Australian national sovereignty at stake? 1) Economic / Financial Collectively, the US' "Big Three" asset managers (Blackrock, State Street, Vanguard) are among the top institutional holders in the 🇦🇺 banking / financial sector. Examples from filings: in NAB, BlackRock 6%, State Street 5.21%, Vanguard 5% (per 2023–2025 ASX reports) with similar patterns across all four Australian banks. BlackRock, Inc. (US) Minority stakes via various funds/entities. - Commonwealth Bank (CBA): 6.36% (106.3 million shares as of Aug/Dec 2025 data). - Westpac (WBC): 6.50% (221.96 million shares). - NAB: ~5.81%. - ANZ: ~5.29%. Vanguard Group (US) and State Street Global Advisors (US) have similar 5–6% stakes each in the Big Four AU banks (e.g., Vanguard often 5–6%; State Street ~5–7% in some). 2) Mining Sector - BHP Group: BlackRock ~6.9%, Vanguard ~6%, State Street ~7.1% (approximate recent substantial notices). BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP, acquired by BlackRock) struck a US$2 billion deal (announced Dec 2025) for a 49% stake in a new entity owning/operating BHP’s Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) inland power network. BHP retains 51% and full operational control. This supports one of the world’s largest iron ore operations. - Rio Tinto (British-Australian dual-listed): BlackRock holds ~7–9% (e.g., ~7.48% via UK arm in some reports); Vanguard ~3.4–5%; State Street also significant. Geographic shareholder distribution historically includes ~18% North America. - Fortescue Metals Group and others: Similar Big Three passive stakes (often top holders in ASX 100 resources firms). -Chevron (US): 47.3% interest in the massive Gorgon LNG project (Western Australia). - ExxonMobil (US): 25% in Gorgon other east coast gas interests. 3. Telecommunications (post-Huawei 5G ban) Telstra as a Publicly listed (ASX) reveals these US institutional/passive stakes: - State Street 6.22%, - Vanguard 4.21%, - BlackRock 1.56% 4) Real Estate Sector - Blackstone (US private equity giant; distinct from BlackRock) is one of the largest foreign owners of Australian commercial real estate. It acquired Crown Resorts (casinos/hotels) for $8.9 billion in 2022 and in Dec 2025 agreed to acquire Hamilton Island (iconic Queensland resort) from the Oatley family for A$1.2 billion (pending FIRB/approvals). - BlackRock (US asset manager): Its real estate strategies via funds include a majority stake in StoreLocal self-storage (commercial/industrial). US investors (including other PE/funds) led US$13.6 billion in Australian real estate inflows in 2024, targeting logistics, living/BTR, industrial, and data centres. But yes, continue to blame immigrants, demonize multculturalism and assert "Australian values"! 5) Defence Sector see: x.com/RobertCettl/status/204…

A quiet power shift has changed our Australian democracy. Private equity firms and super funds are increasingly leading unelected bureaucrats and regulators who in turn tell politicians what to rubber-stamp. COVID showed the blueprint: big pharma and technocrats set the agenda, MPs followed. Our Parliaments are increasingly simple conduits for private capital. To hear more from me and stay up to date, signup to my email newsletter here: alexantic.com.au/join