The Snoop: Andrew Bolt’s News24 revolt over BRS, Albo rewrites history on Haines, and more

Horse has not yet Bolted

Say what you will about Andrew Bolt — the veteran News Corp columnist is still capable of surprising us. While many of his colleagues in News’ Australian papers have enthusiastically embraced accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith’s recent media tour — including Bolt’s network, News24, which is screening a long interview with BRS, putting forward his side of the story — Bolt himself is certainly not convinced.

He used his show last night to talk about the “coordinated campaign” undertaken by BRS and “his backers” to improve the VC winner’s reputation. “The charges against Ben Roberts-Smith are extremely serious and must be sorted out in a court,” Bolt says. “Not by a campaign outside it,” powered by what Bolt calls “spin” and “big bucks”, referencing Gina Rinehart. It’s a long and articulate segment, sure to have ruffled feathers at News Corp HQ, and well worth watching. — by Charlie Lewis

Albo rewrites history

In the aftermath of the attack on Helen Haines, the Daily Mail’s Peter Van Onselen reported that the Prime Minister’s Office had been briefing against Haines, distributing a “dirt sheet” raising questions about Haines’ relationship to funding asks for her electorate of Indi in the wake of the PM’s own Marrickville Golf Club saga. 

Anthony Albanese has insisted it was in fact an advertisement for how hardworking the universally respected Haines was for her electorate. We’d agree with psephologist Kevin Bonham when we say: sure, prime minister. 

This is either completely dishonest or completely clueless from the PM and is disgraceful. The page doing the rounds clearly attacks Haines and implies she has double standards on porkbarrelling and may have hidden conflicts of interest. pic.twitter.com/9koWM1bTIN

— Kevin Bonham (@kevinbonham) October 22, 2026

It turns out that Meta’s moderation tools are so completely useless for preventing abuse of parliamentarians that government MPs and staffers have given up on them altogether. The Snoop was told that the people behind software company Areto Labs, which includes a team of ANU researchers, shopped around their moderation tool for free to government MPs, and a number have taken them up. 

Politico Australia’s Paul Karp reported yesterday on a Meta meeting with Labor’s Status of Women caucus committee (The Snoop understands an additional meeting was held for staffers), which resulted in a “robust” confrontation led by MPs disappointed at Meta’s lack of action on abuse directed at lawmakers. From what we hear, “robust” is a diplomatic description of the meeting, which predated the attack on independent MP Helen Haines, and was apparently organised by Communications Minister Anika Wells’ office.

State of denial

Former Queensland senator Gerard Rennick’s People First Party has failed to register as a political party in Victoria because it could not prove it had at least 500 eligible members on the electoral roll.

Rennick tells The Snoop his party — launched in 2024 after the former Liberal-National senator lost preselection — had about 3,800 members nationwide, including about 600 in Victoria (and $750,000 in the bank). However, the party decided to abandon its plans to campaign in Victoria and never finished sending in the paperwork.

“We are focusing our energy on the next federal election,” he said. “We aren’t big enough to contest six state elections and one federal election every four years. Hopefully that will change in future.”

The People First Party recently had serious plans to merge with another minor outfit, the Australian Citizens Party, under the new name Australian Peoples Party, but that effort fell through in August for “technical reasons” related to campaign funding. However, the People First Party still intends to change its name to the Australian Citizens Party.

“We let our application [to the Victorian Electoral Commission] lapse as we thought we were merging with the Citizens Party, but that fell through,” Rennick said. — by Anton Nilsson

Great read: No iPad Till After Dinner, Mom

Every Friday, we’ll bring you something wonderful we’ve read this week. This piece from the New York Magazine ($) is a fascinating and essential read for anyone navigating life with a parent who seems addicted to their slop-filled screens and social media feeds, or a “screenager”, as the piece dubs them. It’s also useful for those of a particular age who find themselves increasingly sewn to their iPad. Touch grass this weekend, folks!