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Ben Lever

@benleverau.bsky.social
737 followers 206 following 634 posts

Transport and climate activist from Victoria, Australia linktr.ee/benleverau

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Reposted by Ben Lever
Dr Kat Day (she/her) 🎃🌓 @chronicleflask.katday.com · 01/10/2026
Another week, another “we’re vaguely familiar with the basic premise of the story while at the same time wilfully missing the entire point” moment
Screenshot:

Is this a 3D model?
@IsThisA3DModel

80% of the children who accepted Wonka's Golden Ticket died

Josh Daws
@JoshDaws 
Rejecting Al is like refusing Wonka's golden ticket.
Anything you want to, do it Wanna change the world?
There's nothing to it
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Energy Consumers Australia @energyconsumersaus.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Finish this sentence: It's time to electrify Australia because... ⚡⚡⚡ Together with a coalition of almost 50 other organisations, we're calling on the federal government to accelerate electrification for Australia's households, transport, agriculture, industry, resources and commercial buildings.
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Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
ICYMI: Australian ski resorts had originally planned to close this weekend - in fact they closed a month ago, at the end of the High Country's warmest winter on record, a season where warm rain dominated snow.
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TechCrunch @techcrunch.com · 01/10/2026
California governor vetoes bill banning use of ‘pervert glasses’ to secretly record people
techcrunch.com
California governor vetoes bill banning use of ‘pervert glasses’ to secretly record people
The California state bill would have penalized people who secretly recorded people in public with wearables equipped with cameras and microphones.
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Dan Ilic @danilic.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Getting ready for my Roasting Boy Summer!
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James Dyke @jamesgdyke.info · 02/10/2026
Another take is that the UK used the prodigious oil & gas reserves in the North Sea to fund large tax cuts & stimulate financial trading & services in London & South East England. Once that was spaffed away the neoliberal response was austerity. Compare that approach with Norway's.
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Tim Baxter @timinclimate.naruresearch.com.au · 02/10/2026
We're being taken for chumps. Again. I'm sure the country's so-called leaders are up to the task. What was that Donald Horne quote, again?
ieefa.org
China’s resales of Australian LNG strengthens case for prioritising domestic users
With Australia’s two largest LNG buyers – Japan and China – both reselling large volumes of Australian gas, there is a strong case for prioritising domestic users when it comes to utilising eastern Au...
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Rebecca Fernandez O'Shea @rebeccafernandez.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Time to run another big bike ride together with @bicyclensw.bsky.social for National Ride to Work Day 🥳 This time we get to go into NSW Parliament House thanks to @kobishettymp.bsky.social for a morning tea together with the Parliamentary Friends of Active Transport bicyclensw.org.au/get-set-to-c...
A photo of a group of people posing for the camera, standing holding their bicycles.
The overlay text reads:
National Ride to Work Day
Wednesday 14th October
Balmain, Rozelle to NSW Parliament House
Joined by special guest Kobi Shetty MP

At the bottom are logos from Bicycle NSW and Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle
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Ben Lever @benleverau.bsky.social · 16h
The green light for the largest coalmine in NSW history is shocking proof that our governance systems are betraying Australians | Georgina Woods theguardian.com/commentisfre…
theguardian.com
The green light for the largest coalmine in NSW history is shocking proof that our governance systems are betraying Australians | Georgina Woods
There is no greater treachery than this failure to face up to the climate crisis. How can we now fend off despair?
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Public Transport Users Association @ptua.org.au · 01/10/2026
Good to see a Senate Committee recommendation of a text message option to contact Triple Zero. Public transport users have been asking for this, as a way of reaching help without having to make a voice call.📱🚨 www.aph.gov.au/Parli...
Senate Environment and Communications References Committee sitting
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Andrew Elder @awelder.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
If it's good enough for Iran,
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
We live in such an incredibly stupid era
Gavin Newsom: I just signed an executive order permanently declaring Artificial Intelligence "Artificial Intelligence" in California.
You're welcome, America.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
EXECUTIVE ORDER N-10-26
WHEREAS California dominates Artificial Intelligence ("Al") innovation. even as no state has taken more aggressive action to strengthen the safety. security, and consumer privacy of Al; and
WHEREAS, while language and choice of terminology can have significance, purporting to change something's name cannot distract a person of normal intelligence from recognizing the impotent and craven failure to take action to address well-documented emerging security and safety risks posed by that thing.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California. in accordance with the authority vested in me by the State Constitution and statutes of the State of California, further informed by common sense, do hereby issue the following Order to become effective immediately:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: All agencies and departments subject to my authority shall refer to Artificial Intelligence and Al as "Artificial Intelligence" and
"Al," notwithstanding any rebranded or different terminology used by the federal government, unless inconsistent with the law.
I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this Order be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this Order.
This Order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits. substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of California, its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other person.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused pe Great Seal of the State of lifornia to be grixed this 30th day September 20
AVIN
Governor
ATTEST:
alifornia
SHIRLEY N. WEBER, PH.D
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
BREAKING: Newsom signed a bunch of clean energy bills! Californians can now install balcony solar. Plus big wins for virtual power plants, reining in utility profits and converting farmland to solar. One loser: community solar. Really stings. Details: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/newsom-cle...
climatecoloredgoggles.com
Breaking: Newsom green-lights balcony solar
The governor finished strong on clean energy — with one big exception.
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 01/10/2026
I went to Geneva a few weeks ago and spoke on a panel about the nature of time for a Geneva Watch Days event. While I was there, on a lark, I entered a competition to most precisely calibrate a Swiss watch. And today I found out that I won! 😃 www.instagram.com/reel/Dd6hUTB...
Me peering through a little magnifier at a tiny watch mechanism connected to some monitoring equipment, while making adjustments with a small screwdriver
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Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Richard Marles’ best mate talking about “shared values”
A photo on 3 Sep of two utter losers.

Marles and Hegseth.
Marles smiling like a complete idiot.
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Kara Schlegl @karaschlegl.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I'm glad to see a resurgence of conversation around the film, in light of the horrors those men perpetrated on a woman at Cornell. I think it's a really valuable rewatch for anyone who felt the film was in "poor taste" or whatever.
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Kara Schlegl @karaschlegl.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
People hated the film Promising Young Woman, I thought it was breathtaking but so many reviews were centred on the sacrificial ending and how they felt it undermined the core message. But to me, the core message was always that men's reputations are in an axiological contest with women's lives.
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casey briggs @caseybriggs.com · 30/09/2026
David Shoebridge won the Greens leadership vote on first preferences, but the party announced the two-candidate-preferred result anyway. Gotta love the commitment to ranked choice voting
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Kate Hagen 🦂 𓋹 🦂 @thathagengrrl.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"Meanwhile, Jane Doe dropped out of Cornell and was denied her request to get her tuition refunded so that she could transfer to a different college. She hence faced more severe consequences than most of the men who she alleges gang-raped her." www.thecut.com/article/what...
thecut.com
What It Feels Like at Cornell Right Now
As a professor at the Ivy League school, Kate Manne has known many, many victims. There’s a palpable feeling on campus, she writes, that this is big.
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marque lawyers @marquelawyers.com.au · 29/09/2026
The Oz piles straight in before Mehreen has even declared, just to remind her what it'll do to her if she dares.
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Erik Noonan @eriknoonan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Bike/pedestrian networks don't take 30 years to build. Stop accepting those timelines in your community. The best practices have been proven & they already exist. Safety should already be the #1 priority. The ROI is unbeatable. The timeline is a moral document and it shouldn't be generational.
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Pat Simons @patsimons.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Inflation is being driven by war, greedy corporations and climate change. But somehow it's regular people that need to pay through job losses, mortgage and rental stress. What looks sensible to the RBA is hubris on a society level www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...
abc.net.au
Live: RBA hikes rates, pointing to Middle East war and AI boom
The RBA delivers its fourth rate hike for 2026, bringing interest rates to the highest level since November 2011. Follow the day's events and insights from our business reporters on the ABC News live ...
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Australian Conservation Foundation @ausconservation.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Be very kind to them. Don't use insecticides. Turn off unnecessary outdoor lights. Pop any moth that comes inside back outside so it can continue its migration. au.news.yahoo.com/aussies-warn...
au.news.yahoo.com
Aussies warned not to make common mistake as thousands of moths swarm
A phenomenon not seen in around 20 years has returned to Sydney.
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yarrabike @yarrabike.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
‼️Melbourne Council has a recommended motion to cut $524k from this financial year’s bike lane budget!!! Pls find five minutes & make a submission by 10am Tue 29 Sept for Item 6.2 Quarterly Performance Report - Council Plan, Finances & Capital Program⬇️ www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/form/council...
melbourne.vic.gov.au
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decryption @decryption.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“The company’s profits had been inflated by a practice of helping outside companies finance purchases of its equipment” - this is about Lucent in the Dotcom boom, remind you of anyone in 2026?
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6 News Australia @6newsau.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
#BREAKING 🚨 Larissa Waters will resign as Greens leader due to ill health, saying she is managing a "pre-existing kidney disease that has declined significantly", although "prognosis for recovery is positive" Waters says she will remain as a Senator for Queensland
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Ben Lever @benleverau.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Off to a good start - misspelled "Drafting" in the contract title
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calizaybak.bsky.social @calizaybak.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Fascists believe women and children are property, resources to be owned, used, exploited and disposed of when the utility end. The idea of their children being people with freedoms simply doesn't occur to them and if you tried explaining it they'd get very confused and angry.
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Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We (rightly) talk a lot about gas, but we should not forget we export a hell of a lot more coal and most of it is for burning for electricity rather than being used to produce steel. And all of it destroys the planet. #NoNewMines
Charts showing annual exports of thermal and coking coal and LNG since  1960-61

In 2024-25:

Thermal coal: 204,847ky
Coking coal: 146,987kt
LNG: 79,128kt
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Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
More gas is used to convert gas to LNG exports than is used by the entire manufacturing industry. We don't need more gas. #NoNewGas #TAXtheGAS
Charts showing gas use/size by PJ:

LNG exports: 4,425PJ
LNG conversion plant use: 437PJ
Manufacturing: 370PJ
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Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Latest energy figures are out for 2024-25 - once again 83% of Australia's gas is exported or used to convert gas to PNG exports. There is no gas shortage. We do not need more gas. We need to #TAXtheGAS
Charts showing in 2024-25 4,862PJ of gas was exported or used in LNG plants, while only 1,016PJ was use by the domestic economy of mining, manufacturing, residential and gas power plants.
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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I’ve been saying this for days www.smh.com.au/business/com...
smh.com.au
‘Obscurity not security’: Government accused of overreach in Medicare ‘hack’ response
Tech experts argue that the Medicare statistics portal’s code was set up to send data to anyone who requested files, including data that wasn’t promoted.
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Amy Westervelt @amywestervelt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
But they're using renewables! a) they're not, they're all quietly pivoting to dedicated natural gas plants, built by their oil buddies, b) renewables should be used to power useful shit c) this makes it so that renewables don't displace fossil fuels, they just add to supply for increasing demand
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Amy Westervelt @amywestervelt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
We gotta start referring to data centers by both their mother and father's last names, Spain style. The Microsoft-Chevron data center, the Meta-ExxonMobil data center, and so forth. Absolutely no reason just the tech bros should be taking the heat on this shit
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Ben Lever @benleverau.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Labor committing to $80m for early works to duplicate the Upfield line - no commitment of funding or timeline for the full project though Also delaying level crossing removals so they can do them at the same time (which does make sense) theage.com.au/politics/vic…
theage.com.au
Level crossings on hold as Labor vows to fix Melbourne’s most unreliable train line
Services on the Upfield line will increase by 50 per cent under the government’s latest election promise, but drivers will continue to face long commute times.
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Ben Lever @benleverau.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The escalators on platforms 13-14 at Southern Cross are finally open!
A bank of 3 escalators at Southern Cross Station, looking quite shiny and new and with white LED running lights. Two are heading up and one is heading down.
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 26/09/2026
I wonder if I maybe don't say this enough: the gas-fired data centre boom is *planned* but not *inevitable*. In fact, the plans are fragile, and this petrotech dream only works if everything lands with perfect timing and poise. stand.earth/insights/wes...
Article header from Stand.earth showing a large headline that Microsoft is quietly backing away from a major West Virginia data‑center project, with the site logo and date above and a cropped photo of a Microsoft building and logo.
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Royce Kurmelovs @roycerk2.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Only quibble here is the headline: the algal bloom was not "mysterious". It was another event exacerbated by climate change driven by burning fossil fuels. Government officials were also aware within the first months that hundreds of thousands of marine animals had been killed in the bloom.
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Public Transport Users Association @ptua.org.au · 24/09/2026
Many cities use colours, names or numbers for their train lines. "Bayside line" would be a lot easier to remember than "Werribee, Laverton, Williamstown and Sandringham line". 🚉🏖️ What do you think? (See baysideline.com)
Bayside Line sticker next to Williamstown Beach Station signBayside Line sticker next to Sandringham Station sign
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weeder @weeder.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
God, grant me the courage to change the things I can and incredible new powers to change the things I can't.
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Dr Sarah Mansfield @green-sarah.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
On the final sitting day of this parliamentary term, we passed a very important bill. It will significantly strengthen Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog, IBAC. This was the result of years of Greens advocacy - and it was Tim Read who led the charge. He would have been proud tonight.
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ABC News Australia @news.abc.net.au · 24/09/2026
IBAC granted 'follow the dollar' powers on final sitting day of Victorian parliament
abc.net.au
Corruption watchdog strengthened on final day of Victorian parliament
Victoria's IBAC will be able to follow financial trails and crack down on "grey corruption" under the new laws.
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Roel Maalderink @roelmaalderink.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Meta wil niet dat je deze video ziet. Ik herhaal: Meta wil níet dat je deze video ziet.
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Katherine Copsey @katcopseygreens.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Labor is cutting investment in cycling infrastructure & failing to deliver Victoria’s Strategic Cycling Corridors. This would be a drop in the ocean of a $1.55b project. Yet again, it seems like the new premier is making foolish cuts to projects out of desperation to cling to power. 🧵
Screenshot from a news item dated 10 September 2026. Headline reads "Major bike route dropped from Freeway project" 
Top decorative image shows a satellite view of the road corridor, with housing estates south of the road and a service station and grassland north of the road.
Bottom shows the freeway corridor highlighted in yellow and labelled "Project corridor" on a grayscale map of the Melton-Caroline Springs area.
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Nilo @nilo.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"According to analysis by the Confederation of Passenger Transport, making London’s buses 10% faster would bring in an extra £70m a year in fares and cut operating costs by £214m."
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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
People saying “the purpose of the system is what it does”: the APS put data on a forward facing public server. Everything after - “meant to be private” or “assumed it was confidential” - is a postscript
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Tim Byrne @tbyrne75.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Interesting genre : Movies where the *titles* have become expressions that have long outlasted the cultural memory of the movie itself.
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Environment Victoria @envirovic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Leaked docs reveal the gas industry is pressuring Victorian MPs behind closed doors & threatening a fact-free scare campaign 😡 Getting off expemsive gas cuts bills. But gas networks want to keep us hooked on expensive, polluting gas to protect their profits 🤑 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
Gas lobby ‘scare campaign’ urges Victoria to scrap ban in new homes, leaked documents show
Exclusive: Australian Gas Infrastructure Group lobbying campaign warns energy bills could increase by $100 unless ban is reversed, despite experts disagreeing
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Reselsnark @reselsnark.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Regardless of the merits of the plan, framing a dollar a year a ‘slug’ to all consumers is just ridiculous. Do better ABC headline writers.
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Knesset barred today the only two Palestinian led parties from running in the coming election. According to an overwhelming majority in the Knesset, the constitutional meaning of a Jewish State is a state where Palestinian citizens cannot run for parliament.
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