5/ This is why Musk was right. The story of Australia’s future is being rewritten by a government that has chosen to replace us rather than help us survive in our own country.

2/ One reason is obvious: housing. The price for a median dwelling is over $860k, while the average Australian house is now over $1 million. It takes 11 years to save a 20% deposit. Young couples are either locked out completely, or trapped paying off a mortgage for the rest of their lives.

“Australians are becoming an endangered species.” This was Elon Musk’s warning to Australia, and he is right...🧵

Australia’s childcare debate is usually framed around workforce participation, but the missing question is much more important: what do mothers actually want, and why does the system punish them for choosing care? The government is projected to spend $16.2b a year on childcare subsidies. By comparison, only $4.8b goes toward Paid Parental Leave, and there is still no home-care allowance for parents who provide care themselves. This doesn't reflect what many parents want. Surveys have consistently shown that many mothers would prefer to care for their children themselves in the early years, or leave them with someone they trust, usually family, rather than rely on institutional childcare as the default. This goes far beyond mere sentimentality. The first years of life are a period of rapid emotional and neurological development. Secure attachment, stress regulation and early learning form through repeated, responsive interactions with familiar adults. This bond forms most reliably with a small number of consistent caregivers, which historically, has typically been the mother. Yet Australian policy pushes in the opposite direction. Once Paid Parental Leave ends, many mothers face the brutal choice of either returning to paid work earlier than they want, or lose financial support during the years when their children need the most stability. And that is assuming that the mother was working in the first place. If she wasn't, then she gets little to no state support. For many couples, this isn't a choice. The dire state of the economy means many mothers have to return to work. The real issue isn't whether childcare should exist. Many families need it, and many parents want it. The problem is that Australia has built a system where one pathway is subsidised, promoted and professionalised, while parental care is treated as economically invisible. Mothers should not be punished for choosing to do the work society depends on.

The Australian Government sold the public a lie: wind and solar would make power cheaper. Instead, electricity prices rose 39%, average household bills climbed $576 to $806, and the promised $275 saving disappeared. Buckle in, because we’re getting into the weeds: A mega-thread🧵

6/ DEMAND FLEXIBILITY AND PRICE VOLATILITY Another hidden assumption is 'demand flexibility'. Renewable-heavy models work better when electricity demand changes to match the weather. Households are expected to charge electric vehicles at ideal times, batteries are expected to discharge at ideal times, hydrogen production is expected to absorb excess solar generation, and industries are expected to shift electricity use away from expensive periods. That may work neatly inside a computer model, but real life is less flexible. Families use electricity when they arrive home from work. Factories often require constant power, while smelters, refineries, fertiliser plants, food processors, mines, and data centres cannot easily shut down whenever renewable output falls. This is why price volatility is important. Renewable generation can flood the grid during sunny or windy periods, especially in the middle of the day, then rapidly disappear as evening demand rises. The system swings between oversupply and shortage, creating curtailment, negative prices, sudden price spikes and greater risks for industry. In the June quarter of 2025, the Australian Energy Regulator recorded 66 high-price events where 30-minute wholesale electricity prices exceeded $5,000/MWh. The Australian Energy Regulator is the government body responsible for overseeing electricity market rules and pricing behaviour. This is not a picture of consistently cheap power, but rather a system experiencing periods of very low prices mixed with periods of extreme instability and very high prices.