adu

The Capital Gains Tax Lie

adu — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 07:11:47 GMT

0:00-2:06 Intro
2:06-4:08 What is the CGTD?
4:08-7:43 Informal Bureaucracy
7:43-9:54 Periodisation
9:54-15:13 1956-1973
15:13-19:29 1973-1983
19:29-28:45 1983-1996
28:45-33:21 Summary So Far
33:21-41:02 1996-present
41:02-50:18 Conclusion

Script and sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/117d8hSrmpK3ZUg5W_WBySLXoPua9zXAa-2t9QD7arYM/edit?usp=sharing

In what’s being touted as “the most unfair tax break on the books,” the capital gains tax discount is back in the news. Media outlets are speculating again whether or not the current Labor government will reform the tax break, and the usual chorus of progressive voices are, to varying degrees, calling for change. The implementation of this tax break, introduced by the devil John Howard, has turbo-charged Australian house prices, causing the unaffordability crisis which we’re reckoning with today. This tax discount means the Australian government is foregoing $250 billion in tax revenue in the next decade, money that could be going to schools, hospitals and new housing. Only by reforming or outright abolishing the discount, can we hope to solve our housing unaffordability crisis.

But frankly this isn't true. There is this totalising narrative incredibly pervasive in Australian progressive spaces. At its most moderate, this narrative suggests tinkering with existing tax settings, like decreasing the CGT discount or limiting negative gearing. At its most radical, it harkens back nostalgically to the post-world war II period, suggesting a return to the true realisation of the Great Australian Dream.

This sentiment is coming from a good place. But, at its best, it allows people to believe solving the housing crisis is an easy fix, all down to the bad policy decisions of one man. Often, it’s a coping mechanism that staves away the nihilism or doomerism which would undoubtedly rise if real estate was looked at more holistically. At its worst it covers up that more holistic perspective, distorting the unfortunate reality of our housing problems, funnelling dissent into being harmless.
Reforming the CGT is a part of a raft of policy proposals which mark a progressive or left-wing nostalgia for the post-war period in the 1950s and 60s, where the Great Australian Dream was supposedly realised. Not only is this incorrect, but dangerous. The state of affairs of that period is not the solution to our problems today, but arguably where they started.

Blood-stained Corruption: South Melbourne's Park Towers

adu — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 19:40:56 GMT

The Victorian government has long neglected the Park Street public housing towers. This has manifested in low housing quality, high crime and low standard of living. This is underpinned by a lack of consultation and connection with the community. Recent decisions made by the government to demolish said towers reflect such a disconnect. While the towers are increasingly derelict due to low recurrent spending, they still provide stable and affordable housing to the most vulnerable who need it. The Victorian government’s attitude is antithetical to the public good provided by the Park Street housing towers.

The information provided in this video is either publicly known and documented facts, testimony from inquiries and court hearings, or opinions derived from personal experiences. All claims pertaining to the Park Towers Community Pantry, Troy Matthews and Better Health Network are presented as strictly opinion derived from circumstantial evidence and interviews with individuals.

Jordan* is a cover name given to the tenant interviewed who wanted to remain completely anonymous.

0:00-2:07 Introduction
2:07-5:10 History of Park Towers
5:10-7:01 The Previous Mob
7:01-11:28 Crime Crisis
11:28-19:32 Maintenance And Cleaning Failures
19:32-22:35 Culture of Silence and Intimidation
22:35-28:23 Martin Foley
28:23-35:27 Department of Families, Fairness & Housing
35:27-40:46 Better Health Network
40:46-50:10 Open Corruption and Violence
50:10-53:19 Summary and Conclusion
53:19-54:16 Credits

Park Towers Tenant Management: https://parktowersinc.weebly.com/

script and sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x72xPKhBb95IoHSD8pskON1hA0gQa31ozD4n9SDz3sU/edit?usp=sharing

Over the course of producing this video, Nina Taylor MP, Harriet Shing MP, Josh Burns MP, the City of Port Phillip, the Park Towers Community Pantry, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission have all been contacted for comment on the allegations made. Most ignored the questions raised, and the ones that did reply either weren't concerned or outright dismissed the problems discussed.

The Billions Behind One Nation

adu — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 19:24:32 GMT

There’s this tendency for some of the left to explain away the rise in right-wing populism to simply just racism. Racism as an idea, institutionally enforced in western culture. But this isn’t necessarily the case. Waving away the rise of these political movements as simply just people being racist is incomplete and sloppy. It undermines the role of the real material conditions, the developments of the capitalist mode of production, that are at the root of these movements.
The historic rise of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has likewise been covered extensively across the social and traditional media. She and the party are portrayed as foul actors, deviations of an otherwise fine system. This video will discuss the concrete realities which facilitated the growth of nationalist politics in Australia, the nexus that has garnered around it that’s worth billions, and how the vision of this movement intrinsically fails to address the many crises we face.

Why did the middle classes support fascism? https://youtu.be/RqESHNvmP20?si=exA0vRAWftjZ0rB8

Genocide & The Great Australian Dream: https://youtu.be/2RLlPP4SpsI?si=DXv5hy-OaW4d5c1S

The Great Australian Trap: https://youtu.be/SvaR77_EmJ8?si=uIGUx2ZgiFdnN4QK

script and sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fgRzBC87d3bPHAD0LTLbBlZ0Y_SUJ2MDQSC-PxIqB-w/edit?usp=sharing

0:00-0:55 intro
0:55-6:45 class origins
6:45-13:18 one nation today
13:18-14:47 conclusion

10,000 workers on strike, most backpay won in the public sector #auspol #politics #economics #union

adu — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 19:11:51 GMT

Do you have a slumlord? Together we can confront them and win. #housing #housingmarket #costofliving

adu — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 08:35:16 GMT

(unfortunately) debating drew pavlou

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 04:41:20 GMT

Drew Pavlou fails to adequately justify his demonisation of immigrants in relation to the housing crisis in Australia, continually floundering and refusing to actually engage in both the topic and the relevant literature, even relying on AI to make his arguments for him.

Blood-stained Corruption: South Melbourne's Park Towers

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 02:12:36 GMT

Jordan* is a cover name given to the tenant interviewed who wanted to remain completely anonymous.

Park Towers Tenant Management: https://parktowersinc.weebly.com/

script and sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x72xPKhBb95IoHSD8pskON1hA0gQa31ozD4n9SDz3sU/edit?usp=sharing

communism is necessary.

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 01:15:16 GMT

There's a tendency for progressives to believe that we can fix the many problems with our society, in the framework of said society. That we just need younger people, more women, more people of colour, better political parties, more democracy. It’s a common attitude, even amongst young people, that participating in current, mainstream politics, rising the ranks, is how you go about changing the world. And sure, you might win some things, maybe a lot of things. But this perspective is very limiting. We are not above or beyond our surroundings, our material conditions. To keep acting as such, and to not radically break from existing norms and values, will only mean humanity’s downfall.

0:00-0:44 intro
0:44-3:25 society???
3:25-8:52 economy and ecology
8:52-10:26 subsumption
10:26-14:45 decoupling is impossible
14:45-21:38 mediated integration
21:38-30:02 disintegration
30:02-38:43 totalisation
38:43-39:37

sources and script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zY6x1grM-le_WSX14HaE5Ka8NtOtF2cDbvYh33l9xYA/edit?usp=sharing

State of Disrepair | Melbourne and Public Housing

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 01:07:03 GMT

The state Victorian government is planning to demolish all of its public housing. It is argued that the demolition and planned reconstruction will ultimately negatively impact the tenants, and benefits property developers and investors.

References: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12sgk0khryec56kG9GU9B40XM-L6r8UOXVtT9bGzTEl4/edit

Original script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jgXQRtnaCUAvs1j0lrQC9Z3MLkaiNq9-_w4DwAKqI3U/edit?usp=sharing

Support the class action: https://imcl.org.au/class-action/

Check out these videos for more:
https://youtu.be/zsHArnUcA_I?si=HyxRgQKIAUkzmdPR

https://youtu.be/ZlGP4rL3j0c?si=mCa1yS0SRnvpcVo0

Support this channel: https://www.patreon.com/actuallyadu?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

0:00-0:52 prelude
0:52-2:19 introduction
2:19-6:39 background to the towers
6:39-9:37 the current victorian government
9:37-12:45 social housing
12:45-16:15 the Kensington Estate
16:15-18:36 the Carlton Estate
18:36-27:01 what the literature says
27:01-31:10 who the government actually listens to
31:10-34:53 how the government justifies it
34:53-36:14 if you’re going to clip this, clip here
36:14-42:10 what can the government do?
42:10-43:54 what can you do?

Genocide & The Great Australian Dream

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 01:00:01 GMT

Every year, when it rolls around to January 26th, arguments erupt across the country about Australia Day. To many, it’s a celebration of a great nation which gives its people a fair go. To others, particularly First Nations people however, it’s a day that marks a centuries long, drawn out destruction of their communities and ways of life. Often, these two narratives are contrasted as opposites, you either believe this nation is good and worth celebrating, or founded on a genocide that still echoes today.
However, these two narratives are actually one in the same. “In Australia home-ownership has been elevated into the nation's most distinguishing central national value; 'The Great Australian Dream.’” Australian housing culture is not only the basis for our unaffordability crisis today, but it's the direct consequence and result of colonisation.

0:00-0:55 preamble
0:55-2:01 early colonisation
2:01-8:49 genocide
8:49-14:48 boom & bust
14:48-17:51 housing & culture
17:51-20:38 conclusion

script and sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eBunoRIpCFGPjF2I6z4fuQLRkO8SdO0qUS3Tp-Gwqiw/edit?usp=sharing

the immigration "problem"

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:46:33 GMT

immigration is a big distraction. don't fall for it.

watch my other videos on immigration:
Australia's Worst Builder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naVui39F8w4
Leith Van Onselen - Australia's Worst Economist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_bGTYu8xL0

email michaelhani1994@gmail.com if you wanna debate the topic!

0:00-0:57 intro
0:57-1:41 prelude
1:41-9:21 housing
9:21-16:29 jobs and wages
16:29-23:03 crime and social cohesion
23:03-32:00 how immigration is used

sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WL0p9tT7az5kiye9SfX-7Ck4r-VqbHrIYH0LcJb9FZs/edit?usp=sharing

Privatising Melbourne’s Housing | Residents Speak At Public Housing Inquiry

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:43:54 GMT

The Victorian Labor Party is seeking to demolish the inner city public housing towers. This is a decision not guided by the academic literature, nor informed by the public housing tenants themselves. Rather, the Labor Party's policies are the result of collaboration with a variety of special interests, notably property developers, superannuation investors and real estate consultancy firms. Finally, the Inquiry into the redevelopment of Melbourne’s public housing towers gives some public housing tenants from their respective communities the ability to voice their concerns and opposition towards the government's plan imposed upon them. This video hopes to document this process, and garner enough attention in order to pressure the Victorian government to halt all existing demolition plans.

Support the class action lawsuit against the government: https://imcl.org.au/

The Hidden Player In Australia's Housing Crisis

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:41:39 GMT

Superannuation is Australia’s main retirement system. It's also one of the hegemonic wings of Australian capitalism. Super has successfully integrated the interests of the working class and ruling class, internalising the contradictions of the capitalist mode of production within working people. And it is from this positition, that super has begun to converge with the other hegemonic faction of Australian capitalistm - property. Our superfunds, our retirements, are increasingly reliant on house price growth, and therefore housing unaffordability. The convergence of these two wings of capital, will increasingly determine the future of our economy, society, and lives.

sources and script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JvCMx_m8ie4KheMV-nMaSMCkH-Kp2aGaBOTBPGbhmvs/edit?usp=sharing

0:00-0:55 intro
0:55-4:44 what is super?
4:44-7:09 super As embourgeoisement
7:09-11:04 super in the contemporary economy
11:04-18:39 super and property?
18:39-21:08 conclusion

The Great Australian Trap | Political Economy of The Housing Crisis

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:39:55 GMT

Everyone loves a boogeyman, a scapegoat. People love blaming negative gearing, zoning, immigrants, politicians, developers. That’s easy. Something as monumental as Australia’s housing crisis however, requires something cohesive, collective, introspective - it requires you, me, our friends, our family, and little in terms of introspection has reached mainstream discourse.

The Australian economy for the past decade or so has been dominated by two key factions, and they are starting to join together. It’s not mining, it’s not agriculture, it's not the Americans, it’s not the Chinese. These two factions are instead homegrown Aussie products - property, and superannuation.

script and sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JvCMx_m8ie4KheMV-nMaSMCkH-Kp2aGaBOTBPGbhmvs/edit?usp=sharing

0:00-1:16 intro
1:16-5:32 why GDP can't help us here
5:32-8:10 the rise of property
8:10-10:30 too big to fail
10:30-17:01 class and housing in 21st century australia
17:01-20:40 political implications

The Inevitable Failure of Democratic Socialism

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:39:07 GMT

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani has won the New York city election. The campaign undoubtedly has elevated and emboldened socialism to being a serious political force in American politics. It signifies that we are in the twilight of our current period of capitalism, the paradigm is shifting. What is acceptable political discourse now, was career ruining a decade ago. However, we have been here before, the world has been here before, at numerous points. What we know today as the golden age of capitalism, the post-world-war II period, was also tail-ended by ambitious democratic socialists. From May 1968 onwards through the 1970s, there was a renewal of radical politics on an international level. But we usually aren’t told that story - we’re only told about the reaction, the reaction that we know today as neoliberalism.
But why did the socialists of the previous generation fail? Is it worth looking back to see what might come in the future? Well to find out, we’re going to examine one of the most infamous Prime Ministers in… Australia. Gough Whitlam is remembered across Australia for being a maverick, a rebel, a progressive icon, one who was coup’d by the Americans for being too woke. But this is only half of the story. In telling the rest of it, we may learn why democratic socialism, necessarily, is a failed political project.

0:00-1:28 intro
1:28-3:46 Whitlam in opposition
3:46-5:18 prelude to government
5:18-7:17 Whitlam in government
7:17-10:30 relations of production
10:30- 14:39 the most dramatic reversal
14:39-15:53 concluding thoughts

sources and script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17FFX5Y2CgpAbSdcKrYMpqRinEgQTg0bxuoByt2riPWw/edit?usp=sharing

Debunking Australia’s Most Dishonest Economist.

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:26:38 GMT

Punters Politics just hosted a debate between two economists on immigration and housing. However, one of them, Leith Van Onselen, was acting in complete bad faith and misrepresented the facts. It’s pseudo econ grifters like Leith which makes the discourse surrounding immigration so insufferable and murky. So today, we’re going to go through his arguments and see whether they hold up.

0:00-0:24 intro
0:24-1:55 Leith’s Business Model
1:55-4:18 Why Leith Talks Immigration
4:18-7:05 Property vs Rent
7:05-9:30 Leith Doesn’t Understand Supply And Demand
9:30-11:47 Leith’s Dishonesry
11:47-14:41 Rents since COVID
14:41-17:21 A note on research

script and sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T8XRD4_V3uW_NPdhzH-tibQM4N_VHp0hbOpmung05cU/edit?usp=sharing

can we solve the public housing crisis?

adu — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:08:59 GMT

I made a video recently talking about the state of disrepair the Victorian public housing system is in, and has been in for decades. In it I talk about how the iconic Melbourne housing flats in the city have been underfunded and neglected honestly since their inception, through respective governments regardless of party. I spoke to efforts to try and reform and change how we do housing in this state, where since the early 2000s the state government has resolved to outsource a majority of its public housing services out to non-governmental and private providers. It does this in pursuit of this “social mix” urban planning model, where basically you integrate public housing residents, who are more likely to be disadvantaged, with higher income renters. As detailed thoroughly in the video, this approach doesn’t work - primarily because the profit motive, i.e. how can investors and developers make as much cash as they can, is what drives said investors and developers. This means that public good isn’t prioritised, but rather how much money can be made. That means negative outcomes like segregation, decreases in public housing rooms, and the delegation of responsibility of repairs, maintenance and upgrades to private providers, as opposed to the government. Despite their decades of neglect, tenants feel more comfortable and respected by the state government’s barebones services. Now at the end of that video I gave some, admittedly, very broad solutions and policy prescriptions, which to me at least, kinda stick out from the rest of the more detailed, interrogative video. So while I do agree with the general framework of policy I gave in that video, this video is going to be delving into specifics - what we actually need to do, to fix public housing in this city and this state, how we can use it to build counterpower.

0:00-1:34 intro
1:34-3:28 the problem
3:28-5:37 organisation
5:37-7:03 Tapiola case 1
7:03-9:39 Sweden case 2
9:39-13:05 decommodification?
13:05-16:37 Spain case 3
16:37-19:27 Germany case 4
23:15-29:21 conclusion

script and sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UdTFmk3GjPNbm-RCkWwiLValSi41OFZDKtftVRBXUqw/edit?usp=sharing

voting is useless.

adu — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 23:47:09 GMT

Major political parties inherently retain the status-quo, something problematic in an era where much of the population is dissatisfied and wanting change. They require exogenous shocks in order to pursue substantial change. In the context of the Australian 2025 election, we should consider the possibility of a minority Labor-Green government as positive for change, as the minority Green Party is able to extract more ambitious policy outcomes. This is the role the trade union movement used to fill within the Labor Party, but as the conservative elements within the party won out, this effect has been muted.
Constructing internal power systems to pressure majority parties is effective at creating change. However, what also should be considered is cutting out the middleman (political parties) and constructing direct ‘counter’ power

labor party essay: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qkZsb9970d7n1lSjtUU5QVuOcnzyldG7oRsqsFn9MiM/edit?usp=sharing

script and sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18gScjLgV23kddUdmb0y8hORDuUH507ekaPG12Mgi0q0/edit

0:00-0:46 intro
0:46-4:36 voting??
4:36-9:49 the media
9:49-12:24 lobbying
12:24-20:58 a fourth input?
20:58-23:25 concluding thoughts

Charlie Kirk | A Spectacular Life

adu — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 23:37:32 GMT

There’s been a lot, a lot said, a lot of slop made, about the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk. It has divided, it has traumatised, it has uplifted. Yet underpinning all of this, all of Charlie Kirk’s career and his very death, is spectacle. His work, his relationships with friends and opponents, his position in the American Republican movement. All of it has been about producing, and reproducing, spectacle. Those who love him, those who hate him, those who antagonise him, are all entangled in this presentation of an immense accumulation of spectacles. To many, his death is symbolic of the normalisation of political violence in America. But what’s missed, is how his death encapsulates just how totally colonised politics has been by spectacle.

0:00-0:51 intro
0:51-2:29 what is Spectacle?
2:29-11:29 two wings of spectacle producers
11:29-16:39 a spectacular death
16:39-18:28 final notes

sources and script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13OiJOBQ30BIrF3-VKSirxQUtbtm1v-0NH9mCESoOvK0/edit?usp=sharing

can capitalism solve the housing crisis? talking decommodification

adu — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 23:35:38 GMT

a much more productive discussion that came from the debate with drew pavlou

can we solve the housing crisis? https://youtu.be/xCtrNoZwwng?si=JsH0jEv0d2PPOgc2