Albo plays masterclass while Opposition forfeits

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at his National Press Club address, 10 June 2025.

Albo’s performance was a masterclass in polished rhetoric, delivered with the unflappable confidence of a man who knows he’s playing on an empty field. But as I sat there, nursing a glass of red and a growing sense of unease, it wasn’t the Prime Minister’s aplomb that struck me… It was the deafening silence of the Opposition, whose absence of vinegar is fast becoming a national scandal.

Albo stood at the podium with the air of a leader who has assumed political inevitability. He spoke of economic stability, renewable energy investments, and a recalibrated foreign policy. All of these were set somewhere in the future, grand promises that deserved to be dissected with surgical precision by a competent opposition.

Alexandra Marshall had this to say in the Unfiltered newsletter:

Michael de Percy had the pleasure (misfortune?) of witnessing the Prime Minister speaking live at the National Press Club this afternoon. By the sounds of it, the most disappointing part of the ordeal was how polished Albanese’s propaganda has become. Weaving narratives that outrage democracy and picking apart capitalism comes to him as naturally as breathing. Worse, the Opposition is nowhere to be seen – disarmed by disunity and too confused about what they should be opposing to actually oppose.

Terry Barnes followed up the next day in the Morning Double Shot newsletter:

Talking of identity crises, from his National Press Club appearance yesterday, PM Anthony Albanese thinks he’s in another country altogether, one in which he and Labor won a huge mandate on 3 May. The reality is Albanese had no positive mandate, illustrated by several campaign Newspolls finding a strong majority of voters thought he didn’t deserve re-election. He won only because the Opposition failed to show up for the policy fight, and Left preferences boosted a pathetic Labor primary vote. Michael de Percy attended the Press Club to endure Albanese’s vapid speech of one-sentence paragraphs with its vacuous claims about Labor and the electorate, and gives his verdict.

My latest report from the National Press Club for The Spectator Australia, Albo plays masterclass while Opposition forfeits.

MICHAEL DE PERCY | "Albo’s performance was a masterclass in polished rhetoric, delivered with the unflappable confidence of a man who knows he’s playing on an empty field."https://t.co/7tEKQMr25v

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) June 10, 2025

Greta Thunberg’s irresponsible ‘Selfie Yacht’

Thunberg and other irresponsible activists on their 'Selfie Yacht' [NBC News]

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist turned self-appointed geopolitical saviour, has once again commandeered the global stage with her latest stunt. Thunberg claimed to have been ‘kidnapped’ by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on her so-called ‘humanitarian’ voyage aboard the Madleen, a vessel aimed at breaching Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

This stunt, cloaked in the veneer of altruistic aid delivery, ended in her interception by the IDF on June 9 aboard her ‘selfie yacht’. While Thunberg’s flair for theatrics has long been her hallmark, this latest episode is not just reckless, it is a costly distraction that burdens Israeli taxpayers and diverts attention from the Israeli hostages still held in Hamas’ grip.

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

Is there anything more pitiable than the ‘selfie flotilla’ featuring Greta Thunberg carrying a snack-sized humanitarian aid cargo to Hamas-controlled Palestine? There are only two likely outcomes for this story – an actual hostage situation or a faux hostage narrative. The latter played out on social media with Ms Thunberg releasing a rather dubious ‘if you see this’ video which was quickly contradicted by Israel Defences Forces. Instead of ‘being taken hostage’, Thunberg & co have been fed and are on their way to Israel where they will be sat down in front of the October 7 footage and forced to watch the true horror of what took place during the terror attack.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Greta Thunberg's irresponsible 'Selfie Yacht'.

"The real outrage is that Thunberg’s actions trivialise the plight of the hostages."

Every shekel spent on managing Thunberg’s publicity stunt is a shekel diverted from critical defence needs or rebuilding communities shattered by Hamas' terror attack.https://t.co/dOcTVY01AC

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) June 9, 2025

Tasmania quietly points to our socialist future

Tasmanian House of Assembly [Edoddridge CC BY SA 3.0]

The election of Michelle O’Byrne as Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly on May 14, 2024 marked a significant departure from parliamentary convention, raising questions about stability, leadership, and media coverage. The decision’s implications are all the result of Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s inaction. Meanwhile, the mainstream media’s response has focused on Rockliff’s inadequacy with barely a mention of Michelle O’Byrne’s role of Speaker.

Are we quietly accepting socialism while ignoring our Westminster traditions?

Terry Barnes had this to say in the Morning Double Shot newsletter:

The prolific Michael de Percy has a look at the fiasco that is the Tasmanian parliament’s successful no-confidence motion against the Liberal minority government premier, Jeremy Rockliff. He rightly homes in the Labor speaker, Michelle O’Byrne, disgracefully defying and trashing Westminster convention to break the tie on the motion by voting for it, not against. There’s something rotten in the state of Tasmania, and it’s not just the moribund economy.  Is there any way the rest of Australia can make Tasmania go and join New Zealand? They deserve each other, politically.

My latest opinion piece in The Spectator Australia, Tasmania quietly points to our socialist future.