The issue most closely resembles US debates - it's about their right to own firearms more than about practical usage - so it would be significant if Labor made it clear that NOBODY has the automatic right to own guns just because, and when guns are necessary, farming families are safe ...

Maybe it's my wife's health issues (doing chemo) - knowing if I was to get traction it might be xtra challenging - but I find it really hard to observe how farmers' guns are sacrosanct because it suits nobody politically to fight that fight ...

Amy, I think you're about the best political commentator in the country atm ... which means I trust (only) your response to this - does your wrap for the Australia Institute 23 Jan explain why Labor does not pick up on this or is it something to do with me? macroedgo.com/2026/01/22/g...

Exactly ... as I've been saying, Trump is very much a product of the system, the fulminant product of Extreme capitalism...

My wife asked me the other day whether it is time that US tennis players compete without a flag, like the Russian players - I thought it was a valid point on consistency ...

@jimchalmers.bsky.social

Yeah I blamed the banks for a bit, too ... and I remember a farmer who lost his kid who blamed a mining company ... but the title of my essay says it - "How Farmers Lose Perspective"

my father was a member of a pistol club and his handguns were kept at home (and he took a revolver camping often), and he had multiple rifles including a 303 ... After 1985 I wished he did not have such immediate access to them ... macroedgo.com/2021/05/25/h...

maybe for people on large properties - i.e. stations ... for people on properties within say 20 km of a police station make them store guns there and have to collect them every time they wish to use it ... (my father rarely used his guns for legitimate reasons - see continuation for relevance)

In the upcoming crash there will be an important place for "private credit", much of which will very quickly become public credit (in those 100 year government bonds) ... I sold my gold too early - too smart by half ... then again, the value of ETF gold has to be questionable in a bleak scenario

macroedgo.com/2025/10/18/r...

That is history now, and if we are to limit the damage the far right is causing society we need to forgive the centre left their failings, if not forget, and work with focus and determination because the next few years are more consequential to a healthy, functional society than any in our lifetime

I know that this situation the world faces is more the historical fault of the centre 'left' because it has not been authentic - was corrupted by wealth and influence - and it abjectly failed to address the major issue of social cohesion in xenophobia (as I've been clear in my writing) ...

That's why I applied to join the ALP last week ... I will be a team player and accept that I need to accept many compromises from what is ideal (when we've failed to make good decisions for so long), but now with Trump back pragmatic decisions to keep the far right back here must take precedence

We need to be careful in going down that line too far... From here we need to be very intelligent about stopping this incessant slide to the right - we need some on the far left, sure, but the main bulwark against far right will be the centre 'left', and I think bolstering it is the priority ...