Margaret Thorsborne, OAM

Restorative pioneer and practitioner, facilitator, trainer, author, proudly Aussie, and a global citizen working on world peace!

[Tom the whistleblower @blowingtom2]

A man of compassion. He didn’t raise his voice, he wasn’t a shrill on some right wing podcast. He was a man protecting his mum. Calm, measured, concise. Everything a leader should be and everything that Hanson will never be. I’m proud to have him lead our country.

[Peter FitzSimons @Peter_Fitz]

This is a bit brilliant, with great pertinence for Oz.

[𝗧𝗼𝗺 𝗢𝘀𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 PhD, FRSA. @call_me_tomasso]

Fiona Katauskas.

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

This. ⬇️

[Margaret Thorsborne, OAM @ThorsborneMarg]

That leg is like a diary! With a rich history. Be proud of those stories.

[Steve Mullaney @StevesThrillers]

I’m posting this, why? I really don’t know why. Other than some idiot told me my leg was f***ed up, looked horrible, that I should wear long pants and should be embarrassed to wear shorts. I turned and quietly walked away. Still, it struck a nerve, it pissed me off.

Years ago I took a boat propeller through that knee. I had bilateral tib/fib fractures. Had 13 fractures between the two legs. I had the whole death experience thing. It was a miracle I lived. I was not supposed to keep the leg. They were doubtful I would ever walk again.

I spent 4 months in a hospital bed. Did time in a wheelchair. Spent over a year on crutches. Had a cane for a while. There were numerous surgeries. I worked my tail off trying to recover and return to normal. It took many years to get rid of the limp.

I now walk without a limp. I run. I bicycle. I snow ski. And some idiot is going to have issue with how my leg looks? Well, that is just too darn bad. Go get a life.

I’ll probably delete this in a day or two, but right now I am a bit pissed. Okay, and admittedly a bit bothered by it. It is amazing that it bothered as much as it did. Guess maybe deep inside I was remembering how it used to make me feel when people made fun of me back when I had a limp, and worse yet, how people (yes, strangers) would make fun of me in public when I just starting to walk and had trouble controlling my legs.

So, really just venting, shouting into the void. That is all. I am sure I will be okay in the morning.

[Rick @colonelhogans]

From Facebook

An afternoon with Ms Jodie Haydon.

Wife of PM @AlboMP

I've just spent the afternoon listening to the Australian Prime Minister's wife talk about perimenopause, Wordle and her weight.

Not what I had planned for a Saturday afternoon in Melbourne.

A friend Kerrie Dubya had tickets to a local women's wellness lunch at our local - Patterson River Golf Club and asked me to come along.

The organisers said there'd be a surprise guest. I assumed a wellness guru with a slide deck and a green smoothie.

It was Jodie Haydon. The Australian prime minister's wife.

She sat down and within about four minutes had told a room full of women she'd never met that she's 48 and perimenopausal.

No notes. No script. No BS.

She talked about her weight going up and down over the years, the way it does for most of us.

I sat there thinking, well, same.

She's taken herself off social media almost entirely, so she doesn't have to read what people say about her.

Sensible woman.

She surrounds herself with good people instead.

Her morning goes like this. Cup of tea. Wordle on a group chat with her girlfriends. Walk the dog. Walk to the station. Train. Walk to work.

Yes, work.

Full time, senior job, nine people reporting to her.

She married the Prime Minister and kept catching the train to work.

And since we were all there to talk about wellness, she let us know her version includes a glass of wine and a proper catch up with her mates.

Jodie. I love you.

She was single for a long time before she met Anthony, and she told us never to settle for second best.

There's an Italian saying that covers it. Better alone than in bad company.

She said we need to be kinder to ourselves and to each other.

And that the ground women have gained needs looking after, because misogyny is on the rise and our voices need to stay loud.

Honestly it felt less like a speech and more like sitting in somebody's kitchen with a room full of girlfriends.

I came home and told my daughters all about her.

Australian ladies, girls and everyone. We're in good hands with Jodie watching The Voice on the couch with Albo.

She might put in a word or 2 for us.

Bon

[Margaret Thorsborne, OAM @ThorsborneMarg]

@waitmaya 31

[Peter FitzSimons @Peter_Fitz]

She is WORLD class

[MFWitches @MFWitches]

We don’t fight people like Karl Stefanovic cosying up to fascists just for the fun of it, witches.

And we don’t do it because we’re a group of wowserish women who want to bully and silence anyone we don’t agree with.

We do it because the FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY HERE FUCKING DEPENDS ON IT.

Want proof?

Here’s Australia’s home-grown fascist Pauline Hanson admitting she wants to bring Robinson here, and refusing to change her view even when challenged by Liam Bartlett on-air. It’s worth a watch as it’s difficult to believe anyone could and would stoop this low:
https://t.co/kAiGrI38s7

We wouldn’t normally give link clicks to Channel 7’s Spotlight program or Bartlett, witches, but we we’re curious on why Stokes (and even Murdoch) seem to have recently turned against Hanson just as any decent Australian (or ex-Australian) should.

Has Hanson gone too far even for the billionaires who’ve endlessly courted her for decades? Have these uber-wealthy media owners finally realised an Australia which goes to the fucking dogs as the USA has is, in effect, killing the golden egg (by destroying the rule of law, impoverishing millions and thus risking open revolution) rather than feeding it? (Apart from Rinehart, of course, who along with her fellow shit-for-brains oligarch Clive Palmer still seems to display an overt eagerness to fund hate.)

What we’re now demonstrating is MFW aren’t a critical part of the Australian discourse just because we want to minimise violence against women and those in minority groups by stopping bigoted shock-jock conversations.

No. It’s more than that now.

In essence, it’s showcasing how the misogyny and racism long inherent in legacy media are still leading to the potential for governments led by people as fucked-up as Trump, and how it’s therefore the responsibility of MFW to highlight this and (where possible) force it to stop.

For this reason, our “cancelling” of Stefanovic (and yes, despite jealous and misogynistic commentators claiming we’d nothing to do with his demise: he was sacked almost wholly because of MFW) has been perhaps our most important campaign of all, despite being one of the shortest. Because we’ve recently been forced to move from protesting sexist and verbally violent arseholes like Jones, Newman and Sandipants to protesting even more dangerous pricks like Stefanovic (a man so disgusting he’s willing to tell violent convicted felon Robinson he “loves him”).

And this is why MFW won’t (can’t) stop. We’re needed now as part of this discourse, more than ever.

We can’t directly protest Hanson via our usual methods, because she doesn’t have commercial advertisers (or at least, not those who’d care about our campaigning). But what we must do is stop her shitfucked commentary from becoming normalised, by demonstrating to friends and relatives just how wrong a vote for Hanson or anyone of her ilk will be.

For this reason, please spread the clip above as far as you can, and continue to have necessary conversations about Hanson with anyone you can. She MUST NOT gain the power she seeks, and all of us must be part of the push to stop her.

Yes, we do fight media misogyny and hate. But we also fight the terrible political views the people we’ve targeted (all men, except for Hanson) also hold. These aren’t coincidences, either. Who’s surprised hatefully misogynist men also tend to hold far-right political opinions? Jones had despicable politics and moved heaven and earth to get his preferred candidates elected (he even gloated about this during a TV show a few years ago). Kyle’s a huge and unapologetic Trump supporter, and Karl sucked up to Nazi Robinson like they were blood brothers.

They make us sick.

This is why forcing ALL of them permanently off mainstream airwaves is killing two birds with one stone and thus has been so, so fucking important.

And we’re all still proud as punch we achieved that result.

Who’s next?

1/2

[Erin 🦕 @DocOldFossil]

forever grateful for the existence of this silliest ray of sunshine :')

[Meidas_Charise Lee @charise_lee]

Amazing what people and government can do when they have a working moral compass.

[Rod Emmerson @rodemmerson]

In today’s NZ Herald

[Ronni🧂Salt-WhoWroteGunnawahYeahThatOne @RonniSalt]

vale Sam Neill, 1947-2026

✒️'All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts.'

✒️William Shakespeare, As You Like It

.

[Wolf of X @WolfofX]

In 2020, the world fell silent.

Cities emptied. Borders closed. Families were separated. Millions of people found themselves alone, wondering when life would ever feel normal again.

While much of the world searched for hope, one of Hollywood's most beloved actors quietly picked up his phone.

Sam Neill wasn't promoting a movie.

He wasn't chasing headlines.

Instead, he walked out onto his farm in New Zealand and invited the world to spend a few peaceful minutes with him.

He introduced everyone to Peggy the duck, who quickly became an internet favorite. Charlie Pickering waddled around the farm as if he owned the place. Helena Bonham Carter grazed peacefully in the fields, while Jeff Goldblum the ram and Michael Fassbender the rooster added their own unique personalities. There was even Bryce Dallas Howard, his rescue chicken, who became known as his loyal "guard chicken."

The names made people laugh.

The moments made them stay.

There were no scripts.

No expensive cameras.

No carefully planned productions.

Just Sam talking to his animals, reading poetry, sharing stories, singing the occasional song, and reminding millions that even during the darkest days, life could still be beautiful.

For people trapped inside their homes, those simple videos became something to look forward to.

A few minutes of calm.

A few minutes of laughter.

A few minutes where the world didn't feel quite so heavy.

Years later, Sam Neill revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 blood cancer.

During treatment, he wrote his memoir and spoke openly about what mattered most.

It wasn't fame.

It wasn't awards.

It was his family.

His friends.

His vineyard.

His animals.

And the simple privilege of waking up to another ordinary day.

The man who spent decades helping audiences escape through unforgettable films ended up creating one of his most meaningful performances without ever stepping onto a movie set.

He simply opened the gate to his farm, introduced the world to his animals, and reminded millions that hope doesn't always arrive with grand gestures

[Arthur Dent @ArthurCDent]

Be less like Elon Musk.
Be more like Sam Neil.

[Dr Tracy Westerman AM @TracyWesterman]

One Nation will tell you Pauline Hanson is the only one fighting for them. “Australians first.” The whole MAGA-pitch. Here's who she's spent her life fighting against:
• Aboriginal ppl— opposed Native Title and Welcome to Country; wants to abolish the National Indigenous Australians Agency to “save” $12.5B; her 2020 “Close the Gap” speech called Aboriginal parents lazy & negligent
- Nurses & aged care workers — $20,000–$34,000 worse off under Hanson. Called nurses overpaid
. Immigrants & refugees — wants to deport 75,000 “illegal migrants,” withdraw from the UN Refugee Convention, cut immigration to a 130,000 visa cap, with no economic modelling on the cost to Aust,
• Public schools — voted almost always against incr funding for public schools, incl cuts that stripped support from students with disability
• Teachers — pushed a narrative schools have “poor academic standards” & a lot of teachers can’t read & write properly.
• Students with disability — said they don't belong in mainstream classrooms because they're “disruptive”
• Welfare recipients— supported mandatory drug testing for recipients, & when a senator opposed it, publicly used that senator's son's drug addiction against her
• Welfare recipients broadly — $90B spending-cut plan targets the NDIS, Medicare & welfare payments, with no independently costed detail on how or any alternative method to support these vulnerable groups,
• Disabled Australians— wants to scrap wheelchair-access requirements for new homes
- Trans Australians — called it a “militant force” & “subversive transgender insurgency” that “must be dismantled; said trans “propaganda” was being imposed on children in schools. Trans Australians make up 1% of the pop’n.
• Childcare workers —questioned why they need qualifications, asking why centres need “people with some sort of degree to look after a child”
• Families /childcare access — voted consistently against incr childcare support, called the system “completely out of control”
• Asian-Australians — infamous 1996 maiden speech claiming we are being, “swamped by Asians”
• Muslim Australians — Senate burqa stunt got her suspended by Parliament, called for a Muslim immigration ban, said in 2026 there are no “good” Muslims
• African-Australian communities — pushed an “African gang” rhetoric against the actual data
• LGBTQ+ Australians — opposed marriage equality
• Domestic violence victims — repeatedly claimed women lie about abuse to win family court cases
• Women's reproductive rights — pushes to roll back abortion access nationally
• Women's pay / parental leave — dismissed the gender pay gap & said women shouldn't be paid on parental leave because “they're not at work”
- pledged to sack the Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Human Rights Commission
• Rape victims — kept convicted rapist Sean Black on staff for years & defended it
• Working Australians — opposed the minimum wage rise & tax break for low-paid workers, while taking a $100k pay rise
• Casual workers; voted no to same job, same pay
• Coal miners: a deal with the LNP cost mineworkers $16M in entitlements
• Pensioners;opposed pension increases
• Renters / home buyers; voted almost always against incr housing affordability
• Journalists — banned the ABC, voted consistently to cut ABC/SBS funding, called a reporter “trashy”
- Australians who rely on global health & scientific cooperation —wants to withdraw Australia from the WHO & the UN, abolished the TGA in her spending plan, rejects the IPCC’s climate science consensus, and wants to scrap net zero and the Department of Climate Change

So; yes, Hanson is “Australia first” — as long as you're not:
Aboriginal,
a nurse,
an aged care worker,
a public school student,
a teacher,
disabled,
rely on welfare,
in childcare,
Asian,
Muslim,
African,
gay,
transgender,
a survivor of abuse,
a woman,
a worker,
a pensioner, a
renter,
a journalist, or
someone who trusts science

So who, exactly, is she fighting for?

[Margaret Thorsborne, OAM @ThorsborneMarg]

Always a treat to hear from both of you!

[Joe Brummer @JoeBrummer]

Here is the latest Episode of the Joe Brummer Podcast w/guest Meg Baldwin. We talk about trauma-informed education, BAVX, and therapy puppies. Listen where you love to hear podcasts https://t.co/wbppoboQzX

[Peter FitzSimons @Peter_Fitz]

Bravo, Andrew Hastie. He has said what needed to be said.
He'd "rather be taken out in a box, than bend the knee to One Nation."
#Leadership
And I hope his electorate rewards him for it.

[Kon Karapanagiotidis @Kon__K]

If One Nation can raise $4.7 million in 10 days for hate and division, I believe we can raise $1.5 million tomorrow for love. Our World Refugee Day Telethon goes from 7am to 11pm. Let’s send a powerful national message tomorrow that we are stronger together ❤️

[Costin Heaps 🌈 💉x 5 @DianneCostin]

Willcox strikes again.
👏👏