The Battle Over Civil Society

Chris Minns’ chief of staff in constitutional showdown with parliament over 120-year-old law

James Cullen, who was summonsed to appear before Rosehill inquiry, says 1901 law that enables parliament to compel witnesses is unconstitutional

Trump administration hands over Medicaid recipients’ personal data, including addresses, to ICE

AP – “Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will be given access to the personal data of the nation’s 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities, to track down immigrants who may not be living legally in the United States, according to an agreement obtained by The Associated Press

A man in glasses and a suit frowns Lukas Coch/AAP Australia’s anti-corruption commissioner has a trust problem. He needs to change course to fix it

OpenAI signs first ever Australian government contract

No, Trump Can’t Deploy Troops to Wherever He Wants

The New York Times Gift Article, Stephen I. Vladeck, a professor of law at Georgetown: “President Trump’s escalating efforts to deploy armed troops onto the streets of several American cities run by Democratic officials are raising a question courts have been all but completely able to avoid since the Constitution was drafted: Can presidents unleash the armed forces on their own people based on facts that they contrive?

The Battle Over Civil Society Dissent

Gig Drivers Win the Right to Unionize in California New York Times 

The number of countries issuing travel warnings about the U.S. is growing Boing Boing

Austrailia sic

While the continent down under told its people that travel's fine to travel to the 'States. However, they warn that anyone popping by America for more than 30 days (a pretty common occurance for Austrailians as traveling up here costs so much and takes so long) need to do what ever paperwork U.S.

The Moral Stupefaction of the American PublicBoston Review

Pentagon plans widespread random polygraphs, NDAs to stanch leaks WaPo

Nuno Matos’ McKinsey pick is a sign of what’s coming at ANZ next week

Ex-KPMG auditor fined for third time in four years for ‘serious breaches’

PwC partners approve its ‘Luke Sayers amendments’

The consulting giant’s generous pension 

scheme will be toughened up and its 

CEO selection process broadened.

Hannah WoottonColumnist

Oct 9, 2025

Almost three years after the PwC tax leaks scandal story broke (and more than a decade since the misconduct), and the firm’s partners have finally signed off on changes so it doesn’t happen again. Or, if it does, to increase the threat of pain for those involved.

They’ve voted to change the partnership agreement that had previously all-but-guaranteed partners get their generous retirement payments after leaving the firm. Now if they’re found to have been involved in wrongdoing that drags PwC’s reputation and bottom line into the gutter (and not just that related to the tax leaks either, but rather any serious misconduct), they can have their pension terminated.

Former PwC partners can now be cut off from the firm’s coffers if they bring it into serious disrepute. 

As one former PwC partner said to us, the changes approved this week could be called “The Luke SayersAmendments”. Or in footy speak, its own “no dickheads policy” – even if it was coach Paul Roos at the Sydney Swans who instituted that particular rule, rather than Sayers’ beloved Carlton.

Under the “post-termination payments” scheme, former partners get annual income out of PwC’s continuing profits, scaled on seniority and tenure. It’s not chump change either: payments previously averaged $140,000 annually, but some reached $1 million.

Current partners grumble about the program because it means they have to share profits with those long gone. It also means some of those allegedly involved in the tax leaks saga are still getting paid by the firm.

Not to mention conflict of interest concerns as many former partners take on positions at current or potential clients of PwC (though there are separate arrangements to mitigate this for those on the boards of audit clients).

Deloitte, EY and KPMG all ended their equivalent retirement payment program decades ago. PwC isn’t going that far. But it’s at least doing away with the incontrovertible nature of ex-partners’ rights to the scheme.

Details of what that specifically looks like will be released next Monday. But it will essentially mean any ex-partners found to have engaged in “serious misconduct” can have their payments cut in the same way their pay or role may have been while working there.

Wider pool of CEO candidates

Most importantly: it’s retrospective. PwC confirmed in 2023 it was no longer making payments to at least three of the ex-partners most involved in the tax leaks scandal: Peter Collins, Neil Fuller and Michael Bersten.

But, it could cover others implicated in the fallout by their role in management, such as former CEOs like Sayers and his successor Tom Seymour. On Sayers’ part, at least, he’s always resolutely denied any knowledge of or involvement in the scandal, despite running the firm at the time. Seymour has also denied any wrongdoing.

The changes will also mean PwC’s governance board will be allowed “to consider a wider pool of potential candidates” for the CEO job.

Currently, partners vote on candidates shortlisted by the governance board. There have been concerns this has been driven more by popularity or who promises the greatest profits (a core part of Seymour’s pitch in 2020).

Partners who were around in Sayers’ time (2012 to 2020) also privately believe the changes are meant to prevent another appointment process like his. He was voted in as CEO as the sole nominee remaining at the time of the ballot, after a presidential-like campaign partly focused on remediating past concerns about his judgment.

We hear more than 90 per cent of partners signed off on the changes, far surpassing the two-thirds needed for it to pass. A PwC spokeswoman said they reflect its “strategy of being a well-managed firm, with robust governance and responsible business practices”.

Although basic maths suggests there may be more than aspirational good governance that was driving partners’ votes. There are now more ex-partners getting paid on the retirement scheme than those working for PwC. Many of those current partners are also getting paid less than their predecessors thanks to a lower revenue caused by the scandal.

It doesn’t take a professional bean counter to know the fewer ex-partners claiming that pension, the more money is left for those doing the work.

The country’s most expert opinion and analysis. Sign up to our weekly Opinion newsletter.

Hannah Wootton is a Rear Window columnist, based in Melbourne. Connect with Hannah on Twitter. Email Hannah at hannah.wootton@afr.com

New MI6 Chief’s Dark History Revealed

 I’m the Foreign Minister of Poland. This Is How to Negotiate With Putin.

New MI6 Chief’s Dark History Revealed Simplicius. You heard this here from our Colonel Smithers first!

The UK Needs to Break Out of Its Debt Doom Loop Bloomberg. Editorial

Trump administration knocks out at least 15 oversight websites, saying IGs ‘lied to the public’

NextGov/FCW – “At least 15 government oversight websites were down — and with them, access to watchdog reports and required hotline and whistleblower links — as of Wednesday evening.

Estimating - Trump’s Imminent War(s) and Economic Damage as His Legitimacy Crumbles

Here’s a list of questions for Senate estimates that will probably, definitely, not be asked

We’ve compiled a short list of the questions that could be asked at estimates, but probably won’t be.

It’s Senate estimates time, which means it is time to look at government expenditure and really hold those bastards to account!

Lol.

Senate committees have existed in some form since Federation, but Senate estimates hearings, as we know them, are only as old as the Beatles’ Let It Be.

The committee system is designed to examine all areas of government expenditure and decision making, but like all things political, it has been largely reduced to a forum to carry out political point scoring and games of “protect the minister” — also known as “it’s insulting you would even ask that, senator”.

It’s one of the rare times where senators can question senior public servants, who spend weeks being prepped and prepared by their departments on how to not answer questions, and what inflection to use on “I’ll have to take that on notice.”

Will the government intervene to fix the significant governance issues at the Australian National University, after it was revealed ANU made a $90 million profit last year, while claiming it made a $142 million loss, seemingly to justify controversial staff and course cuts?

Santos Ltd has not paid company tax for 10 years from 2013-14 to 2023-24 despite a total income of $46.7 billion over that time and announcing that it made an underlying profit of US$1.2 billion in 2024 and US$1.423 billion in 2023. Why are we still OK with this?

Senate estimates Live at 6 pmish : Tune in this week

Slowly, then all at once; Australia’s looming economic disaster Spectator

 

Record numbers of Kiwis moving overseas amidst cost of living crisis, rising unemploymentNew.com.au

‘Bow to the Emperor’: We Asked 50 Legal Experts About the Trump Presidency

Stephen Miller has said Donald Trump has plenary authority but what does that actually mean?

 Trump’s big, costly, coercive trade deals falling apart in Asia Asia Times

Head of Eisenhower library resigns after refusing Trump directive

CBS News: “The head of a presidential library resigned this week after a tug-of-war with the Trump administration over gift selection and a sword for King Charles III, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

TrumpRx Could Let Government Steal All Your Data, Legal Expert Warns

TNR: “President Donald Trump’s new scheme to transform the federal government into a pharmacy is already raising red flags for legal and health experts. Earlier this week, Trump announced the launch of TrumpRx, a strangely socialist-sounding service where consumers can procure cheap prescription drugs from the U.S. government—just days before Trump’s 100 percent tariff on pharmaceutical products is set to cause prices to skyrocket. 

Pfizer has agreed to provide prescription medicine through the purchasing platform at a “significant discount” of on average close to 50 percent, according to a press release from the company. But not everyone is convinced.

 Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University, told Mandatory that TrumpRx was “more of a gimmick” to make drug companies happy. In reality, the site is likely “not going to help the average person” who purchases medications through their insurance. 

Even with the discounts, prescriptions could still cost thousands of dollars, likely much higher than a typical insurance co-pay. The White House did not clarify how exactly prices would be determined, and Pfizer’s press release noted that the “specific terms of the agreement remain confidential.”

Trump’s Imminent War(s) and Economic Damage as His Legitimacy Crumbles

Trump may be launching not just one but two wars right after he and Hegseth proudly exhibited their nakedness before the military top brass.

FCC Considers Lifting Ban on ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC Network Mergers and Relaxing Media Ownership Rules Cord Cutters

Inside Pfizer’s Drug-Pricing Deal With the Trump Administration WSJ

 

China and Brazil are bankrupting American cotton farmers. Bailouts coming. Kevin Walmsley

Trump making plans to send billions in cash bailouts to farmers with taxpayer money Politico

 

Trump causes bipartisan alarm by turning shutdown into DOGE 2.0 Semafor

 

Trump administration cuts nearly $8B in clean energy projects in states that backed Harris AP

 

TRUMP DECLARES HE CAN WAGE SECRET WARS AGAINST ANYONE HE CALLS AN ENEMYNick Turse, The Intercept

Investors could face a bonfire night surprise on Trump tariffs Gillian Tett, Financial Times. Important. See risk of capital controls. However, Trump so far is complying with the limits of his other trade authorities in implementing or threatening to (Section 232)

 

Wall Street wins big, making high-interest rate loans to cover Trump tariffs Kevin Walmsley

 

US farmers hit by trade war to get ‘substantial’ aid: Treasury chief France24

 

Home Builders, and Homeowners, Brace for Impact of Kitchen Tariffs New York Times 

 

Major combine manufacturer moves production from U.S. to Europe amid trade uncertaintyYouTube

Government shutdown could cost US economy billions of dollars a week, analysts say Guardian

YOU ARE INVITED TO THE MAGA BALLROOM 2028

interestingengineering.com:

Australia’s new robot 3D prints a home overnight; could build lunar bases one day

Its purpose is to deliver low-cost, low-carbon housing capabilities here on Earth.

 YOU ARE INVITED TO THE MAGA BALLROOM 2028

If You Care About COVID, You Should Care About Tylenol Long Covid, MD

Sora 2 Is Creating Ads for “Epstein Island” Children’s Toys Futurism

 

The 100 GW Mirage Warwick Powell

 

OpenAI’s Stargate project to consume up to 40% of global DRAM output — inks deal with Samsung and SK hynix to the tune of up to 900,000 wafers per month Tom’s Hardware

 

Wikimedia Is Making Its Data AI-FriendlyGizmodo

 

The Wall Street Firms That Kept Ties With Jeffrey Epstein Until the End

Follow up to Oversight Democrats Release Third Batch of Documents from Jeffrey Epstein Estate see The Daily Beast: “From TD Bank to Honeycomb Partners, several hedge funds and banks were linked to the wealthy sex offender – 

Fresh documents from the estate of late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein reveal how the convicted sex trafficker carried on doing business with high-powered Wall Street firms and banks until well after his crimes came to light. The Epstein estate has reportedly handed a list of more than 20 banks—including behemoths like Wells Fargo, TD Bank, and FirstBank Puerto Rico—to Congress. 

The House Oversight Committee now expects to subpoena those lenders as part of their wider review of the case, JPMorgan Chase told the newspaper it didn’t close the pedophile’s accounts until 2013, roughly eight years after he was first accused of sexually abusing minors. 

Trump’s ICE Has Started Targeting Activists, Not Just Immigrants

‘Kill team’ caught, arrested before carrying out hit near Sydney daycare centre: cops Three men arrested after a major police operation in Sydney were allegedly on their way to kill another man near a daycare centre, police say.

Former Soviet media executive among Russia’s suspicious suicides The long time head of the Soviet newspaper Pravda has been found dead in Moscow, heightening concerns over a pattern of similar deaths

Another death by window. Putin is cutting corners, poison is costly, windows are free.

Poison leaves a trail, defenestration not so much

Publisher of famous Soviet newspaper Pravda falls to his death from a seventh-floor window

Star witness in ex-MP’s trial ‘Can’t recall anything about anything’

The Crown’s star witness, who was given an indemnity against prosecution in return for giving evidence against his former boss, ex-NSW minister Tony Kelly, has told a District Court jury that due to health issues, “I can’t remember anything about anything.”

Power Is the Order of the Day, and Other Beds Trump Has Made

Trump Publishes Enemies List To White House Website

TechDirt: “…Here’s how the administration leads into its hit list of Democratic politicians(emphasis in the original): The carnage in Dallas, Texas — where a maniac with “ANTI-ICE” ammo gunned down an ICE field office in an attack clearly targeted at ICE personnel — lays bare the deadly consequences of Democrats’ unhinged crusade against our border enforcement.

 Democrats have spent years vilifying ICE as “fascists,” “the Gestapo,” and “slave patrols,” inciting a 1,000% surge in assaults on agents and a wave of Radical Left terror. Their words aren’t just reckless — they’re a battle cry for violence. Never mind the fact that the gunman managed to kill/injure more immigrants than ICE officers — something that might suggest immigrants were the real target, no matter what investigators claimed to have found scrawled on some unused bullets. 

And never mind the fact that Trump loves fascism if he gets to be the guy doing it, and would definitely love to have a Gestapo of his own to enforce his will. The concepts embodied by this version of ICE are all of things they’re being described as, which Trump now claims (using a particularly meaningless statistic) will result in violence against… well, encroaching fascism and Gestapo-esque tactics? 

If you want to read the full list of official White House enemies, go ahead and click through. But it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, even as recently as last week when the DHS did the same thing because people weren’t being deferential enough to the thuggery that makes up ICE’s daily activities…”

Mathew D. Rose – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the German Economy Brave New Europe

 

Munich drone sightings force airport to cancel flights in latest Europe disruption The Guardian

 

Europe’s air safety at risk amid cost-cutting and staff pressures, study warns The Guardian

 

France braces for renewed strikes amid mounting pressure on premier Anadolu Agency

 

Babiš leads before Czech vote but smaller parties hold keys to government Euractiv

 

Euro-Cabal’s Thirst for Conflict Grows into Insatiable Lust Simplicius

Ex-USAID chief praises Trump for India tariffs in call with Russian pranksters RT

Trump’s ICE Has Started Targeting Activists, Not Just Immigrants Truthout

DHS Plans More State-Run Extrajudicial Black Sites Like “Alligator Alcatraz” Truthout

Iowans protest following kidnapping of Des Moines superintendent by immigration GestapoMR Online

ICE officers to attend Super Bowl after Bad Bunny announcement, says Lewandowski