The Citizens Report by Australian Citizens Party

August 28 The plot to destroy thousands of small businesses - CITIZENS REPORT PODCAST 27/8/26

Australia Post has been caught with a secret plan to shut down and "buyback" thousands of small business post offices across the country, despite the CEO telling a Senate inquiry there was no active closure plan.

Elisa Barwick and Robbie Barwick break down the leaked documents, the cost-of-living crisis driving public anger, and international examples (New Zealand, France, Switzerland, Japan) showing how postal banking could save Australia's post office network instead of destroying it.

We also give you a full chronology of the indefensible ASIO bill that was guillotined through Parliament last week including a jaw-dropping contrast between Anthony Albanese's fiery 2003 civil liberties speech and his government's 2025 push to supersize the very powers he once condemned. Plus, David Shoebridge's blistering takedown of the "uni party," and how the Coalition and Labor teamed up to ram it through with no scrutiny.

Chapters

0:00 – Introduction

2:16 – The plot to destroy small business post offices

4:37 – Cost of living vs. immigration: what polls really show

6:31 – Corporate profits vs. the cost-of-living crisis

7:36 – RBA Deputy Governor: unemployment must rise to fight inflation

10:37 – Investment in infrastructure lowers costs, not raises them

12:43 – The secret Australia Post "buyback" document revealed

20:23 – Overseas postal banking models (NZ, France, Switzerland, Japan, US)

24:29 – Post Office Closure Senate inquiry hearings

29:09 – The indefensible ASIO deal

41:17 – The guillotine: no debate, no scrutiny

46:56 – The Senate vote breakdown

52:26 – The sunset clause victory & what's next

55:33 – A different deal: saving aged care

51:50 – Robodebt 2.0: no human override on care decisions

53:31 – AUKUS costs vs. cheaper submarine alternatives

55:18 – Drones & autonomous defense as cheaper options

55:18 – Outro & sign-off

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Article: Establishment experts are getting cold feet on AUKUS (Australian Alert 26 Aug 2026) - https://citizensparty.org.au/establishment-experts-are-getting-cold-feet-on-aukus

Article: A new aged care travesty (Australian Alert 26 Aug 2026) - https://citizensparty.org.au/a-new-aged-care-travesty

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