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Brent Hodgson

@brenthodgson.bsky.social
5.6K followers 3.2K following 4K posts

“Strike at the roots, not the branches.” At the intersection of people, data and politics. Using data to know them, love them, and work it better. Trouble. But good trouble. “Kooyongkoot”, Wurundjeri Land. (Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.)

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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Lots of indies emerging And yes, PHON will end up finishing in the 2CP in several NAT, LIB, and ALP seats. Some complex counts.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
VERY interesting… Grayndler has been held by Albo since 1996. A month ago, Hannah Ferguson announced she’s contesting it. Today she posts this pic. At this rate, Ferguson’s campaign could VERY easily become the largest (by people) in history. (Larger than when McKew beat Howard in 2007.)
Photo of an event in Grayndler. Big crowd. Looks like a pub. People standing in rows and smiling. Lots of young people in particular. Title says “Mixtape Brewing & Bar”.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
- A workplace that fully funds 108 degree programs from 30 universities for its employees Far more than tits, tassels, and tresses. Someone who believed in people and communities, built durable institutions to support them, and quietly backed MILLIONS of them to succeed. Vale Dolly Parton, 80.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
- Vaccine technology that went from imagination to 19.8 million lives saved across 185 countries - A 40-year economic project built around a theme park - that turned an Appalachian county from near-poorest to one of the top for tourism, with 23,000 jobs, generating $1.8bn/yr for her hometown 2/..
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
- 325 million free books for children over 30 years, reaching 1-in-6 American children under the age of 5 - a program that reaches more 3yo’s in the US than preschool (A program that touches Australia too - reaching places like Kempsey) 1/..
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
I reckon there was a moment in time when the script flipped, and the support networks were turned on… and I reckon someone smarter than me could identify that moment. Perhaps the paper bags were pre-flip.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
A month on from this being published… Have we now witnessed the visible iceberg tip of these shadowy international networks via Hanson’s UK trip?
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
More culture than a tub of yoghurt there Pup.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Would you recommend people… duck in?
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Fuck it. I should vibecode a Chris Uhlmann headline generator.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Will avocado toast be the housing crisis of our time? Will the comment section be the Roman Colosseum of our time? Will being a racist policeman be the American dream of our time? Will ChatGPT be the calculator teachers said we’d never have of our time? Will WFH be the 8hr workday of our time?
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
This headline reads like a Cards Against Humanity prompt: “Will _______ be the ______ of our time?” Fill in the blanks.
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Reposted by Brent Hodgson
Lucy Hamilton @lucyham.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Thanks to @brenthodgson.bsky.social for drawing our attention to the author of the whacky headline at the AFR. (Got to get my library app going again.) This is the IPA drone who was put onto the ABC panel to defend billionaires from @purplepingers.bsky.social Cian worked for Gina. #Auspol
Brent Hodgson & @BrentHodgson
x.com
A break-up note, quietly published in the AFR...
"Sorry, but I've found someone new."
The fact that the IPA is now backing One Nation, and de-legitimising the Liberals, is significant.
The IPA was founded to assist with the establishment of the Liberal Party.
- It had a seat at the table when the party was forming
- It wrote the Menzies' early policy platforms.
- Director CD Kemp (who founded the IPA alongside the Murdochs, Coles, and BHP) left papers from this era that became the official history of the Liberal Party.
- The IPA became an intergenerational power base.
Kemp's two sons were Liberal ex-Ministers.
- The IPA-to-MP pipeline delivered Tim Wilson, John Pesutto, James Paterson and many more.
Now, allies are abandoning ship - not leaping into a void, but abandoning the IPA's historic free-marketWe can debate whether it's driven by a desire to maintain relevance, or capture by Rinehart (who bankrolls both One Nation and the IPA) - but the cause is irrelevant and the outcome is the same.
Once the IPA has legitimised One Nation as
"mainstream" and de-legitimised the Liberals as implicitly fringe, there's no going back.
(In the UK, the same story: The Institute of Economic Affairs, a stalwart Tory ally, helped undermine the Tories and drive Reform.)
The IPA has picked a side, and sorry Liberals: it ain't you.
They've run off with some redhead girl from Ipswich, and are going to spend the next few years stringing you along.
=
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Ray White Rural Victoria
Efficient Apple & Pear Orchard
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Cian Hussey
Researcher
Cian Hussey is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
They make up for it in other ways When we were away, we got a message from the dogsitter about Sundae pawing at her face They popped over, checked her mouth and found a stick lodged between some teeth They’re two of her besties… when they’re not putting a wig on her 😅
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
😅 we left her with friends, and got this photo via text She didn’t like the hair and it was immediately removed and replaced with lots of pats and praise. Nice try though 😅
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
School picture day vibes
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
My Saturday nights are WILD
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Currently preparing a doc on misinformation susceptibility, and evidence based methods of fostering resilience
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Nothing’s better for the garden than a few sacks of shit
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Two great campaigns wrapped up tonight - and results are coming in. Well done to Clare Glade-Wright and the Voices of Tasmania community in Huon (28% primary) And so too to Tracee Hutchison in Nepean (VIC) with Indies for MP (21% primary) (CGW a potential win; TH a likely 2CP)
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
She’s been sensing something is happening and she’s right. We are off for a fortnight and leaving her home with a sitter. Let me know if you spot any issues. I’m nervous leaving her behind
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
She’s still just a baby…
Golden retriever with what Australians would call a dummy
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Is she still your little MB? Or did she enter a cocoon and emerge something different?
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Does napping count? 😅
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
She’s been very good In her Nov 2024 Guardian piece she referred to the laws as “Sneaky, excessive and unjustified: why Labor’s electoral reforms are vulnerable to constitutional challenge”. Reforms should have been underway then – not left until last minute. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Sneaky, excessive and unjustified: why Labor’s electoral reforms are vulnerable to constitutional challenge | Anne Twomey
A political donor will be able to donate up to $640,000 in a year. How is this taking the money out of politics?
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
“[Hopper] confirms that the courts will occasionally police the most blatant forms of self‑dealing [by the major parties]—and boy, you don’t get much more blatant than what the Victorian Government tried here.” tdunlop.substack.com/p/careful-wh...
tdunlop.substack.com
Careful what you fish for
Campaign finance law is still failing to reflect the wishes of an electorate that has moved beyond legacy-party politics
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
*un-fixed (damn you autocarrot!)
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Happy Birthday Rhys! [Fine. One day of trying not to be an asshole. Just for you.]
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
They’re framing this as if it’s an unexpected shock that makes the entire electoral finance regime subject to undue influence - but the fact it was struck down in the first place was because it was problematic, and remained in-fixed since issues were first raised THREE parliamentary terms ago (2018)
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
If a challenge were to be launched against SA laws it would be from a slightly different direction - however the Nominated Entities provision (plus some other issues) would be vulnerable as a result of the precedent the High Court has now set. australiainstitute.org.au/post/south-a...
australiainstitute.org.au
South Australia’s leap into the unknown with political finance changes
July 1 marked a dramatic change in how political parties and candidates are funded in South Australia.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
The Conversation piece linked above outlines the extent of Federal implications. SA laws not currently under any challenge.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Big news! The High Court has struck out the entire web of major-party-entrenching electoral funding laws in Victoria. The move sends Sect 12 of Electoral Act back to parliament for re-drafting – and sets a precedent that informs a 2nd challenge to Fed laws. theconversation.com/high-court-t...
theconversation.com
High Court takes an axe to Victoria’s political donations laws - and it will make federal MPs nervous
The High Court has rendered invalid an entire part of Victoria’s Electoral Act because it favours major parties at the expense of independents and smaller parties.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Graham, Haidt & Nosek (2009) — “Liberals and Conservatives Rely on Different Sets of Moral Foundations,” published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
I mean…
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Hello!!!
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
My best teacher
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Yep. Lots of below average Australians in the corridors of power too. The nature of the major party system doesn’t exactly reward high-flyers.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Not sure they’re called heartstrings if you’re less worried about the unarmed people shot/killed than the man who allegedly shot/killed them
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Zoomies!
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
She very much is - although a pretty chilled one. (Others at the park are a lot more energetic than her.) Marv is gorgeous - but I’m biased. 😂
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Beware of the Dog?
A golden retriever grins innocently in a hardware store behind a “beware of the dog” sign, held at waist height above her.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Speaker from the ETU: “You know who doesn’t give a fuck about the Straight of Hormuz? The sun!”
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Give the Flying Bats a signature to help ensure ALL women who want to play sport keep playing sport - and help protect them from the weirdos and predators who fixate on them www.theflyingbats.com/petition
theflyingbats.com
Sign the Petition- Football Australia: Protect the participation of all women in football. — Flying Bats Football Club
Call on Football Australia to fight discrimination and protect LGBTQIA+ inclusion in football.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Reminds me a lot of Kyneton Women’s Football Club - now the Wedgetails (Go the wedgies) www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
abc.net.au
The 'rarely spoken about' reason many women are leaving footy clubs
The women's team from Kyneton's 15-month public and bitter saga suggests it is the canary in the coal mine of a widespread issue for women's players across the country.
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Sam Lewis from the Flying Bats and their work creating inclusive sport for all women. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Interesting piece by Dom Kelly Short version of my take aways: there’s significant intersectionality between disability, race, wealth disparity, & prisons… Also the fact a single campaign is unsuccessful doesn’t mean there has been a loss: organising creates infrastructure with downstream effects
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Day 2 of #Progress2026
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
media.tenor.com
a man is screaming with the words " unlimited power " behind him
ALT: a man is screaming with the words " unlimited power " behind him
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Victorian? Concession card holder? (Health Care, Pensioners, or Veterans Affairs cards) The VIC Govt scheme that gives $100 for comparing your electricity bill to find cheaper options closes 31 March compare.energy.vic.gov.au Worth getting onto if you’re eligible.
compare.energy.vic.gov.au
Welcome - Victorian Energy Compare
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Brent Hodgson @brenthodgson.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Marginal Area Focus Survey, right?
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