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ESSENTIALS
— In the end it was regime change in Texas, rather than Tehran.
— Australian politicians tell us their lessons from the midterms.
— Albanese approved major change to fix “unconstitutional” grant program that funded Marrickville Golf Club.
DRIVING THE DAY
ALBANESE CURED DEFECT IN MARRICKVILLE GOLF GRANT PROGRAM
Anthony Albanese had to personally intervene to sign off on major changes to a AU$560 million program delivering Labor’s election commitments, including AU$6 million for the Marrickville Golf Club, less than a month after guidelines were first approved.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King approved the original guidelines for the Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program on Aug. 15, 2025, but received advice the next month that the program should be restructured to deliver funding through local, state or territory governments.
Changes after legal concern: Departmental officials told a parliamentary inquiry in October this was done in response to legal advice, a fact confirmed by extensive redactions for legal professional privilege in documents produced under freedom of information to POLITICO. Anne Twomey, a constitutional expert, has said the changes saved the program from being unconstitutional.
New documents released to POLITICO show that on Sept. 9, 2025, the infrastructure department urgently sought King’s approval within 24 hours to restructure the program “subject to receiving authority from the Prime Minister.” No reason is given for requiring Albanese’s sign-off, which he gave on Sept. 12.
Why it matters: The Coalition has pursued Albanese over his honorary membership of the golf club, the fund skewing to Labor electorates, Albanese’s claim it “wasn’t about invite-only” when it was invitation only, and whether the money was for sewerage. You can bet they’ll go after this.
“The Liberals and Nationals will use all the powers of the parliament to hold the prime minister to account, including his myriad positions on explaining questions on the $6 million grant,” Angus Taylor said.
Read Paul Karp’s full story — including the communications between King and Albanese.
MIDTERM MADNESS
THE AGE OF TRUMP STARTS TO FADE
Yes, Democrats have flipped control of Congress, including taking control of the Senate — which they deemed impossible prior to the Iran war. But that isn’t the story: What matters is how and where they did it, and it offers lessons to any Australian politician, strategist or lobbyist.
An array of Democratic candidates finally understood how to talk to individuals about their immediate problems, instead of addressing groups and identities and citing national statistics.
The most successful candidates bucked their party orthodoxy — from Christian pastors such as Sens.-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas and James Talarico of Texas through to left-wing Abdul el-Sayed of Michigan.
These candidates were disciplined in their economic message — and Republican voters blame their own candidates for not focusing on economic issues. The Democrats made full use of an unpopular leader in President Donald Trump and they learned to campaign everywhere — not only in their urban comfort zones. Finally, Democrats took full advantage of AI tools upending campaign economics — and they needed to, because of funding gaps with Republicans.
Candidate quality matters: The Republicans picked some awful cronies, and they got awful results from it. Much of that was down to the dynamic of wanting to please Trump instead of listening to voters. The Australian translation of this is that party members should be on guard against “captain’s picks” for seats — it almost never works out.
TEFLON DON IS GONE — SEEING TRUMP IN A NEW LIGHT
Many American politicians, operatives and lobbyists had until last night bought into what POLITICO’s founding editor John Harris described as “an almost mystical” power of Trump to defy political conventions, but that is now “shattered.”
Some never believed Trump had those powers, but they were afraid to say it because of his willingness to punish those who defied him (especially in his own party) and his ability to get even billionaires and trillionaires to bend their knee to him.
WHEN POLITICO CALLED PRESIDENT TRUMP on Wednesday afternoon Canberra time he sounded flat, defeated and surprisingly willing to compromise. “I don’t want to be just sitting there for two years vetoing everything,” he told Dasha Burns. Listen for yourself at the link above.
LIKE CLOCKWORK: In yesterday’s Playbook, former ambassador to the U.S. Arthur Sinodinos predicted how Trump would react to a blue wave. “He’ll say: “‘I didn’t lose anything. I wasn’t on the ballot.’”
Trump’s first words to Burns? “I wasn’t on the ballot.” Then “and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” he posted on his own social network, Truth Social.
TALARICO — IT’S NOT ABOUT THE DEMOCRATS: The repudiation of Trump is not an embrace of the Democrats, according to the biggest winner of the night, James Talarico.
Instead, it’s a recognition by millions that much is “broken in America” — an economic system that does not serve enough people, and the lack of neighborly and national conversation. Talarico blames billionaires and algorithms for dividing America and “picking our pockets.”
“Tonight we sent a crystal-clear message to the top: We will not be conquered. We are tired of being told to hate each other,” he said.
THERE’S AN AUSTRALIAN FLAVOR ACROSS THE MAP: Key Senate races in Maine and Alaska now use preferential voting (ranked choice, in American parlance), while Australia’s favorite senator, Jon Ossoff, scored an easy win in Georgia, after barely squeaking across the line in 2021.
Next stop: Vegemite-eating president? Ossoff’s win positions him for a presidential run in 2028 or beyond. That could make him the first White House resident to have grown up eating Vegemite. Ossoff’s grandfather is from Footscray, his grandmother is from Brisbane, and his mother grew up in Sydney.
THE 2028 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES WILL START IMMEDIATELY: Democrats won this week, but they’ll now enter a bitter contest for longer-term control of the party.
Ossoff doesn’t need to put his hand up to be part of the conversation. But alongside California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who won the 2026 shadow primary up until now, Rahm Emanuel will enter the ring later this month with a major economic speech, after previewing a possible presidential run to POLITICO overnight. This will be, as POLITICO’s Harris memorably put it, the “told-you-so” primary where factions vie to explain why they were responsible for this week’s successes.
WHILE YOU WEREN’T LOOKING: Trump, America’s most pro-Israel president made an Election Day announcement that Washington would end nearly $4 billion in annual aid to Israel. Let’s see.
LESSONS FOR AUSTRALIANS FROM THE MIDTERMS?
We called around Australia’s political parties to find out what lessons they were taking from the AU$16 billion campaign. We didn’t put any limits on what lessons they might take — and it’s fair to say some lacked imagination.
Who didn’t want to talk: MAGA-critic Liberal MP Andrew Hastie and the party’s election svengali, James Paterson.
Greens Leader David Shoebridge: “These are times to be bold and go hard.” He’s excited by “candidates with a genuinely ambitious vision, who refused to water down their plans and trusted voters with big ideas on housing, health care and wages.”
“Elon Musk just became the biggest political donor in modern U.S. history, pouring $446 million into propping up Trump’s Republicans, and voters said ‘no.’ Candidates who ran on taxing the top 1% and public health care won big, including in places billionaires thought they’d bought.”
Labor-aligned pollster and strategist Kos Samaras: “As the populist right movement gains traction [in Australia], it should not consider that support as banked. It’s rented. This is not a newfound base that they can rely on for years even if they participate in actions that worsen the cost of living.”
One Nation National Director James Ashby: “Incumbency is a curse.”
Trump-loving UAP Sen. Ralph Babet: “The lesson is do what you were elected to do. Mass deportations means: mass deportations. America first means: America first. No wars means: no wars. Improve the cost of living means: improve the cost of living. Build the wall means: build the wall. Release the Epstein files means: release the Epstein files.”
BY THE NUMBERS
DECODING NEW ABS STATS ON AI
Bear with us on this one — and check our homework here. The ABS is asking some important new questions on how AI is affecting job vacancies, but Sean Crick, ABS head of labor statistics, didn’t appear to draw any of the important conclusions from them. Crick thinks these numbers show that “AI has had a limited impact on job vacancies” — Playbook hears loud alarm bells, reminiscent of the ceaseless ear-cracking division bells in Parliament House.
82%: The number of businesses saying AI isn’t impacting their vacancies, leaving 18% potentially affected. Information, media and telecoms are the most impacted industry.
4%: The number of businesses reporting an AI-related reduction in job vacancies, compared to 1% reporting an increase.
We’re confused about the 13% unaccounted for in the report.
10%: The number of electricity, gas, water and waste services that need more workers because of AI (hello, data centers).
“About two-thirds of businesses said that they did not expect AI to impact their job vacancies over the next 12 months,” Crick said. In other words, nearly double the number of businesses as today think AI will hit their hiring plans over the next year.
$235 million: The amount five people arrested yesterday by the AFP allegedly rorted from federal agencies, including the NDIS.
100: The number of police involved in the operation (Read the full story from the ABC here.)
STATE OF THE NATION
REDDIT KIDS — NOT QUITE CHILD’S PLAY
Hearings for Reddit and the Digital Freedom Project’s challenge against Australia’s under-16 social media account restrictions have concluded, with the High Court’s decision likely not due now until 2027.
Day two focused mainly on a hypothetical raised by the Commonwealth, which claimed that Reddit could sidestep the restrictions by setting up a separate Reddit Kids version without the harmful features.
The argument was disputed by Reddit, whose counsel Perry Herzfeld whispered “that’s wrong” to the Commonwealth’s Stephen Lloyd, prompting a refinement that it would have to be a separate platform entirely, rather than just kids accounts that lacked features like an algorithmic feed.
States parade: Herzfeld had to wait all day for his turn to reply, though, because all eight states and territories had intervened to save the under-16 account ban. This was mainly dull second-speaker material (in debater parlance), although there was a fascinating exchange with Western Australia’s solicitor general Jean Shaw about alternative ways for kids to get their message out.
Just as a few justices were showing sympathy to kids — Justice Robert Beech-Jones suggesting Leo Puglisi needed social media and Justice Michelle Gordon describing it as a “very effective” tool — Shaw parried with all the other forms of communication: podcasts, a website, and email subscriptions. Don’t forget to forward this email (Playbook) to your friends.
After two intervenors, Herzfeld snippily noted each was supposed to only have 10 minutes and the hearing was at risk of not finishing. Zelie Heger, for NSW, was collegiate and relied on written submissions. Herzfeld made up some ground late, by arguing Reddit Kids would have to be so separate that kids couldn’t join an Ask Me Anything with a politician. He said the social media ban actually prevents more sensible measures like child-friendly accounts (on the main platforms).
It still feels like the Commonwealth will win, because justices agreed with its submissions on harms, the precautionary principle, and nobody seemed that sad about kids not being able to post.
Read Paul Karp’s full story on the hearing.
PARTY ROOM
HOW WOULD THE CROSSBENCH HELP CHALMERS CUT SPENDING?
Albanese has hinted at “hard decisions” — code for spending cuts — after Tuesday’s RBA rate hike. That requires help from the Senate, which is often happy to wave through generous outlays, but rarely speaks about savings. We decided to put them on the spot. So, what would the crossbench cut?
Playbook reached out to crossbenchers, and trawled through the parties’ platforms, to help answer that for you.
The Greens: Canceling AUKUS, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, reducing private consultancy contracts by 15% over five years.
(We’ll have more from David Shoebridge on the Canberra Playbook Podcast on Friday).
One Nation: Abolishing the Department of Climate, National Indigenous Australians Agency, Therapeutic Goods Administration, withdrawing from the UN and World Health Organization, cutting foreign aid.
Independent Sen. David Pocock: Cutting fuel tax credits for miners and the $1.5 billion for the Middle Arm gas precinct.
Independent Sen. Fatima Payman: Cutting fuel tax credits and departmental secretaries’ wages to under the PM’s wage. “It feels like a spit in the face to the real public sector workers, the people that actually keep the place running,” she told Playbook.
Independent Sen. Jacqui Lambie: Didn’t have time to get back to us because she’s focused on other things.
What do they all want: A 25% gas export tax. (Except One Nation.)
LIBERALS — ANGUS TAYLOR, STREET INFLUENCER: The Opposition leader is spending the break between sitting weeks doing what every young journalist dreaded: accosting random strangers with a microphone. Watch the video, including a punter blasting the “communist fucking government,” here.
GREENS: A 40-year-old woman has been charged with stalking and attempting to extort Sen. Jordon Steele-John, who’s on leave amid allegations of inappropriate behavior toward women. Sarah Basford Canales had the scoop for The Guardian.
CANBERRA MEETS WORLD
‘THE WORST, RISKIEST AND MOST COSTLY DEFENSE DECISION’: AUKUS, according to a public inquiry organized by former Australian Labor MP Peter Garrett and former defense chief Chris Barrie.
The inquiry report recommended the Australian government back out of its agreement to acquire highly enriched uranium nuclear-power submarines and consider options to extend the life of its Collins-class submarines.
The inquiry styled itself as an opportunity to host public debate on the Australia, U.K. and U.S. trilateral partnership but failed to attract input from any current federal government politicians. Garrett said the organizers felt the government had instead “chosen to give us the finger.” Miriam Webber has the full story.
THE REAL WINNER FROM CHOGM IS TWIGGY: The best strategist around CHOGM has been Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest. As other observers — Playbook included — have downplayed the significance of this week’s summit, the billionaire miner and philanthropist has been all-in. And the result is that he’s had 50 national leaders and King Charles to himself this week.
The events included the Commonwealth Nature Initiative event aboard Fortescue’s Green Pioneer vessel, but the groundwork started back in October in Perth, when Twiggy hosted Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
King Charles III told the summit that transatlantic slavery was a “shameful chapter of history” that “fills my heart with horror” — but stopped short of a formal apology.
Hand-painted chocolates: Read the menu for the CHOGM royal dinner here.
What tropical paradise? Dressed more for a funeral than for happy hour, Albo made sure to pick a grim setting for yesterday’s press conference — to remind everyone he’s not having too much fun overseas (and avoid more headlines like this, which Playbook thinks are unfair.)
Anthony Albanese at CHOGM press conference.
(Pic from the ABC’s Matt Roberts.)
EX FILES: The U.K.’s shortest-serving PM Liz Truss has weighed in on Albanese pushing Andy Burnham to drop a clause in the Australia free trade deal, allowing British backpackers to avoid regional and rural work.
“This was a major achievement of our trade deal with Australia and hard fought!” Truss, who was U.K. international trade secretary when the FTA was signed, said on social media. “Is there nothing [Andy Burnham] won’t betray or surrender?”
Reality check: Burnham hasn’t agreed to anything.
Lack of Truss: “Liz Truss isn’t the prime minister, and wasn’t the prime minister for a very long period of time,” Albanese said.
Truss math: If an Australian PM would like a British backpacker to work 365 days in the outback, how many Truss premierships is that? *
INTERNATIONAL PARLIAMENTARY ALLIANCE ON CHINA IS MEETING IN THE HAGUE. This is the organization that the late Sen. Kimberley Kitching was involved in, most recently spotted auditing the U.K.-China relationship. Australia is represented this week by Deb O’Neill (Labor) and Leon Rebello (Liberal).
*Answer: It’s 8 Truss premierships.
EMBASSY ROW
PLAYBOOK FEEDBACK
CHOGM MATTERS …
“It’s the only forum focused on promoting democracy and we need more of that right now … “ That’s how one shy Aussies customer described it to us, in an impromptu CHOGM TED talk, Wednesday.
University of Melbourne’s Derek McDougall fears we missed the point of CHOGM in our coverage, saying: “The Commonwealth connection provides helpful entrée with various powers that are significant for Australia’s economic and security concerns, such as the U.K., New Zealand, Canada and India, not to mention the Pacific island countries … by engaging with issues that are major concerns for the Global South.”
AGENDA ASSISTANT
Feminist Answers Cocktail Evening, Nov. 18, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.: If you’d like to join this Parliament House event, hosted by the National Foundation for Australian Women, featuring Sen. Katy Gallagher, Minister for Women, and Terese Edwards, CEO, Single Mother Families Australia. RSVP here.
COMMUNITY CORNER
MOVES AND APPOINTMENTS
Anthropic is looking for a Community Engagement Manager for Australian data centers. Given the backlash to data centers at a local planning level, we assume the successful applicant will be busy.
BIRTHDAYS
Today’s birthday twins: Foreign Minister Penny Wong and antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal.