Con

Lawyer. Political junkie.

[Con @con1094]

And?? The last thing this country needs is a leader obsessed with popularity and chasing it like Rudd. We need leadership. #auspol https://t.co/hlQ4YPdGlS

[Con @con1094]

@TheKouk Zero. A further hike is more likely.

[Con @con1094]

Yes, Victorian Labor are most likely screwed come November. But let's cut the crap: One Nation won't get more than 10 seats at the state election, let alone government.

[Con @con1094]

@sumeyyailanbey To change now would be absolute suicide....

[Con @con1094]

@Llib7 No way will Mordialloc and Frankston fall to the Libs.

[Con @con1094]

Albo and Chalmers have turned what should be an easily winnable argument on housing taxes into a dumpster fire by overreaching....

[AusPoll @AusPoll6]

🚨 NEW: Federal voting intention

🟧 ONP: 31% (+4)
🟥 ALP: 28% (-3)
🟦 L/NP: 20% (-2)
🟩 GRN: 12% (-1)
⬛️ OTH: 9% (+2)

Two-party-preferred
🟥 ALP: 51% (-3)
🟦 L/NP: 49% (+3)

ALP vs ONP
🟥 ALP: 51% (-4)
🟧 ONP: 49% (+4)

RedBridge/Accent | 25-28 May | n=1005 | +/- 24-30 Apr

[Con @con1094]

God help Australia....

[Sky News Australia @SkyNewsAust]

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has declared she’s ready to be the Prime Minister of Australia and is considering a run for a seat in the House of Representatives.
https://t.co/kbOojvhhi6

[Con @con1094]

I thought there was a deal?

[The Spectator Index @spectatorindex]

BREAKING: US military says it conducted strikes in southern Iran, targeting vessels and missile launch sites.

[Con @con1094]

Is rather a govt benefit union bros than tech bros any day of the week....

[Senator Andrew Bragg @ajamesbragg]

Labor complains about tech bros while their whole government is perfectly calibrated to benefit union bros.

[Con @con1094]

Good. Couldn't happen to a more deserving criminal.

[Douglass Mackey @douglassmackey]

Notably, if Trump ends this war, then Netanyahu will likely find himself facing a criminal trial quite soon.

The stakes for Netanyahu are quite personal here.

[Con @con1094]

@robcoco Sad but true.

[Con @con1094]

So what the fuck has the last 3 months been about?

[The Spectator Index @spectatorindex]

Iranian state media reports that a draft agreement between the US and Iran includes mutual commitment to not launch attacks on each other.

[Con @con1094]

@solo_dio_ Buffett always said that you can tell who was skinny dipping when the tide runs out.....

[Con @con1094]

Watch One Nation soar amongst the young....

[David Taylor @DaveTaylorNews]

The youth unemployment rate increased by 1% to 11.1% in April.
This is worth watching. It's getting uncomfortably high as a leading indicator.

[Con @con1094]

My lord we are in trouble.....

[AusPoll @AusPoll6]

🚨 NEW: Federal voting intention

🟧 ONP: 28% (+2)
🟥 ALP: 26% (-)
🟦 L/NP: 23% (-)
🟩 GRN: 13% (-)
⬛️ OTH: 10% (-2)

DemosAU | 15-20 May | n=1502 | +/- 9-14 Apr

[Con @con1094]

2 weeks on I think I'm being proven right....

[Con @con1094]

@TomisCrowley I have a hunch this budget will be Labor's equivalent of the 2014 budget: deeply unpopular and ideological and littered with broken promises.

[Con @con1094]

This sums up my position exactly: the Negative Gearing and CGT changes to housing are necessary. The CGT changes relating to non-housing assets are complete lunacy.

[Paul Bassat @PaulBassat]

Underlying the budget debate is a debate about what sort of a country we want to be.

Firstly do we want to be a country where most young Australians can afford to buy a house, or can afford to pay their rent.

I think the answer from just about all of us is yes. State and Federal Governments have let young Australians down over the last 30 years; buying your own house has become an impossible aspiration for millions of (mainly younger) Australians.

In that context budget changes to CGT and negative gearing as they relate to residential property should be welcomed. Truthfully they aren’t going to help as much as we would all like as the fundamental issue in Australia is lack of supply and, by the Government’s own admission, the budget does little to increase supply.

The second question is whether we want to be a society that encourages and incentivises hard work and entrepreneurship AND at the same time helps Australians who are doing it tough. I think the answer to the 2nd question should also be an unambiguous yes.

That is the fundamental problem with the budget. The rhetoric is all about Intergenerational fairness but the reality is that it takes from business builders in Australia and it doesn’t give something back to other Australians. The CGT changes will just discourage business building and job creation and the extra revenue will fall into a massive fiscal black hole.

A budget that reduces incentive for Australians to build businesses and employ people is a bad budget.

People can use whatever labels they like but if people think there is something wrong in advocating for wealth creation in this country then it just means they have a different vision for this country. My vision is the vision articulated by the Hawke Keating Government and then by the Howard Costello Government. That is the Australia I aspire for us to be.

The CGT hike for business builders will do nothing to increase prosperity or fairness unless your definition of fairness is reducing incentive for Australians to build successful businesses. Yes, if you build a successful business you will generate wealth for you and your family but you will also share that with the country via job creation, increased tax revenue and better products and services for Australians.

I am old enough to remember when we called that a win win.

[Con @con1094]

So what the hell has the last 3 months been all about?

[Al Jazeera Breaking News @AJENews]

BREAKING: Trump says US will be satisfied if Iran agrees to no nuclear weapon

🔴 LIVE updates: https://t.co/K2htEGBiZM

[Con @con1094]

So in other words people need to lose their jobs....

[First Squawk @FirstSquawk]

Reserve Bank of Australia: additional loosening in labour and product markets is required given inflation concerns.

[Con @con1094]

A 33yo with a wife and kids wouldn't give up a well paid job for nothing. What's he been promised?

[Josh Simons @joshsimonsmp]

For decades, Westminster has overseen the managed decline of towns like mine. We have talked big, then acted small, stuck in a politics of incrementalism that cannot meet the moment. We have lost the trust of those our party was built to serve.

It is my unwavering belief that nothing short of urgent, radical, courageous reform will make a difference. That must start with a change in leadership.

Today, I am putting the people I represent and the country I love first and will be resigning as MP for Makerfield. I am standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter Parliament, and if elected, drive the change our country is crying out for.

This has not been an easy decision. This is my family’s home, where only a few weeks ago, doctors and nurses at Wigan Infirmary saved our newborn son’s life.

But we all must make choices and in recent days I found myself with a difficult one: defend the status quo or step forward and act. I have made my choice.

I am in politics because politics is how you change lives for the better. My party has one last chance to do that: deliver for the people and places I represent, drive economic growth, secure our borders, reform our state and politics, and change a status quo that is not working.

That is the fight. I believe Andy is the one to lead it.

[Con @con1094]

This is the most stupid and inexplicable element of the budget. I can understand changing negative gearing and trusts, but this really is a retrograde move.

[Scott Phillips @TMFScottP]

For a progressive govt, the new 30% *minimum* tax on Capital Gains - regardless of income level - is purely regressive.

30% tax from the first dollar of income.

Imagine the outcry if they (or their opponents) did that on wages!

Did they even ask an expert?

#Budget2026