vic liberals & are on track to ruin any chances the Liberals have federally of winning an election for at least two terms.

Abbott’s control over the liberal party and push towards the hard-right and Hanson has effectively knobbled the entire party. Those who would speak out against it are shut down. The frustration that is evolving in the ranks will be far more damaging to the liberals if they lose any more moderate MPs because they see the Hansonisation of the Liberal party for what it is. Political suicide.

The final player in this fiasco is the media - who are driven by the vested interests of the few who would undoubtedly benefit financially from a far-right and undemocratic government here. The same media who are intent on persecuting the Labor government on a daily basis will not hold Pauline Hanson and One Nation to the same standards.

In Savva’s words “No other politician would survive telling voters they have to wait until after the election to see their tax policy. No other leader would get away with dictating who can ask questions or who can attend press conferences or argues their party is not racist then denigrates Aborigines, Asians, Muslims, vulnerable people and anybody who refuses to speak English at home”

[Daizy Gedeon @DaizyGedeon]

Veteran Aussie journalist #MaryKostakidis is facing racial discrimination charges by the #Zionist Federation for her #tweets on #Gaza. Her defense argues that criticizing a political ideology isn't #racial #discrimination.

Stand with Mary and a free press. #Retweet to #amplify.

[Mohamad Safa @mhdksafa]

In 1290 all Jews were driven out of England. In 1306 they were expelled from France. In 1430 exiled from Germany, followed by Spain and Portugal. Boycotted in Italy, and time after time tossed out of every major European city.

After the centuries of expulsions, in 1492, Muslims (The Ottoman Empire) opened their doors for the Jewish. in the late 17th and 18th centuries, as the Ottoman Empire became less stable, Jews were finally allowed back into England after 366 years of total banishment.

After 1848, hundreds of thousands of Jews left Central Europe to escape rising nationalism and "pogroms" (anti-Jewish riots).

After WWI, Britain took control of Palestine from the Ottomans. From 1917 to 1939, Muslims (Palestine) opened their doors for the Jewish as usual.

In 2026, some Western politicians lecturing us (Muslims) on how to live peacefully with Jews!

Read some history.

[stranger @strangerous10]

David Pocock pauses, overcome with emotion, while detailing UN’s horrific findings against Israel
“IDF has now killed 20,000 Palestinian children”
“…deliberately shot at children’s limbs…as a twisted game of target practice”😔
Barbaric & sickening. This is our ally?

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

The hair started falling out first.

Then came the blackouts.
The crushing exhaustion.
The unexplained pain.

For years, Gisèle Pelicot knew something was terribly wrong with her body.

One day, she looked at her husband and asked directly:

“Are you drugging me?”

Dominique Pelicot looked offended.

He denied everything.

After nearly fifty years of marriage, she believed him.

Why wouldn’t she?

They had raised children together.
Built a life together.
Retired to a quiet village in southern France where people saw them as the perfect couple.

But in 2020, everything shattered.

Police arrested Dominique for secretly filming women under their skirts in a supermarket.

When investigators searched his computer, they uncovered something horrifying:

Thousands of videos showing Gisèle unconscious in her own bed while men assaulted her.

For nearly a decade, Dominique had allegedly crushed sedatives into her food and drinks before inviting strangers into their home to rape her while she was unconscious.

He filmed everything.

The men came from all walks of life:
firefighters, nurses, journalists, soldiers,prison guards, husbands and fathers

Many later claimed they thought she was pretending to sleep.

Others argued that because her husband allowed it, it must have been consensual.

But an unconscious person cannot consent.

Gisèle remembered none of it.

She only knew she was constantly sick, confused, exhausted, and slowly losing herself while the man she trusted most manipulated her reality.

Then came the trial.

French law would have allowed Gisèle to remain anonymous.

She refused.

At 72 years old, she chose to reveal her identity publicly and demanded an open trial.

Her reason was simple:

“Shame must change sides.”

For months, she sat through testimony and watched evidence of what had been done to her.

She listened while men tried to excuse the inexcusable.

And she never backed down.

In December 2024, all 51 defendants were convicted.

Dominique Pelicot received the maximum sentence:
20 years in prison.

Outside the courthouse, Gisèle said:

“I wanted society to see what was happening. I never regretted this decision.”

Her courage transformed the conversation in France around drug-facilitated assault, consent, and victim shame.

Because what made her story so powerful was not only the horror of what happened.

It was what she refused to carry afterward.

Silence.
Embarrassment.
Shame.

She handed those back to the people who deserved them.

Gisèle Pelicot showed millions of survivors something the world too often forgets:

The shame does not belong to the victim.

It belongs to those who chose to harm them.

[InfoGram @_InfoGram_]

Epic moment 🔥

🇺🇸Trump at 5:00 PM — “No President has done this. We got Iran to talk nukes. Maybe even give them up. This is First time ever.”

🇺🇸Obama at 6:00 PM — “Did it already. No missiles fired. Moved 97% of their enriched uranium out. We didn't have to kill a whole bunch of people or shut down the Strait of Hormuz like you.”🔥👏

[Rana Ayyub @RanaAyyub]

This is what an Emmy awards acceptance speech looks like. Kudos

[RobertFella 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 @Bonkavision5]

Too on point not to share. This is great, but too bad the Orange Felon’s enablers won’t let him see it.
This Australian's reply to #Trump's rant about “NATO not being there for America” is perfect.
"Mate. You run a country with 600,000 homeless people sleeping on the street tonight. A country where 40% of adults can't cover a $400 emergency without borrowing money. A country where insulin costs more than a car payment and people are rationing it to survive. A country where medical debt is the number 1 cause of bankruptcy. A country where women are dying in hospital car parks because doctors are too scared of abortion laws to treat a miscarriage.
You lock up more of your own citizens than any nation on earth. More than China. More than Russia. More than North Korea. The land of the free has 2 million people in cages, and a quarter of them haven't even been convicted of anything. They're just too poor to make bail.
Your life expectancy is going backwards. You're the only developed nation where that's happening. Your infant mortality rate is worse than Cuba's. Your kids do active shooter drills between maths and English while you sell the gunmaker's stock to your mates.
Your minimum wage hasn't moved in 15 years. You've got teachers working 2 jobs and veterans sleeping under bridges and you just spent a trillion dollars flattening a country that didn't attack you.
And you’ve got a convicted felon, adjudicating raping, paedophile protecting, porn star shagging insurrectionist running the biggest dumpster fire war campaign since the Taliban thanked you very much for losing again.
And you're calling Greenland poorly run?
Greenland has universal healthcare. Free education. One of the lowest incarceration rates in the world. Nobody goes bankrupt there because they got sick. Nobody dies in a waiting room because their insurance said no.
'NATO wasn't there when we needed them." When exactly was that, champ? September 11? Because NATO invoked Article 5 for the first and only time in history FOR YOU. Soldiers from dozens of countries deployed, fought, bled, and died in Afghanistan FOR YOU. Australia wasn't even in NATO and we still showed up. For 20 years.
And you pulled out at 2am without telling anyone and left them to deal with the mess.
So maybe before you start calling other countries poorly run, have a look at your own backyard, you spray-tanned aluminium siding salesman. The only thing poorly run in this picture is your f----- mouth."
- Tony Locke

[Masu Zafi 🔥🔥 @masuzafi]

Giorgia Meloni is UNBOWED.
Italian PM dominates global headlines once again suspends defense agreement with Israel amid the chaos & declares full solidarity with the Pope against Trump’s attacks.
No more blind loyalty.
No more following orders.
Europe’s Iron Lady just drew a line: principles over pressure, sovereignty over submission.
While others bend the knee, Meloni stands tall. The world is watching. History is shifting. 🔥

[Nancy Sinatra @NancySinatra]

This is fantastic news. Buying elections should be banned everywhere.

[Peter FitzSimons @Peter_Fitz]

Makes sense to me. You?

[Harry Sisson @harryjsisson]

Trump had one of his worst mental health episodes yet last night, posting over 55 times in 3 hours. Here is the list:

10:15 PM - Accuses Obama of attempting a coup in 2016
10:15 PM - Says Obama worked with CIA to overthrow Trump
10:15 PM - Reposts tweet saying Obama is a “traitor” and that he should be arrested
10:22 PM - Attacks dominion voting systems for 2020 election saying they switched votes
10:22 PM - Says Fulton County, GA had their 2020 fraud exposed (there was none)
10:23 PM - Accuses Obama of personally making $120 million from Obamacare (wtf?)
10:23 PM - Cites quack lawyer Sidney Powell on the 2020 election
10:24 PM - Posts fake JFK Jr account that says Obama wiretapped Trump Tower
10:27 PM - Demands Senator Mark Kelly resign
10:29 PM - Claims neither Biden nor Harris were in charge of the Biden admin
10:29 PM - Attacks Fulton County, GA again
10:29 PM - Posts Fox News clip of Rep Ro Khanna
10:30 PM - Demands Jack Smith be arrested
10:30 PM - Accuses Obama, Clinton, and Comey of treason
10:39 PM - Reposts a tweet from a MAGA account saying they have secret intel proving Clinton and Obama committed crimes
10:39 PM - Reposts a MAGA tweet saying Hillary Clinton should be sent to Haiti
10:40 PM - Says the DOJ is “working hard” to arrest his enemies for treason
10:40 PM - Reposts a tweet attacking his own DOJ and Todd Blanche for no arrests of political enemies
10:40 PM - Posts a TikTok video of people stealing from a convenience store
10:41 PM - Posts a TikTok of someone taking a Door Dash order
10:41 PM - accuses Obama, John Brennan, and Clinton of sedition and treason again
10:42 PM - Posts a video of a man on CCTV footage knocking over food a waiter was carrying
10:47 PM - Calls Obama the “most DEMONIC FORCE” in American politics
10:47 PM - Posts a tweet from Mike Flynn saying 2020 election wasn’t fair
10:49 PM - Attacks Dominion again claiming they stole the 2020 election (it wasn’t)
10:51 PM - Reposts a fake Charlie Kirk account that claimed Obama blocked Hillary Clinton from being prosecuted
10:53 PM - Claims Obama was part of Hillary Clinton’s emails in some way
11:28 PM - Claims a senior Democrat just testified under oath that Senator Adam Schiff leaked classified information
1:13 AM - Attacks the New York Times for reporting on the reflecting pool

This man is clearly not well.

[Rabbi David Mivasair @RabbiMivasair]

Don’t like people wearing watermelon pins at your shitty medical conference?

Don’t care.

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” makes you feel scared?

Don’t care.

Seeing Palestinian flags on university campuses upsets you?

Don’t care.

A student calling Israel an apartheid state hurts your little feelings?

Don’t care.

A doctor speaking publicly about Palestinian children being massacred feels “divisive” to you?

Fuck you.

People refusing to condemn Palestinian resistance makes you uneasy?

Don’t care.

Hearing the word “genocide” feels inflammatory to you?

Don’t care.

A keffiyeh in a workplace gives you a panic attack?

Don’t care.

“Globalise the intifada” sounds genocidal to you?

Don’t care.

People interrupting politicians feels disrespectful to you?

Don’t care.

You no longer being able to monopolise victimhood makes you angry?

Truly could not care less.

What I care about are the Palestinian children being burned alive.

The doctors being tortured.

The families erased under rubble.

The starvation.

The concentration camps.

The destruction of Gaza’s hospitals and universities and refugee camps and entire civilian infrastructure.

But for the nearly last 1,000 days and decades prior, Western institutions have demanded everyone stop and carefully tend to Jewish emotional discomfort instead.

Not Palestinian lives.

Not Palestinian suffering.

Not Palestinian speech.

Zionist discomfort.

Zionist fragility.

Zionist political sensitivity—elevated, enforced, and institutionalised across universities, hospitals, media outlets, professional associations, politicians, donors, and advocacy groups.

All working in sync to transform Zionist discomfort into institutional emergency.

While Palestinian suffering is rendered invisible.

While Palestinian speech is disciplined.

While Palestinian humanity is treated as negotiable.

That is the function of the Jewish Feelings Industrial Complex.

Not safety.

Not care.

Not protection.

Institutionalised Zionist emotional management at scale.

Fuck every single institution that constantly weaponizes “Jewish safety,” “Jewish discomfort,” and “Jewish feelings” to justify censorship, repression, career destruction, anti-Palestinian racism, and silence in the face of mass atrocity.

If a watermelon pin destabilises you more than the annihilation of Gaza, the problem is not the watermelon pin.

The problem is you.

-- from "The Anti-Zionist" https://t.co/38l41J9sY8

[Damaan, AKA 'Philly's Finest!' @Damaan4u33]

Do you agree with Matt McConaughey?

[stranger @strangerous10]

Niki Savva savages Angus Taylor who “still doesn’t understand” how preferencing fringe party One Nation has sent the Liberal vote in Farrer into a death spiral.
“When he says, you ‘change or die’, and you haven’t changed, then it’s only the other option left”🔥 #auspol

[Greg McGarvie @GregMcgarvie]

Chris Bowen @ChrisBowenMP a reputation globally for one of the most capable energy ministers ever! Speaking today at Smart Council Event Sydney! @MikeCarlton01 @QuentinDempster @PollyWi92611992

He has the Courage, knowledge and understanding needed to change Australia’s energy dependence from dirty expensive fossil fuels to natures bundles of clean energy and storage.

Sun, Wind and Water a national pivot rapidly underway, solar over 4 million homes, over 300,000 batteries now over 450,000 BEV’s @TheNoisyTrunk

This means future grid stability and energy security, means trumps and oil corporates no longer control our economic health and energy costs and security ! @AEMO_Energy @the_AEMC

[truthache @truthache68]

🐴🎸If this doesn’t make you grin, then something is wrong with you! 😅

[MarshFamilySongs @MarshSongs]

Happy Bank Holiday! Here's a tongue-in-cheek parody song about @Nigel_Farage accepting a massive gift from a cryptocurrency billionaire and then hiding from a BBC interview - to the iconic tune of the legendary @The_Proclaimers. We're calling it: "Five Million Quid" 💰🤑💰🤑💰🎶

[Michael Warburton @For_Film_Fans]

Gay Byrne asks STEPHEN FRY what he would say to God at the 'pearly gates'.

[Masu Zafi 🔥🔥 @masuzafi]

🚨PETE HEGSETH : "YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED!"
Senator Tammy Duckworth just went nuclear on Pete Hegseth in the Senate hearing.
Zero hesitation. She dismantled his answers, exposed the gaps, and dropped the hammer:
“You are not qualified, Mr. Hegseth. You are not qualified.”