6 Cool Stories To Distract You From The Eyewatering Profits Of Ampol, Santos, The Banks And Supermarkets

WENDELL HUSSEY | Cadet | CONTACT

As the weary nation drags itself towards the closure of another Friday, many are feeling troubled at the state of the country, the economy and their quality of life.

Interest rates have gone up again, businesses are set to pass on the 1% card fee in a 10% price hike, and the a reasonable standard of living is continuing to soar off into an oasis at the end of the desert.

Of course, responsibility for this lies with the government, but not for the fact over the last couple of decades we've deregulated the fuck out of our economy, privatised all our national assets, created an investor driven housing crisis and allowed rampant corporate price gouging - but because we are letting brown people come into the country and are sending money and weapons to Ukraine and PNG.

However, while you are doing it tough, it's worth remembering that some of our biggest companies are too!

Like Ampol, who's only seen their share price nearly double since the start of the war in Iran and swung into a handy $1.36 billion profit to kick off 2026.

Or the big 4 banks, who seem to book profits of between 7-10 billion Australian pesos a year while interest rates surge.

Or of course our favourite supermarkets who use any excuse to gradually creep the price of every single item up so they can 'bring them down' the tiniest little bit in an attempt to convince shoppers they are looking after them.

But hey, focusing on pressuring the government to lob a tax on people like Santos that could makes us 10s of billions a year to help ease our creaking country is tiring.

So here's 6 stories that can make you feel something without focusing on the systematic erosion of our quality of life by vested interests.

1. Coogee Beach Wrestle
   If you've spent some time on social media this week, you've probably seen one of the most despicable things to ever happen in Australian society. A group of people crowding around while some blokes had a wrestle on the beach. While some might argue it's the most Aussie thing to happen in County Coogee for decades, others are appalled. So if you don't want to think about the market forces driving the cost of living through the rough, google the video of this 'vicious fight club.'
2. Trans Athletes In Women's Sports
   Yep, while 15% of the population lives below the poverty line, one of the actual biggest issues facing our society is sporting bodies making their own decisions around player welfare based on scientific and medical recommendations. So if you want to distract yourself from the fact that the largest factor in the inflation driving interest rate hikes is the price of fuel, which the major retailers are banking eye watering profits on, then get fired up about that! Ampol's share price has only effectively doubled since the war in Iran began because they provide exceptional service!
3. Christa Pike
   It's a long way from Australia but it's still in every newspaper. This actually is an incredible story to be fair. The first woman in Tennessee to be executed in 200 years has survived 2 doses of the lethal injection and shocked the world. So dig into this case if you don't want to dig into how much money our country could have in its public coffers if it brought in a Gas Tax instead of letting multinationals pillage our resources and send it overseas for the maximum profit, to the detriment of the ordinary Australian.
4. First Home Buyer Whose House Is Worth Less Than When They Bought It 6 Months Ago
   Remember how the media has been going on about housing crisis for years? Well recent changes have actually seen the price of dwellings go down a tiny bit over the last little while. Which is probably a good thing for 'housing affordability.' However, it's also a good thing for the media who can slightly pivot their click chasing to writing stories about people who have lost '100,000 dollars over night' because the value of the house they bought to live in a year ago isn't worth as much as it was 6 months ago. Focus on that instead of how quickly the market can be changed in the favour of ordinary homebuyers with minor changes to the taxation system.
5. The Massachusetts Lesbian Bar Story
   If you are really getting into your culture wars shit, this is the story for you. Won't give you too many spoilers on this one, because it's quite the story to dig your teeth into. It will distract you for at least a couple of days from the fact our banks make 7-10 billion dollar profits every year, for doing???????? Raising rates quicker on loans then savings and charging fees for every single little service or overdrawn account they can. Crazy to think the Commonwealth Bank was exactly that? Imagine if the profiteering to the tune of 40 billion a year was going into the public coffers...
6. Censorship Through And Opt In Social Media Scheme

Yeah, next stop North Korea. Because if we introduce a system that allows people to opt into a chronological social media feed as opposed to being served content that makes them angry and stay on the platform for as long as possible, that's where we'll end up. You won't be able to endlessly read comments on articles or pieces of content about blokes bashing women in women's sport, or migrants coming and starting fight clubs on the beach. So get fired about censorship, and about how we are entering an Orwellian dystopia - instead of asking why billionaires are pumping money into the creatorverse to create jarring and divisive discourses that undermine people's faith in humanity and our shared community.