Weekend Wrap for 27 July 2025

Sarah Basford Canales: ‘It’s a takeover’: the South Australian power player reshaping the state Liberal party
"Charismatic senator Alex Antic has risen to the top of factional state politics, bringing his conservative religious supporters with him. ... Through his efforts recruiting Christian activists and anti-government sceptics into the state’s Liberal regional and metropolitan branches, the once fringe conservative senator now wields considerable influence over the state division’s policy and preselection processes. And in Antic’s world, the Liberal church is narrow – the antithesis of John Howard’s creed – leaving little room for moderates and centrists. “It’s not even factional warfare … it’s a takeover,” says one senior South Australian Liberal. And as the federal Liberal party faces an existential crisis, Antic’s campaign has made South Australia a roadmap – or a cautionary tale – for the party’s other divisions." (20 Jul 2025)
Read more at The Guardian

Lachlan McKenzie: The Wheel’s Already Been Invented – Maybe Just Give It a Spin There’s No Need to Combat Antisemitism in Isolation
"Jillian Segal’s 20-page “Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism” is wide-ranging – targeting education, media, universities, visa screening, and funding penalties. However, critics argue its execution is deeply flawed. Bernard Keane, editor at Crikey, described it as “one of the worst public policy documents produced in recent years,” accusing it of betraying “a strange ignorance of some of the basics of public policy.” The report’s recommendations would grant powers to strip funding and cancel visas for antisemitic speech and institutional inaction. Crikey calls this a “fully fledged crackdown” and warn it could chill free expression and academic autonomy. Michael West Media labelled it “extraordinary overreach,” arguing the IHRA definition may conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Some call it a “Trumpian,” top-down policy that suppresses debate, while students argue that it would undermine university autonomy." (20 Jul 2025)
Read more at the AIMN

Sarah Steel / Dave Marchese: DEEP DIVE: Cults recruiting on campus and the 'walk up evangelism' controversy
"You expect to see a few clubs trying to recruit at uni O-week. Maybe it's a sport team, or an arts group. But what about a cult? Students across the country are experiencing "walk up evangelism", and it's not just mainstream religious groups using the tactic. In this deep dive, hack explores how South Korean church Shincheonji (registered as a charity in Australia) uses campuses to recruit, and why cult-like groups prey on uni students in the first place." (26 Jul 2025)
Listen to this segment at ABC News

Richard Llewellyn: Lies, damn lies and Zionist lobby pronouncements
"Other than the Zionist lobby organisations, the response of a large proportion of Australia to that report has been to repudiate its recommendations and condemn much of its diatribe as unfounded overreach. That is not the same as reaching the peak of unacceptability of Zionist lobby activity by a majority of our society. Much of the mainstream media and most of the politicians are echo chambers of confected outrage at anything branded (though frequently unmasked as false) as antisemitic. The image of a police-car from the silent movies era with several officers hanging off a rope out the back of the police car springs to mind – with the Zionist lobby as the vehicle and the MSM and political toadies as the hangers-on. It would be funny if it were not so foul. There is nothing remotely humorous about Jillian Segal. A deeper dive into some of the more prominent Zionist lobby organisations in Australia produces nothing about which to have a chuckle." (26 Jul 2025)
Read more at Pearls & Irritations