New York has become the epicentre of useful idiots

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An anti-Trump poster in Myeongdong, Seoul, asking Koreans to write to Mr Trump about the tariffs.

Almost a quarter century since our TVs were dominated by nightmare images of terrorist-controlled passenger jets crashing into the Twin Towers, it seems the war against the West has been won in New York. The icing on the cake will be the potential election of Ugandan-born socialist and New York mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, who is currently dominating the polls.

Anti-Western elements have the key to the city, and the West handed it to them. As a result, New York has become the epicentre for useful idiots.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

The streets of Sydney are bad, but New York has transitioned into the epicentre of ‘useful idiots’. As Michael de Percy writes, ‘Almost a quarter century since our TVs were dominated by nightmare images of terrorist-controlled passenger jets crashing into the Twin Towers, it seems the war against the West has been won in New York. The icing on the cake will be the potential election of Ugandan-born socialist and New York Mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani.’

My latest in The Spectator Australia, New York has become the epicentre of useful idiots.

Albo’s TikTok dilemma

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Imagine if Albo has to overturn the social media ban because of his communist masters

Chinese social media giant TikTok is set to launch a constitutional challenge to Australia’s controversial social media ban for under 16-year-olds. This comes amid calls to decrease the voting age to 16, an exercise that I recently demonstrated will force children to become adults too soon.

Opposition to Labor’s social media ban for under 16-year-olds, an abhorrent exercise in government overreach led by eKaren, has had little practical effect. God knows Australia’s Uniparty isn’t interested in defending liberal democracy.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

The problem deepens with TikTok considering legal action against Albanese’s government – Google too. Albanese is snapping back, attempting to throw his weight around against Silicon Valley without realising that Australia does not own the digital realm. It did not create it. And it has no replacement. What happens if Google and Bing blacklist Australia? What happens to the business world if social media is shut off? Labor likes to talk about existential threats – I assure you, Silicon Valley shutting Australia off is the end of the economy. Labor does not have the ability to pull rank, especially not when Silicon Valley sits inside America – our major defence ally. What’s Albanese’s plan, asking China to run our search engines and social media? Seriously. Labor’s desire to censor free speech is overshadowing all rational thought.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Albo’s TikTok dilemma.

Two Against One with Rowan Dean and Michael Danby

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On The World ccording to Rowan Dean, 25 July 2025 

Discussing the demise of green hydrogen in Australia and French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to recognise a Palestinian state on "The World According to Rowan Dean" tonight.

I'm on from 41:23 minutes in: Two Against One with Rowan Dean and Michael Danby.

It’s time to give 16-year-olds the vote

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It's what the Greens want so it must be a good thing said nobody ever except the Brits

While the left has a history of lowering the voting age, the change from 21 to 18 years of age as the arbitrary signifier of legal adulthood attributed the relevant rights and responsibilities to those now deemed adults. The change to 16 years of age might as well be to 1 or 100 years of age. It really depends on society’s view as to what age a human is deemed to be responsible for their own existence and capable of participating in society

As Alexandra Marshall wrote in the Unfiltered newsletter:

Sure, give 16-year-olds the vote, argues Michael de Percy, but if the government is going to treat them as fully-fledged adults at the ballot box, then they must extend this to all aspects of their lives. If they are not prepared to do this, then it will prove, without question, that this action is a political stunt to boost numbers rather than a genuine acknowledgement that the age of responsibility has dropped.

Terry Barnes wrote in the Morning Double Shot newsletter:

Last week, Michael de Percy made a courageous (in the Sir Humphrey sense) conservative case for lowering the voting age to 16. This week, Colleen Harkin counters with a case against. She makes the point that most teenagers barely know or care about the workings of the civil society that would compel their vote, not least because civics education in Australia is a farce. We would add that it is also hopelessly biased towards the left, and calibrated to turn out lifelong Green-Left voters by the thousand.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, It’s time to give 16-year-olds the vote.

The Greens are engrossed in their own irrelevance

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The Greens are more interested in trans extremism than protecting the enivironment.

Plurality of thought and action in Korea is part of the political landscape. Last time I was here the protests were about labour union and pro-Palestine issues. Politics in Korea is as diverse as the natural environment.

In Australia, however, free speech is no longer a given in politics. Over the weekend, the Queensland Greens gave co-founder Drew Hutton the boot. Despite support from co-founder Bob Brown and former leader Christine Milne, Hutton’s appeal to the Queensland Greens was rejected, with 75 votes opposing and 23 votes supporting.

The expulsion resulted from Hutton’s Facebook posts back in 2022 that referred to Greens officials in Victoria and New South Wales as ‘authoritarian and antidemocratic’. This was in response to official Greens’ actions to remove members with transgender views the party didn’t like.

As Alexandra Marshall wrote in the Unfiltered newsletter:

The Greens have started to cancel themselves after co-founder Drew Hutton was kicked out after saying the environmental party had turned into an activist cult, or words to that effect. He’s not wrong. You’re more likely to hear the Greens campaigning for trans rights or Palestine than koalas. This is not a problem limited to Australian green groups. All over the West, true environmentalists are walking away from green parties in disgust. There is a gap opening for an environmentally-minded political party – but what will fill it?

My latest in The Specttor Australia, The Greens are engrossed in their own irrelevance.

Is Net Zero environmentally friendly?

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Dr Ken Henry addresses the National Press Club. ‘Of course we need a carbon tax.’

From the National Press Club: This week’s address by Dr Ken Henry, former Secretary of the Treasury, was not a love letter to the government, but a personal plea from a former senior bureaucrat turned environmental crusader. Henry’s address as chair of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation (ACBF), a registered charity and lobby group, called for reform of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 (EPBC).

The call was largely based on Professor Graeme Samuel’s recent review of the EPBC Act that recommended the concept of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) be applied on the basis of region-by-region rather than project-by-project.

Alexandra Marshall wrote in the Unfiltered newsletter:

Today we posted our first National Press Club interview. Michael de Percy has been braving Canberra to keep an eye on the little love-in going on between the press and our politicians. This week, Ken Henry came to plead with the government to bring back carbon taxes, strengthen environmental law, and fast-track wind and solar projects. We’ve got the highlights (aka the scariest bits) covered so you can see what’s up next on the nightmare Canberra agenda. It’s on Facebook and Twitter.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Is Net Zero environmentally friendly?

Housing propaganda from your state-owned media

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Jacinta Allan says she is 'helping deliver more options for renters'.

The housing debate has devolved into government overreach and ideological posturing, with policies mismatched to Australian values. Prioritising urban density and renewable energy projects that consume vast tracts of land is a green-left idea that dominates Labor-Greens governments in Australia.

Detached family homes have defined the nation’s way of life since the post-war boom.

When you have room to breathe, you have room to think, but when you are crammed into future slums, you vote Labor-Greens.

This mismatch in values and policy is evident and insidiously promoted in the state-owned media’s coverage.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Okay enough of the ABC’s petty propaganda! For a billion dollars a year, you’d imagine the quality of our so-called ‘impartial’ public broadcaster would be better… Instead, we’ve got the ABC pitting ‘YIMBYs’ and NIMBYs’ against each other in the housing debate.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Housing propaganda from your state-owned media.

The Smart Energy Council’s love letter to Chris Bowen

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I want to... give a big shout out to... Chris Bowen – a highly effective minister.

From the National Press Club: Picture this. A room full of journalists, some scribbling notes, others stifling yawns, as John Grimes, CEO of the Smart Energy Council, takes the stage. His speech is less a policy address and more a love letter to the Labor Party, complete with effusive praise for the ‘highly effective’ Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen.

The air is thick with partisanship, and one can almost hear the faint strains of a Labor campaign jingle in the background. It’s a performance so one-sided that even the most ardent Labor supporters are blushing.

That’s what happened today.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, The Smart Energy Council’s love letter to Chris Bowen.

The Battle of Britain: A boy’s dreams and a family’s legacy

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My great-grandfather called me ‘Baron’, after the Red Baron, indulging my dreams of becoming a fighter pilot.

July 10 marks the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. While it was far away from Australia, as a lad growing up in 1980s Far North Queensland, my boyhood imagination soared over the skies of 1940 Britain.

The Battle of Britain wasn’t just history to me. It was an obsession. Fuelled by Paul Brickhill’s Reach for the Sky and my hero-worship of Sir Douglas Bader, Airfix models of Hurricanes, Spitfires, Me-109s, and Me-110s filled my bedroom, each plastic kit a tribute to the RAF’s defiance.

Now in my 50s, that fascination endures, reinvigorated by a recently discovered family connection to another wartime theatre and a career that brought me tantalisingly close to my boyhood dream of becoming a fighter pilot.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

Today marks 85 years since the Battle of Britain. Michael de Percy writes, ‘The Battle of Britain, fought from July to October 1940, was far from dull. Hitler’s Luftwaffe aimed to crush the RAF, clearing the skies for an invasion of Britain. Outnumbered, the RAF’s pilots in Hurricanes and Spitfires, often barely out of their teens, fought back with ferocity. Churchill’s ‘The Few’ speech captured their sacrifice: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”’

My latest in The Spectator Australia, The Battle of Britain: A boy’s dreams and a family’s legacy.

Hey Albo, cop this mate. With love, The Don

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Albo picked a fight with The Don. It's not a smart move.

As Albo continues to ignore the only nation and ally that has spilt blood in the defence of our continent, the stakes have just been raised.

President Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on Australian-manufactured pharmaceuticals to 200 per cent and copper to 20 per cent. These two items were previously in a tariff-free zone. Not anymore.

While ‘Handsome Boy’ Albo is busy schmoozing up to his ideological mate in Beijing, ‘The Don’ has sent a clear message that ca no longer be ignored.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Hey Albo, cop this mate. With love, The Don.

Disloyal far-left breakaways are coming for Labor

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A new far-left party could disrupt Labor’s hold on key seats

Jeremy Corbyn’s new far-left party poses a significant threat to Starmer’s Labour government by risking a split in the left vote, a danger illustrated by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 1980s.

In Australia, Anthony Albanese’s Labor government, while currently dominant, faces similar vulnerabilities as left-wing criticism grows. Although Australia’s preferential system offers some protection, a new far-left party could disrupt Labor’s hold on key seats and influence policy through the Senate.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

There is a reason the ‘right’ is rising (and the left is splintering off into new movements). It is a desperate attempt to salvage a desperate situation.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Disloyal far-left breakaways are coming for Labor.

Albo ‘turned a corner’ and got us stuck on a roundabout

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If you keep turning corner, you go round in circles.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s incessant claim that Australia has ‘turned a corner’ is wearing thin. Like a motorist stuck on a roundabout, his government seems to be going in circles, with no clear exit in sight.

In key policy areas, Albo’s turned the corner and run into a group of Pulp Fiction characters. The Gimp has been woken up from his election campaign slumber and has doubled down on Zed (aka green hydrogen).

But Zed’s dead, baby. Zed’s dead.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Albo ‘turned a corner’ and got us stuck on a roundabout.

Two Against One with Rowan Dean and Michael Danby

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The World According to Rowan Dean, Sky News Australia, 4 July 2025.

Discussing a potential Aussie Farage and a Reform Australia Party and how Albo's first meeting with President Trump will go on "The World According to Rowan Dean" tonight.

Bowen’s hydrogen mirage has vanished

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Green hydrogen. Going, going, gone!

The hydrogen economy, once heralded as the future of clean energy, is unravelling as I write. A few years back, I argued that hydrogen’s promise was overshadowed by practical and economic barriers. Despite the buzz, its high production costs, inefficient storage, and logistical challenges make it a poor fit for widespread adoption.

Everybody knew this except renewables zealots, especially Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen.

And just like that, the mirage has vanished.

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Green Hydrogen was meant to be the ‘great hope’ for the decarbonisation utopia – and yet it always sounded convoluted, expensive, and dodgy. If it had not been for the involvement of public money, it is difficult to imagine anyone dabbling in this folly. The one question everyone is asking, as another ten-odd billion dollars vanishes, is why aren’t there any repercussions for the ministers involved in the failure? How can all this money just – die?

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Bowen’s hydrogen mirage has vanished.

It’s time for a Reform Australia Party

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While Reform UK has shown the way, the Liberal Party has gone astray.

Populism has been defined as an approach to politics that pits a champion of the commonfolk against elites. Right-wing populism has often been regarded as anti-expert, anti-intellectual, and anti-globalisation. A major challenge for populist leaders has been a lack of vision. In the short term, populist leaders can be against things, but this it makes it harder to be for something in the long run.

While Reform UK has shown the way, the Liberal Party has gone astray. It’s time for a Reform Australia Party.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

Michael de Percy asks when and if Australia can muster the forces of conservative politics and create its own ‘Reform’ movement. Elon Musk spent the day demanding a ‘third party’ for American politics after renewing his scuffle with US President Donald Trump. Musk isn’t happy about the savage cuts to renewable energy and EVs, but Michael makes a larger point about the need for a genuine opposition party – not for rich businessmen or politicians – but for the people.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Michael de Percy makes the case for a Nigel Farage spin-off party in Australia. In terms of Reform UK and its agenda, that is a consummation devoutly to be wished, whether in a – pardon the pun – reformed Liberal party or not. But Farage, for all his media stunting and blokey braggadocio, has the brains and political nous to be a prime minister: there is nobody on the Australian centre-right, whether in the Liberals or populist minor parties, who has the intelligence, common touch, charisma, appealing beliefs and hunger to win that Farage has. Until an Australian Farage eventually emerges (if he does at all), de Percy will have to keep dreaming, alas.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, It’s time for a Reform Australia Party.

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