The Party Line on Venezuela, US Imperialism and Stupol with

Big news this week: Anneke has been adopted! By her big sister that is. We discuss all that before moving on to headlines, including what the Annika Wells expense scandal reveals about the culture of entitlement that runs through Parliament. The main breaking story that was unfolding as we were recording was the US hijacking of a Venezuelan oil tanker, which follows months of deadly strikes on boats that have killed nearly 100 civilians. This leads on to a chat about Trump’s new National Security Strategy, which declares his intent to see the US engage in aggressive operations throughout Latin America to reassert US hegemony over the ‘western hemisphere’, while also promoting the great replacement theory and other fascist ideas and organisations throughout Europe. We wrap up with some goss from the National Union of Students National Conference in Ballarat, which saw Labor Party members try (and fail) to lock out socialist party members from national office. Huge thanks to our tireless editors Charlie Wardrop and Persephone Waxman. Content Australia’s senior politicians can claim ‘unlimited’ travel expenses for their spouse, watchdog rules say 

| The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australia...

Venezuela decries ‘act of piracy’ after US forces seize oil tanker off country’s coast | The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australia...

Trump’s Looming “Forever War” | Tempest: https://tempestmag.org/2025/12/trumps...