Peter Monk
@unfairrobot.bsky.social
AusPol / Secular activism / Web dev / Gaming / Tech / Music / Writing.
Winner, 2022 Nobel Prize for Procrastination.
Winner, 2022 Nobel Prize for Procrastination.
Let's get this straight.
Adani donates $600k the Qld LNP before election.
After the election, Qld LNP ends legal action over $400 MILLION in unpaid royalties.
Dodgy, dodgy, dodgy. Thread.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Adani donates $600k the Qld LNP before election.
After the election, Qld LNP ends legal action over $400 MILLION in unpaid royalties.
Dodgy, dodgy, dodgy. Thread.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
February 6, 2026 at 6:12 AM
February 6, 2026 at 5:57 AM
Reposted by Peter Monk
I flew down to south Texas today to do my job - investigate why people are dying in ICE detention centers.
I was just illegally denied entry to Dilley Detention Center. Because they have something to hide.
I was just illegally denied entry to Dilley Detention Center. Because they have something to hide.
January 20, 2026 at 10:21 PM
I flew down to south Texas today to do my job - investigate why people are dying in ICE detention centers.
I was just illegally denied entry to Dilley Detention Center. Because they have something to hide.
I was just illegally denied entry to Dilley Detention Center. Because they have something to hide.
The building of datacentres to support growth in AI usage has caused a massive increase in the price of computer memory as it's all snapped up by corporations. The 2x16GB sticks I put in a system in 2023 for $159 now cost $429. Production for 2028 is already being pre-sold. There's no end in sight.
January 19, 2026 at 11:14 PM
The building of datacentres to support growth in AI usage has caused a massive increase in the price of computer memory as it's all snapped up by corporations. The 2x16GB sticks I put in a system in 2023 for $159 now cost $429. Production for 2028 is already being pre-sold. There's no end in sight.
Reposted by Peter Monk
New: The background on the Adelaide Writers’ Week debacle
The catalyst for the implosion of Adelaide Writers' Week may have been the board’s exclusion of Randa Abdel-Fattah on January 8, but the fight over her inclusion in the program had been running at board level for months, reports Nick Feik.
The Adelaide Writers' Week fight rolled out at board level months before Bondi
The emergence of a key letter casts new light on the rationale used by the festival board to uninvite Randa Abdel-Fattah.
www.crikey.com.au
January 13, 2026 at 2:37 AM
New: The background on the Adelaide Writers’ Week debacle
Reposted by Peter Monk
How they killed Writers Week:
"Malinauskus was regularly agitating for Abdel-Fattah’s cancellation... Eventually, the board relented. They had seen what had happened at Bendigo, and they did it anyway."
New: On the background to the Adelaide Writers' Week debacle, and the involvement of Premier Malinauskas.
New: On the background to the Adelaide Writers' Week debacle, and the involvement of Premier Malinauskas.
The implosion of Adelaide Writers’ Week
An autopsy of a festival
nickfeik.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 6:49 AM
How they killed Writers Week:
Reposted by Peter Monk
"Other people in the rest of the world are making a fortune out of Australia's gas exports....You're not alone in thinking that Australia is getting taken for a ride."
Add your name to the petition: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/fix_gas_export_problem
Add your name to the petition: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/fix_gas_export_problem
December 30, 2025 at 11:15 PM
"Other people in the rest of the world are making a fortune out of Australia's gas exports....You're not alone in thinking that Australia is getting taken for a ride."
Add your name to the petition: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/fix_gas_export_problem
Add your name to the petition: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/fix_gas_export_problem
Reposted by Peter Monk
Welcome to the 30 November 2025 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism
www.nsl.org.au/columns/week...
www.nsl.org.au/columns/week...
Weekend Wrap for 30 November 2025 - National Secular Lobby
Catch up on the latest Australian secular news with the NSL's Weekend Wrap for 30 November 2025.
www.nsl.org.au
November 30, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Welcome to the 30 November 2025 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism
www.nsl.org.au/columns/week...
www.nsl.org.au/columns/week...
Reposted by Peter Monk
Welcome to the 23 November 2025 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism
https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-23-november-2025/
https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-23-november-2025/
Weekend Wrap for 23 November 2025 - National Secular Lobby
Catch up on the latest Australian secular news with the NSL's Weekend Wrap for 23 November 2025.
www.nsl.org.au
November 22, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Welcome to the 23 November 2025 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism
https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-23-november-2025/
https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-23-november-2025/
Looks like there'll be some changes to the 'facts' taught to kids in Queensland. #qldpol
The Queensland government has reshuffled its school curriculum board to introduce "a diverse skill set" — including a former Catholic Education director and a founding member of right-wing lobby group Advance Australia. #qldpol
https://bit.ly/47J5loD
https://bit.ly/47J5loD
Right-wing group founder added to Queensland school curriculum board
The Advance Australia founder is among three new members appointed to replace unceremoniously dumped union leaders.
bit.ly
November 15, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Looks like there'll be some changes to the 'facts' taught to kids in Queensland. #qldpol
Reposted by Peter Monk
The ACT has expanded the liability of churches, sporting groups and other organisations to make them vicariously liable for acts of child sex abuse perpetrated by people such as clergymen, volunteers and coaches who are in positions akin to employment. #auspol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
ACT closes 'legal loophole' making institutions more liable for child sexual abuse
Survivors and lawyers welcome the nation-leading legislation, with legal action against churches, sporting groups and others to be affected.
www.abc.net.au
October 31, 2025 at 12:04 AM
The ACT has expanded the liability of churches, sporting groups and other organisations to make them vicariously liable for acts of child sex abuse perpetrated by people such as clergymen, volunteers and coaches who are in positions akin to employment. #auspol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
The Trump Pentagon no longer has a press corps, it has a propaganda corps. #Taterdick
johnmenadue.com/post/2025/10...
johnmenadue.com/post/2025/10...
‘Pro-Trump propagandists’ take over Pentagon Press Corps after signing loyalty pledge
Critics called the department’s announcement “deeply weird and awful”, “so Orwellian”, and “real textbook fascism beginning to end.
johnmenadue.com
October 25, 2025 at 12:40 PM
The Trump Pentagon no longer has a press corps, it has a propaganda corps. #Taterdick
johnmenadue.com/post/2025/10...
johnmenadue.com/post/2025/10...
Reposted by Peter Monk
NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Jeswynn Yogaratnam criticises new changes to A-D legislation: "It was really about a pre-election promise to place power and privilege back to groups that already are in places of power and privilege." #ntpol #auspol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
NT passes anti-discrimination law changes to 'restore' free speech, religion
Northern Territory Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby says the changes will protect freedom of expression and religion while retaining protections against hate speech.
www.abc.net.au
October 18, 2025 at 12:12 PM
NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Jeswynn Yogaratnam criticises new changes to A-D legislation: "It was really about a pre-election promise to place power and privilege back to groups that already are in places of power and privilege." #ntpol #auspol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
The thing to remember when handing over vital business functions to AI - especially if you're not going to double-check every bit of its output - is that AI *does not know what it is saying*. That's how generative AI works. Please, just keep the humans. #ai
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX1X...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX1X...
Replacing Humans with AI is Going Horribly Wrong
YouTube video by ColdFusion
www.youtube.com
October 14, 2025 at 10:56 AM
The thing to remember when handing over vital business functions to AI - especially if you're not going to double-check every bit of its output - is that AI *does not know what it is saying*. That's how generative AI works. Please, just keep the humans. #ai
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX1X...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX1X...
We're all paying for Santos's mistake. Successive governments have failed in their duty to manage our natural resources responsibly and protect the interests of the Australian people. #santos #auspol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
Why Santos is behind your soaring electricity and mortgage costs
It was a primary force behind Australia’s inflationary surge, it’s forced businesses either to the wall or to shift offshore, undermined national industry policy and resulted in the loss of countless ...
www.abc.net.au
October 13, 2025 at 10:41 PM
We're all paying for Santos's mistake. Successive governments have failed in their duty to manage our natural resources responsibly and protect the interests of the Australian people. #santos #auspol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
"Productivity Commissioner Stephen King admitted the PC had not conducted economic modelling of how proposed changes to #copyright law would affect the #creative industry..."
...after suggesting #AI could have carte blanche on works to learn how to replace artists! 🤯
www.afr.com/politics/fed...
...after suggesting #AI could have carte blanche on works to learn how to replace artists! 🤯
www.afr.com/politics/fed...
Australian artists warn of wipeout in a decade by AI
Musicians and artists descended on Canberra to argue for copyright protections against AI, which they say will affect the future of their industries.
www.afr.com
October 1, 2025 at 3:50 PM
"Productivity Commissioner Stephen King admitted the PC had not conducted economic modelling of how proposed changes to #copyright law would affect the #creative industry..."
...after suggesting #AI could have carte blanche on works to learn how to replace artists! 🤯
www.afr.com/politics/fed...
...after suggesting #AI could have carte blanche on works to learn how to replace artists! 🤯
www.afr.com/politics/fed...
Now might be a good time to leave TikTok. With its assets sale to Rupert Murdoch, Larry Ellison, and Michael Dell, and Trump's "joke" about it becoming "100 percent MAGA", it's on its way to becoming another right-wing cesspool. #tiktok
www.techdirt.com/2025/09/30/t...
www.techdirt.com/2025/09/30/t...
Trump Makes It Very Clear They’re Going To Turn TikTok Into A Right Wing Propaganda Machine
After years of hyperventilation about TikTok’s impact on privacy, propaganda, and national security, TikTok is likely being sold to a bunch of Trump’s billionaire technofascist buddies …
www.techdirt.com
September 30, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Now might be a good time to leave TikTok. With its assets sale to Rupert Murdoch, Larry Ellison, and Michael Dell, and Trump's "joke" about it becoming "100 percent MAGA", it's on its way to becoming another right-wing cesspool. #tiktok
www.techdirt.com/2025/09/30/t...
www.techdirt.com/2025/09/30/t...
Reposted by Peter Monk
Women having 'missed miscarriages' say they were denied care at Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane because of its religious policies on abortion. This hospital receives public money. Why are we funding hospitals that don't provide medical services? #auspol #qldpol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
Qld women denied chosen miscarriage care say it's like something from the US
Brisbane women have told the ABC they paid an abortion clinic for their chosen miscarriage care rather than getting it at their large public hospital.
www.abc.net.au
September 25, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Women having 'missed miscarriages' say they were denied care at Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane because of its religious policies on abortion. This hospital receives public money. Why are we funding hospitals that don't provide medical services? #auspol #qldpol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
Fascism expert warns Australia could be next.
"A lot of what you’re seeing in the US must seem familiar to you, even though you’ve come nowhere close to what we’ve seen in the last few months ... the ideological preconditions are certainly familiar to you."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
"A lot of what you’re seeing in the US must seem familiar to you, even though you’ve come nowhere close to what we’ve seen in the last few months ... the ideological preconditions are certainly familiar to you."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
A US fascism expert’s warning to Australia: ‘You guys are probably next’
The US’s slide towards authoritarianism is part of a global trend, says professor and fascism expert Jason Stanley. And distant Australia, far from being immune, is uniquely vulnerable
www.theguardian.com
September 25, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Fascism expert warns Australia could be next.
"A lot of what you’re seeing in the US must seem familiar to you, even though you’ve come nowhere close to what we’ve seen in the last few months ... the ideological preconditions are certainly familiar to you."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
"A lot of what you’re seeing in the US must seem familiar to you, even though you’ve come nowhere close to what we’ve seen in the last few months ... the ideological preconditions are certainly familiar to you."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
Reposted by Peter Monk
Parliament is not a place for worship, and certainly not sectarian worship. Any parliament claiming to represent all citizens - and claiming to provide and protect a right to religious freedom - should not be endorsing or engaging in the practice of a single religion. #auspol @albomp.bsky.social
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says one thing about the principle of separation of church and state but his government is doing another thing when it comes to imposing daily acts of Christian worship in the federal parliament. More: rationalist.com.au/albanese-gov...
#auspol @albomp.bsky.social
#auspol @albomp.bsky.social
September 20, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Parliament is not a place for worship, and certainly not sectarian worship. Any parliament claiming to represent all citizens - and claiming to provide and protect a right to religious freedom - should not be endorsing or engaging in the practice of a single religion. #auspol @albomp.bsky.social
Reposted by Peter Monk
Watch this past week's Four Corners, where former members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church speak about the manipulation, surveillance, and threats the church allegedly used against them. #auspol
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-15/big-brethren/105776410
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-15/big-brethren/105776410
Big Brethren
Four Corners is the home of Australian investigative journalism.
www.abc.net.au
September 20, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Watch this past week's Four Corners, where former members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church speak about the manipulation, surveillance, and threats the church allegedly used against them. #auspol
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-15/big-brethren/105776410
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-15/big-brethren/105776410
Typical behaviour from the Gangster-in-Chief: don't ask questions I don't like or I'll punish your entire country.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Donald Trump clashes with Australian ABC journalist and confirms Albanese meeting
US president accuses John Lyons of ‘hurting Australia’ after reporter asked about his White House business dealings
www.theguardian.com
September 16, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Typical behaviour from the Gangster-in-Chief: don't ask questions I don't like or I'll punish your entire country.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Peter Monk
New research reveals a profound shift in Australian attitudes towards religious education in government schools, with support for religion being taught at least once a week falling from 72% in 1997/98 to 50% in 2024/25. #auspol
http://bit.ly/4nnyScy
http://bit.ly/4nnyScy
September 6, 2025 at 11:33 PM
New research reveals a profound shift in Australian attitudes towards religious education in government schools, with support for religion being taught at least once a week falling from 72% in 1997/98 to 50% in 2024/25. #auspol
http://bit.ly/4nnyScy
http://bit.ly/4nnyScy