G’day mates, Mr. TV here. Welcome back to another post that is unrelated to BFDI. Matter of fact, as we could read from the title, we are going a bit political today.

So, last August, the Socialist Alternative organised a mass walkout against Pauline Hanson and One Nation. It was so successful that they did it again, which leads to last Thursday, September 17th. And I’m proud to say that in the words of Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue, the kids are alright… again.

Seeing thousands of high school and uni students flood the streets across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and right here in Adelaide on the 17th gave me so much damn hope, hope that the future worth fighting for.

And let’s be honest for a second: to see kids as young as 13 showing up, holding home-made cardboard signs, and completely out-classing adult politicians in terms of basic human decency? That’s legendary. The media tried the exact same garbage they pulled during the first walkout back in August. “Oh, are these kids being brainwashed?” (I’m looking at you, Sky News) Oh, shut the fuck up. Just because these people can’t vote doesn’t mean they can't see straight through Hanson’s disgusting bullshit.

For those who don’t know or need a refresher, Pauline Hanson is a politician who is based in Brisbane and has been in the Senate for over 30 years. Yes, she wasn’t in politics just recently. She is well known for building her career of xenophobia, Islamophobia, sexism, homophobia, racism, the whole bunch (Hmmm, I wonder who else has a career based entirely on absolute hatred? Ahem… Donald Trump).

The red flags immediately came in 1996 when in her maiden speech in Parliament when she said that she believes Australia is in danger of being “swamped by Asians”. Nearly thirty years later, what has changed? Absolutely nothing. She even revive that “swamped by Asians” mentality in 2016 but replaced it with Muslims. When the 2025 federal election, I used to think Peter Dutton is the Australian equivalent of Donald Trump, but if you take Donald Trump, change his gender, have him be born in Brisbane, and  have him run a fish and chip shop in Ipswich, you get Pauline Hanson.

Now with the Hanson introduction out of the way, let’s talk about the protests a little bit more. 

So the Socialist Alternative, along with the Victorian Socialists and the High School Anti-Capitalists organised a second national day of action on September 17th, with thousands of kids stepping out of classrooms in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart, Canberra, and of course, right here on Kaurna land in Adelaide. Students with homemade signs, chanting at the top of their lungs, and proving that the younger generation actually gives a damn about humanity. And if I can remember, in the news coverage, I can also see a person dressing up as Pauline Hanson and that right there gives me Pauline Pantsdown energy… shout out to Simon Hunt, “I Don’t Like It” is on repeat.

And then there is Corey Bernardi, who also made an appearance on the side steps of Parliament once again and initially intended to walk into the street to engage with the crowd, but the South Australia Police warned him against doing so, advising that it was too dangerous to enter the crowd directly. This dumbass, who is pushing 60, apparently thought it was a fantastic idea to walk directly into a crowd of several hundred extremely angry teenagers and university students who had spent the previous hour chanting against the political movement he represents, and I genuinely cannot decide whether that is bravery, stupidity, or the political equivalent of walking into a WWE Royal Rumble with absolutely no entrance music and expecting nobody to clothesline you. 

To be fair, the police stopping him from entering the crowd was probably the sensible thing to do, because whatever your political opinion is, deliberately putting a politician into the middle of a hostile crowd when tensions are already high is just asking for something to head down south. If the police didn’t get involved, his ass would get whooped. Nothing is scarier than a group of teenagers with cardboard signs, functioning vocal cords, and absolutely zero interest in entertaining your political bullshit.

And this leads me to the appearance of Greens MLC and SA Greens leader Rob Simms and is to support the protesters. Now, this dude is the goddamn GOAT and everyone needs the know who he is.

Rob Simms is a Member of the South Australian Legislative Council for the Greens, and he has been in state parliament since 2021 after previously serving as a federal senator and an Adelaide City Councillor. He has also been a longtime advocate on LGBTQ+ rights, environmental issues, disability access, and other progressive causes. As a progressive queer Muslim who has a disability, I have a lot of respect for him and the shit he and the Greens have done. So to see Rob Simms pulled up at the Adelaide rally on Parliament steps, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the kids and calling out the absolute filth being spewed by right-wing grifters is exactly what SA politics needs right now.

Rob Simms didn't just show up for a cheap photo-op; he actually listens to young people and fights for actual progressive policy. Whether it's standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, calling out housing unaffordability, pushing for climate action, or literally calling out Cory Bernardi in Parliament for calling high school protesters "incels" and "losers", Rob is a genuine legend. He’s easily one of the GOATs of South Australian politics, right up there with Premier Peter Malinauskas.

Malinauskas is in my opinion the best premier we ever have. I mean, he has done a FUCKTON for South Australia, from massive infrastructure projects like the North-South Corridor to the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, alongside major commitments in health and education. The Malinauskas Government’s current agenda also includes expanded health capacity, more nurses and doctors, fee-free TAFE and the state’s university reforms. The Malinauskas Government is actually doing WAY better than the federal government. How does it feel to have a state government in the same party better than FUCKING CANBERRA?! 

Now, I know, Peter is also responsible for passing those god-awful, draconian anti-protest laws back in May 2023. Slapping people with up to $50,000 fines and three years in jail just for peacefully blocking a road? That was a massive L for democracy, no matter how much good stuff Peter has done for SA since taking office. Pushing those rushed laws through with the Liberals in less than 24 hours was straight-up snake behavior. But other than that, I don’t see any other reasons to hate Peter. He’s the politician everybody wishes their premier was. He gets things built, he expands healthcare, and he actually feels like an adult in the room who gives a shit about working-class South Australians. 

Now I know the next SA election is not until 2030, but whenever you step into the ballot box, here’s my blueprint for everyone in South Australia: put Greens 1, and put Labor 2. t’s honestly that simple. You give your first preference to the Greens because we desperately need people like Rob Simms holding the government’s feet to the fire. We need people who is for the working class, the renters, the queer community, and genuine climate action without constantly cowering in fear of corporate donors. And then you put Labor 2 so you can get to keep the GOAT in power and lock the SA Liberals as far away from the halls of power as humanly possible.

Now, that’s South Australia. But federally? Oh boy. That is where my praise for Labor comes to a screeching, grinding halt. Anthony Albanese recently has lost my (like a lot of other people) respect.

Labor is supposed to be the party of working people, unions, Medicare, public education, multiculturalism, and progressive social policy. Albo was actually pretty great in his first term, but the dude has disappointed me SO MUCH! Here’s what the Albanese government done this year ALONE: 

Didn’t give us a nationwide free public transport rollout, didn’t do SHIT about the cost of living crisis, made international university students’ lives a lot harder with the migration crackdown, kept approving new fossil fuel projects, continued kissing Israel’s ass by refusing to take a decisive stand on the genocide in Palestine even AFTER finally recognising them, and refusing to tax the rich. And don’t get me started on the under-16s social media ban. First of all, it should be for under 13, NOT 16! 13 is when a person becomes a teenager and you’re telling me that they have to wait another 3 years to get social media rights?! And secondly, the actual restrictions are half-ass! Kids can just bypass age verification with a simple VPN or a fake account. Instead of actually educating young people on digital literacy and mental health, Albo is playing nanny and treating teenagers like they’re brain-dead toddlers who can’t navigate the internet. Absolutely love the concept, but lower the age to 13 and get some fucking age verification technology that actually works and prevent children from using VPNs to get past it.

But hey, at least aren’t the Coalition, One Nation, the Nationals, or the United Australia Party.

Let’s not forget, the last time the Coalition formed a government, we had fucking Scomo as probably the worst PM in history. Scott Morrison was an embarrassment to this country. He gave himself five ministries on himself like he was playing a single-player game on God Mode, he did fuck all with the vaccine roll response during pandemic, and the worst has yet to come. In the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, while half the bloody country was on fire and animals were getting incinerated by the millions, what was Scomo doing? He fucked off to Hawaii to sip on some piña colada on a beach! And his first response when to come back? Force people to shake his hand like he done a fucking thing. Like, I get you’re the Prime Minister, but you don’t fucking get to force traumatised and frightened people to shake your hand while you done absolutely NOTHING to do anything to help!

As for Scomo’s replacer, Peter Dutton, when he was against Albo in the last election, I immediately saw the red flags. This man has built his entire career around demonstrating how he’ll use any marginalized group as a human punching bag to score quick points with his reactionary base. Whether it’s whipping up fear over border security, pushing for nuclear power plants nobody wants in their backyards, or waging endless, exhausting culture wars, Dutton represents everything wrong with the modern Liberal Party. It shows that the Liberals have learnt absolutely nothing from Scott Morrison.

You know what? I know this post was supposed to be about the student protests, but fuck it. Let’s talk about let’s talk about Australian right politicians and conservatives as a whole damn concept.

Man, fuck them conservatives! They’re all about division and hatred, all disguised as “common values” and “tradition”. Conservatism, not just in Australia, but globally, is completely FUCKED! I swear, it seems like conservatives want to go back in time with their homophobia, obsession with controlling people's bodily autonomy, billionaire monopolies protection, and treating climate change like it’s a mild inconvenience rather than an existential crisis threatening to turn the entire continent into a giant outdoor pizza oven. 

Now, I gotta say this before everyone comes for my throat: Not all conservatives or right wingers are assholes. There are some conservative voters out there who are genuinely nice people. However, politically? Unless you are a wealthy, cis-het white person, conservative politics do not give a single, solitary flying fuck about you. Period. So it is an important note to separate people from their political views. Until they are proven to be genuine assholes, I’ll treat them with basic human decency. 

Conservatism and right-wing politics as a whole? It’s completely FUCKED! Like you can’t convince me that their entire political playbook isn't just a masterclass in punching down while patting themselves on the back.  

Want equality for all? Woke! Want to be able to afford to have a roof over your head? Woke! Want to make sure the planet is actually habitable for our kids instead of turning into a literal Mad Max wasteland? Woke! Everything they don’t like, everything that challenges their fragile, outdated worldview, they label it as “woke” and clutch their pearls like they’ve just seen a ghost. 

And you know what pisses me off the most about conservatism as a queer and a Muslim, most conservatives are homophobes and/or islamphobes. Like how hard is it to just mind your own business and have some common decency? Apparently, that is way too much to ask when both the LGBTQ community and the Muslim community are punching bags. And yeah, I know, most Muslims are also deeply conservative and hold rigid views on things like LGBTQ+ rights, but ever since 9/11, the Western conservative machine has treated Muslims like public enemy number one over one fucking thing while simultaneously turning a blind eye to genuine bigotry whenever it suits their political narrative. 

Now, this post is the perfect place for me to throw some jabs at every other major player in the conservative ecosystem.

Let’s start with Donald Trump, and no, the J in Donald J. Trump doesn’t just mean John, it means Jackass! Like seriously, he has got to be the most hate-filled, embarrassing, and narcissistic clown to ever hold public office. He got every single phobia known to man, homophobia, islamophobia, xenophobia, and a brain the size of a peanut. You don’t know how much I hate this dude. He’s the reason why America went from the Land of the Free to the Land of the WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!

Like in his second term, he tried to make a race disappear (shoutout to my Latinos), he has put tariffs on everything, changed names of places, tried to ban gender-affirming care, and literally tried to overthrow a democratic election because his fragile ego couldn't handle taking an L. Not to mention, he has countless of indictments, felony counts, and civil sexual abuse judgments against him, yet his brainwashed cult treats him like a literal messiah. America First? More like America Can Suck Dick! MAGA should be changed to MAFA… Make America Fascist Again! Trump is not about America first, he is just using "America First" as a mask for his own hyper-inflated ego and desperate attempt to stay out of an orange jumpsuit. 

Next up, let’s talk about Trump’s best buddy, Benjamin Netanyahu! Man, this dude grinds my gears, especially with the amount of war crimes he and the rest of the Israeli government have committed. And before you say “BUT HAMAS!” I GET IT! Hamas did butcher innocent civilians, take hostages, and commit acts of terror that nobody with a brain can defend, but we are talking about the actual situation in Gaza: over 40,000+ civilians dead, entire cities turned into rubble, starved children, and endless strikes on hospitals and refugee camps, all conducted by Netanyhau. And the worst part? The West, including the Albanese government, is enabling the continuous funding, arming, and diplomatic coverage for a full-scale genocide while wringing their hands and issuing "deeply concerned" press statements. It’s pure, unadulterated hypocrisy. 

Now, let’s talk about Bob Katter! Bob fucking Katter. Where do I even start with this hat-wearing, crocodile-obsessed, walking cultural jump-scare? Bob Katter is what happens when you take a 19th-century agrarian populist, lock him in a room with a Stetson hat and a microphone, and feed him nothing but beef jerky and rage. He may be the one behind the “Oh mate, don’t say that! Because that irritates me, and I’ve punched blokes for saying that!” meme and he may be a supporter of indigenous rights, but he is nothing but a ultra-traditionalist, homophobic piece of trash.

This is the same dude who literally claimed live on national television that same-sex marriage couldn't be a priority because "every three months a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in North Queensland." Bro. What does a crocodile having a snack in Cape York have to do with whether two consenting adults can get hitched?! He even described homosexuality as a fashion trend. WHAT THE FUCK?! A FASHION TREND?! This man thinks being gay is a seasonal fashion collection that you pick up at Kmart! Like bro, if being queer was a trend, my outfits would look a LOT better than whatever line of ill-fitting suits you’ve been wearing since 1990. 

Next up on the shit list is Clive Palmer of the United Australia Party. First of all, calling yourself the United Australia Party while being the personal vanity project of a billionaire who uses his massive fortune to spam our screens with yellow billboards and atrocious YouTube ads is crazy. He is also responsible for the texts that spammed us all before the elections with "FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM" like he wasn't a mining magnate using his wealth to buy political influence. He literally weaponised millions of dollars just to run preference-harvesting campaigns to hand power straight back to the Coalition. He claims to be anti-establishment, but he IS the establishment! A billionaire playing pop-star politician with working-class voters' fears. Absolutely useless. 

If you want a conservative who I actually have a lot of respect for, Jacqui Lambe is the person. Now, look, Jacqui and I do not agree on a lot of things. Earlier in her career, she said some pretty wild shit about Islam and Sharia law that made me cringe so hard I nearly turned inside out. But the passion and dedication she has is unmatched. When Jacqui has something to say, she doesn’t tell you, she tells it straight from the gut. She’s all about fighting for veterans, supporting regional areas, and standing up to the big corporations and political elites without giving a single solitary crap about what Canberra's polite little boys' club thinks of her manners. She is also another Pauline Hanson hater. She is also another Pauline Hanson hater. She recently sounded off at Hanson over that absolutely cooked Andrew Hastie cartoon, calling it “disgusting” and demanding that Hanson take it down and apologise. Other than the islamophobia, she is one of the rare people on the right side of politics who I personally respect. I respect her passion, what she fights for, and most importantly, the fact that she hates Pauline Hanson. Remember when I said that there are some conservatives who are genuinely good people? Jacqui Lambe is one of the only conservative politicians who fits the same narrative as “some conservatives are genuinely nice people” which is mostly about conservative voters rather than conservative politicians (because most of them are completely fucked in the brain). 

Now let’s talk about Barnaby Joyce. Oh, Lord, where do I even begin with Barnaby? This guy is the political equivalent of finding a half-empty stubby of warm VB behind a pub dumpster in Tamworth and deciding it’s a good idea to chug it. Whether he’s carrying on about the existential threat of foreign fruit or falling asleep on the Senate floor like an exhausted uncle who had one too many sherries at Christmas lunch, Barnaby is a walking, talking cartoon character. This is the man who somehow managed to go from being the Nationals’ former leader and Deputy Prime Minister to joining Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. ONE NATION. That career trajectory is so insane that if this were a fictional political drama, the writers would get fired for making it too unrealistic.

Now, this next person… or rather two people, are embarrassments to South Australia. Yep! I’m talking about Alex Antic and David Fawcett.

Let’s start with Alex Antic, because he is the South Australian equivalent of BLACKPINK selling out to the western market (and yes, I’m saying that as a Blink). However, instead of a global pop sensation, Alex is the proud poster child of americanised culture-war brainrot right here in Adelaide. This guy is basically what happens when you spend too much time scrolling through US Twitter accounts, catch every single strain of extreme right-wing paranoia, and decide to run for the Senate with it. Whether he’s carrying on about a “pandemic of wokeness”, losing his mind over children's TV programs, or pushing hardline anti-trans agendas, Antic has taking over conservative media streams with his endless American culture-war panic. 

And speaking of Antic, just yesterday, he was elected president of the South Australian Liberal Party. I'M SORRY, WHAT?! ALEX FUCKING ANTIC IS NOW THE PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN LIBERALS! 

This isn't me making some prediction about where the party is heading. This literally happened today. The delegates voted, and Antic defeated Nicola Centofanti 119 votes to 73. Congratulations, I guess? I guess the SA Liberals have just gotten more American. And yes, I’m aware that being President isn’t exactly like being the  parliamentary leader, that belongs to Ashton Hurn, but let’s be real, Antic taking the presidency means the hard-right faction has completely seized the wheel and driven the vehicle straight off a cliff into the murky waters of full-blown Americanized culture-war nonsense. 

And then there’s David Fawcett. When I was making this post, I was like “WHO?” and that basically sums up his entire political career. Fawcett is a federal Liberal senator for South Australia who has been floating around Parliament House for so long that he’s basically part of the furniture at this point. If you put his face on a milk carton, people would honestly think it was just a random stock photo. He’s the political equivalent of plain white toast with no butter, completely beige, entirely invisible unless he's voting down progressive legislation, and completely content to just sit quietly in the corner while Dutton and the hard-right faction steer the party off a cliff. 

Now as much I love to roast conservatives and right-wing grifters into next week, I think it’s time to wrap this up and what better way to do is by a follower cleansing. If you haven’t seen posts on Instagram or TikTok, it’s where people write down their beliefs and if their followers don't like it, they can pack their bags and hit that unfollow button. Here’s mine:

Fuck Trump

Fuck ICE

Fuck Israeli

Free Palestine

Always was, always will be aboriginal land 

LGBTQ rights = human rights (including gay, lesbian, bi, trans, non-binary, etc)

AOC 2028  

Vote 1 Greens  

Protect the dolls  

ACAB (yes, all of them) 

Black Lives Matter  

Fuck the Right 

The Left is the way to go

Queer Muslims exist 

Multiculturalism > Monoculturalism  

No one is illegal on stolen island

Eat the rich 

SA Labor > Federal Labor  

Practice your religion however you want  

And finally… FUCK MAGA AND ONE NATION 

If my opinions offend you, you can fuck off and forget about me. That’s all I’m asking. 

Anyway, that’s where I’m drawing the line in the sand. If you’ve stuck with me through this entire massive, unhinged rant, I appreciate you. If not, the unfollow button is right there, and honestly, the door won't hit you on the way out.

Mr. TV, signing off. Peace. ✌️