- Thinking About It by Zee Feed
- Posts
- Long weekend reads
A four day weekend in the middle of a federal election campaign? What a treat! I’m using this time to take a breather and revive my energy and brain space for the final two-week stretch of the campaign (and whatever madness will follow). So instead of an essay today, I’m giving you a bumper edition of recommendations! These are all articles that are particularly insightful and relevant to this moment of the campaign.
In my editor’s letter, I wrote that my intention with Zee Feed’s election coverage is for you to use it as a talking point in your social circles. Same goes for these articles below! Read ‘em, bring them up at your long weekend gatherings, and talk about it. That’s how we drag the Overton Window to the left.
We’ll have some new incredible writing on Zee Feed in the coming week. I can’t wait to share it with you.
‘Copied the MAGA model’: The ‘grassroots’ lobby group funded by some of Australia’s richest on Sydney Morning Herald
This is a significant piece of journalism that you must read if you are even slightly engaged in Australian politics. Even as a journalist myself, I did not realise how deep this runs. “To the extent that it registered at all with the public, Advance appeared at first to be an anomaly. But it is perhaps best understood as one part of a much larger ecosystem, an international web of neoliberal think tanks centred around an American non-profit organisation called the Atlas Economic Research Foundation.”
Is Peter Dutton aware that women… can vote? on Crikey
I wrote this one! “The only time Dutton mentioned women in his campaign launch speech was when he said the Coalition would protect them from domestic violence and crime. Positioning crime, particularly youth crime, as a women’s safety issue has been a common framing from the Coalition throughout the election — in fact, as the days tick by, it looks like that’s all it’s got.”
Australian Labor party sent team to UK to learn from Keir Starmer’s successful election campaign on Guardian Australia
“[Labor] officials were run through how UK Labour engaged a third-party firm to map out the online environment, identify leads and build relationships with digital creators. Officials also received briefings from senior Democrats after the 2024 US presidential campaign, where podcasts played a prominent role … Armed with insights from overseas, Labor’s team – led by the national secretary, Paul Erickson – devised its own “new media” strategy to reach disengaged voters. That included hiring Diamantina Media, the company behind the popular digital media brand the Betoota Advocate.”
The So-Called Cost of Living Election Refuses to Address Poverty & Hardship on Zee Feed
“Still, in Australian politics conversations about the cost of living are framed almost entirely around the middle-class. Both major parties are catering policy to the ‘median’ Australian household, when in reality 80% of taxpayers make less than the average full-time earner, according to the Grattan Institute. At best, it feels like political spin, announcing sweeping policy to hawk on every platform possible for the best chance at catching a disengaged swing voter’s eye. At worst, it’s a refusal to engage in policy that might address some of the root causes of the ‘crisis’ part of the cost of living crisis, for fear of alienating both high-income donors and voters.”
Exclusive: David Pocock’s demands of a minority government on The Saturday Paper
“David Pocock wants a far greater slice of Australian gas export income through the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, and the reform of capital gains and negative gearing tax breaks. These are the crossbencher’s two top demands for whichever party seeks to form government after the election, as part of his broader integrity agenda in the 48th parliament.”
Your house is becoming uninsurable due to climate risks. on Nick Feik’s substack
“A parliamentary select committee was established last year to assess the impact of climate risk on insurance premiums and availability … It recommended the government explore a levy on coal and gas companies to offset insurance costs and fund disaster mitigation measures. Labor and the Coalition, while noting many of the report’s recommendations, both refused to support the key recommendation on the polluter-pays model.”
How Gen Z & Millennial Voters Are Disrupting Australian Politics on Marie Claire
“The two-party system is not written in stone – it’s held in place by tradition and complacency, and we’re actively dismantling both. By voting with our eyes open and our values front and centre, by refusing to settle for “lesser evils,” Gen Z and Millennial Australians are building new pathways to engagement. We’re injecting accountability and fresh ideas into a stale system. We’re showing that loyalty must be earned, not assumed. In the process, we just might compel the major parties to up their game – or pave the way for a new political landscape altogether.”
As Dutton’s election campaign implodes, Albanese is allowed to coast and voters end up the losers on The New Daily
Amy Remeikis is now writing a weekly column for The New Daily, it’s good reading. “The Liberals’ lack of policy has allowed Labor to coast. Albanese is going from seat to seat, dripping money here and there for local projects or offering Band-Aids for wider problems and has not been forced to reckon with any of the major issues facing the nation because there is no competition … Labor doesn’t have to have a reformist platform because its main opponent has offered almost nothing, or a return to the previous decade, which allows Labor to pop its own campaign in cruise control and just work to avoid bumps.”
If 2022 Was the “Climate Election”, What the Hell Happened? on Zee Feed
“In 2022, we voted in the lesser of two evils. And because of that, a lot of change took a back seat. As a climate activist, I can’t help but wonder whether climate change would be more at the forefront of the conversation if Morrison’s government had been re-elected — though I would never wish for it. But maybe it wouldn’t have mattered either way, as public opinion on the importance of climate change has shifted significantly.”
State of the states: six experts on how the campaign is playing out around Australia on The Conversation
“Where politicians choose to visit (and not visit) give us some insight into their electoral priorities and strategy. Here, six experts analyse how the campaign has looked so far in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.”If you found this email thought-provoking, will you share it with a friend? Sharing helps us grow 🌱 and makes you look really smart.