Traveler. Cook. Wine drinker. Swimmer. Moviegoer. Jazz aficionado. Watcher of the occasional baseball game.
Articles by Michael Workman
One Nation Victoria dumps Preston candidate Franco Guardiani over Hitler comments
One Nation's candidate for the Labor-held seat of Preston, Franco Guardiani, has been dumped over a social media post where he appeared to praise Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. A social media post from Mr Guardiani circulated today showed him labelling Adolf Hitler as the "GOAT", an acronym for "the greatest of all time". Mr Guardiani confirmed to the ABC that the social media account was his.
Queensland security guard who fought for Russia against Ukraine missing, feared dead
Grace Tobin and Kate McKenna, Alexei Remizov and Michael Workman Daryl Fladung wore an Akubra-style hat, a banana-patterned shirt and a broad grin in a picture posted in April at a Moscow airport. The 38-year-old security guard had left Queensland to join the Russian army in its invasion of Ukraine, despite having no military experience or known family ties to eastern Europe. He entered into a contract with Russia before undergoing basic combat training with other foreign mercenaries.
News website reporting on crime in Victoria staffed by workers in Philippines
The director of a home security business has admitted to paying people in the Philippines to create stories about crime in Victoria for a news website he owns. The stories on Victoria Crime News are credited to a fictional team of local Australian reporters. The website has been recommended by AI chatbots as a reliable source of news despite some articles containing glaring errors.
Brendan Nugent charged over alleged Helen Haines attack but online history reveals he once complimented her
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Brendan Nugent arrested over alleged Helen Haines attack but online history reveals he once complimented her
ABC NEWS Verify's Lucy Carter, Michael Workman and Matt Martino The ABC has confirmed that the driver who allegedly struck federal independent member for Indi Helen Haines and is now in police custody is 43-year-old Brendan Nugent. Clues left online and examined by ABC NEWS Verify reveal a few preliminary details about his life and history. He appears to be a longtime local to the Indi electorate who has posted regularly for more than a decade to social media about the environment and politics.
Victorian English language charity investigated over funding for white nationalist groups
Exclusive by ABC NEWS Verify's Ruby Jones, Michael Workman and Matt Martino A national charity has launched an internal investigation into its Victorian branch after ABC NEWS Verify uncovered funding for far-right, white nationalist organisations. The investigation began after the ABC alerted the Australian English-Speaking Union to a $2,000 grant ESU Victoria made to a white nationalist online publication called The National Observer (TNO).
Fake news spreading online following Tel Aviv-bound flight incident
ABC NEWS Verify's Lucy Carter and Michael Workman In the hours since the mid-air incident aboard flydubai flight FZ1073, false information and fake video have been circulating widely on social media. In the modern news environment, major events can often be targets for people wanting to spread false narratives or "go viral" with dramatic — and bogus — details.
The Feedstocks Resin Buyers Should Be Watching Right Now
When energy markets move, crude oil usually gets the attention first. For resin buyers, though, crude is only the beginning of the story. Ethylene, propylene, benzene, butadiene and other key inputs can provide a much clearer picture of where resin costs may be headed, especially when those markets are moving in different directions. A jump in crude may give producers a reason to talk about higher costs, but it does not automatically mean every resin should move higher.
This YouTuber promotes One Nation to thousands in an Aussie accent. He's a foreigner we traced to the other side of the world
Exclusive by ABC NEWS Verify's Jonathan Hair, Michael Workman and Isuare Duruy "G'day. Good to see ya. Pull up a chair. Grab a cold one if you've got it, because we need to have a serious yarn about what's been going on down in Canberra this week." This YouTuber seems very Australian. He often presents from a room with coloured lights, using colloquial language and slang to speak almost exclusively about one topic — Australian politics.
Police investigate after pork products thrown at Gippsland's Warragul Mosque
A Muslim community is saddened after a man was filmed throwing bacon and ham at a mosque in regional Victoria on Wednesday afternoon. Security footage of the incident shows a man in a grey tracksuit throwing bacon near the entrance of the mosque in Warragul. The incident, which community leaders have described as hateful, happened days after a Victorian social media influencer who advocates for the defence of Christianity in Australia posted a video of the mosque, which opened last year.
Rising Energy Costs Don't Always Mean Higher Resin Prices
Rising energy markets tend to create an immediate assumption in resin procurement: higher energy costs will inevitably lead to higher resin prices. But the relationship is rarely that straightforward. Feedstock and energy costs matter, but they are only part of the pricing equation. Supply, demand, inventories, operating rates, imports, and individual supplier positions can all influence where resin prices ultimately settle.
Neo-Nazis fundraising to challenge laws that listed them as hate group Original
Members of Australia's most prominent Neo-Nazi group have been quietly preparing for the organisation's possible listing as a prohibited hate group, raising more than $150,000 to challenge the laws in the High Court. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke yesterday announced the inclusion of the "White Australia" group on the list, noting the other names it has used, like the National Socialist Network (NSN).
September Resin Nominations Challenge Buyers Amid Inventory Surplus
Something has shifted in the plastic resin market as September approaches. After months of relatively quiet nomination activity across commodity resins, producer price increase initiatives are appearing across multiple categories simultaneously. Polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), polyamide 66 (PA66), polyamide 6 (PA6), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) all carry some form of upward pricing push now on the table. On the surface, that looks like a market turning.
Resin Price Report: Buyers Face Split Market as Summer Leverage Shifts
Resin buyers face diverging market conditions, with commodity resins maintaining summer leverage while benzene-linked materials experience tightening and price increase pressures.Getty Images The summer that gave most resin buyers more leverage than they'd had in years didn't end all at once. It ended for some of them while the rest are still sitting in it. And which side of that line your spend falls on determines everything about how you approach the next four weeks.
Resin Price Report: Buyers Face Split Market as Summer Leverage Shifts
The summer that gave most resin buyers more leverage than they'd had in years didn't end all at once. It ended for some of them while the rest are still sitting in it. And which side of that line your spend falls on determines everything about how you approach the next four weeks. This week, the market clarified exactly where that line runs.
It's baseball season, and the trade deadline approaches. Every experienced hitter follows the same discipline: Take the first pitch. Study the spin. Read the velocity. Figure out whether the pitcher actually has their best stuff before you commit to a swing. This week, PE producers threw the first pitch of August.
Resin Price Report: Markets Shift as Benzene Prices Surge
This week, three things happened fast in the petrochemical industry. WTI crude oil surged more than thirteen dollars per barrel on escalating Middle East military conflict and serious threats to global energy shipping lanes, pushing Brent crude above $100. Benzene spot prices firmed for the third consecutive week, landing at $4.93 per gallon.
Resin Markets Split: Buyer Leverage Meets Geopolitical Uncertainty
There is a version of July 2026 that is as buyer-favorable as anything the resin market has produced in several years. And then there is the version that emerged this week, when crude oil climbed nearly $7 per barrel on renewed US-Iran military escalation and a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Both versions are simultaneously true. The question is which one governs your current negotiation and how much time you have left to act on it. Think of it as two kinds of summer days.
Beyond the scoreline — parents need to remember school sports exist for children
This article is an Opinion, which presents the writer’s personal point of view. The views expressed are those of the author/authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Daily Maverick. Aggressive parents who bully and pressure their children in school sports are not only contributing to anxiety and burnout, they are also creating a toxic environment. Michael Workman is a retired educator.
Resin Price Report: Buyers Face Closing Window on Pricing Leverage
I was on a call with a resin buyer Wednesday morning when the news came through. The US-Iran ceasefire framework had collapsed. Crude was moving fast. Benzene spot was already reacting. We talked about his July polycarbonate negotiation. The feedstock math had been in his favor all week. In the time it took us to finish the call, part of that math had changed. That is the resin market in July 2026. Buyers are holding more leverage than they have had in years in most materials, anyway.
Resin Price Report: Summer 2026 Thermoplastics Market Favors Strategic Buyers
Summer is the most plastic-intensive season on the calendar. Polyethylene bottles hold the beverages people drink at backyard parties and World Cup watch events. PVC pipe and fittings feed the construction projects that peak in warm weather. Polypropylene packaging keeps food fresh at grocery stores running their highest inventory levels of the year. ABS and PC flow into appliances, outdoor equipment, and consumer products that peak in Q2 and Q3.
Resin Market Shifts Favor Buyers Amid Inventory Surge
Three things converged in the resin market last week that every procurement leader needs to understand and act on. WTI crude dropped more than 9% in a single week following the US-Iran peace agreement, trading into the low $70s. Polyethylene inventories posted a build of 791 million pounds in May — the largest in 11 years — pushing days of supply to roughly 47.
Resin Price Report: Why Smart Resin Buyers Are Saying No Right Now
Procurement teams entering supplier negotiations this June hold a decisive advantage they lacked just weeks ago: the American Chemistry Council's preliminary May data, which tells an unmistakably buyer-friendly story across major resin markets. The numbers reveal a consistent pattern. Across polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, and polystyrene, May produced substantial inventory builds, softer demand, and declining or flat export activity.
Resin Price Report: The Show Went On, But Resin Markets Remain Unstable
My three kids were in their dance recital last weekend. Our dance studio has been a wild place over the last few weeks. We've had significant disruption to the dances and the routine in recent weeks, with teachers departing, students transferring to a new studio, and routines reshuffled on short notice. The chaos was real. At the recital, I was nervous, but watching them, no one in the audience would notice it. The show went on.
Thomas Sewell was training at a Melbourne boxing gym. Now it's facing the consequences
The owner and head instructor of a Melbourne boxing gym has been temporarily suspended by Boxing Victoria pending further investigation after the governing body learned that neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell was training at the facility. Sewell's organisation, National Socialist Network, was formally listed as a hate group by the federal government last month.
Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell covertly broadcasting hate on Instagram from Melbourne acreage
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Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell covertly broadcasting hate on Instagram from Melbourne acreage
Neo-Nazi leader and convicted criminal Thomas Sewell is covertly broadcasting hateful views on Instagram weeks after his organisation the National Socialist Network (NSN) was formally listed as a hate group by the government. ABC NEWS Verify can reveal that Sewell has posted antisemitic and homophobic diatribes to the platform from behind a sparkling Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo mask which the NSN has used previously in propaganda material.
Resin Pricing Strategy: Separate Cost Stories from Supplier Negotiations
Every resin buyer I've talked to in the last 15 years has received a version of the same letter. It arrives on company letterhead. It cites "elevated replacement costs," "ongoing market uncertainty," and "continued supply chain headwinds." It announces a price increase — sometimes with a specific number, sometimes a range, effective 30 days out. It sounds specific. It commits to nothing.
While Everyone Watched Feedstock, Nylon Supply Base Quietly Shrank
The resin market story you've been reading all spring is real. Benzene is approaching $5 a gallon, caprolactam is up $380/mt in a single week. Brent is above $100 on a Hormuz stalemate that can be adequately described as Schrödinger's Strait, both open and closed at the same time, depending on the observer's view and agenda. Every trade publication has covered the feedstock side of this cycle, and they should, as it's quite serious.
San Diego white supremacist shooters inspired by Australia’s worst mass murderer
A pair of teenagers who shot and killed three people in an attack on a San Diego Islamic centre earlier this week were directly inspired by Australia's worst mass murderer. An online manifesto attributed to the San Diego killers names the perpetrator of the Christchurch massacre as a direct inspiration, referring to themselves as his "sons". The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism says the Christchurch killer's manifesto has been influential among far-right extremists.
Neo-Nazis fundraising to challenge laws that listed them as hate group
Members of Australia's most prominent Neo-Nazi group have been quietly preparing for the organisation's possible listing as a prohibited hate group, raising more than $150,000 to challenge the laws in the High Court. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke yesterday announced the inclusion of the "White Australia" group on the list, noting the other names it has used, like the National Socialist Network (NSN).
Resin Buyers Face Five Market Shocks in One Week
In seven days, resin buyers absorbed five distinct market disruptions: a crude oil price swing exceeding 12%, a force majeure declaration at one of North America's largest polypropylene facilities, a foreign government antidumping challenge that could redirect US polyethylene export flows, a major PA66 producer announcing permanent capacity reductions, and the completion of a private equity consolidation reshaping the engineered resins supply landscape.
Resin Price Increases in 2026: Why Buyers Need to Play Defense Now
Four months. That's how long polypropylene contracts have finished higher in a row. PGP has climbed 93% year-to-date. Benzene settled its May contract up 62 cents from April — simultaneously pressuring PS, ABS, and PC. PVC inventories have drawn down to 16 days of supply. WTI crude crossed $105 this week for the first time since 2022. If you buy resin for a living, you already know this. You're reading it in the nominations landing in your inbox. You're watching your Q2 margins compress in real time.
Resin Price Report: April Is the Cruelest Month for Plastic Resin Buyers
There's a price increase letter sitting in your inbox right now. Maybe two. Maybe 29 — almost certainly one for each major resin you buy. You've scanned them. You know the drill: Elevated feedstocks . . . geopolitical disruption . . . supply tightening . . . producer margin recovery. You've read this letter before, just with different dates and slightly different numbers. So, you log it. Or forward it. Or set it aside for a conversation that may never happen. This is increase fatigue.
Resin Price Report: How to Cope With One of the Most Volatile Resin Markets in a Decade
Early in my career, I worked in sales at a major specialty plastics compounder. Our commercial leadership at the time was strong and disciplined. "Hope is not a strategy" is one particular phrase that was seared into my mind. In sales, we took that to mean: If you're not systematically learning from the deals you lose, you're just guessing at the ones you win. It sounds obvious. We ran a structured deal review process — not as a punitive exercise, but as a genuine intelligence function.
These fuel supply dashboards claim to know what's really going on. Can you trust them?
As global oil issues worsen due to the war in Iran, several AI-enhanced platforms claiming to be independently monitoring Australia's fuel supply have appeared online. The federal government has been resisting calls from the opposition to establish an official real-time national fuel supply dashboard. ABC NEWS Verify can reveal that the creators of one of these platforms, called Last Drop, have close ties to the federal Liberal Party. The platform was built by the party's former head of digital.
Resin Price Report: The Suppliers Already Read the Script. Have You?
I coach my youngest daughter's U4 soccer team, the Sparkle Ponies, on weekends. Four-year-olds playing soccer is mostly controlled chaos: Keeping them upright, on the field, and not crying are the Pyrrhic victories, and the conditions change every 10 seconds. I find myself doing the same thing as we try to help folks navigate the resin market — reading what is happening in front of me in the moment rather than waiting to see what the scoreboard says after the fact.
Resin Price Report: Feedstock Costs Just Reset the Plastic Resin Market
The favorite part of my job is visiting client facilities. It’s the ideal way to connect and develop a fuller understanding of the operations and how best we can support them. Last week I had a chance to connect with one of our long-standing clients, a VP of procurement at a specialty plastics manufacturer. The company has several hundred million in annual revenue, plants on multiple continents, and a resin portfolio that spans commodity polyolefins through high-performance engineering materials.
Resin Price Report: Why Resin Buyers Are Getting Squeezed From Both Sides, and What the Smart Ones Are Doing About It
This weekend I picked up a sore throat from my weekly travels — or perhaps from the Petri dish that is the Workman household with three little ones. I found myself thinking there’s nothing worse than the specific pain of a sore throat — every word uttered, every swallow inescapable. But even that doesn’t come close to the specific kind of pain that comes with being on the wrong side of a resin price increase you saw coming but couldn't stop.
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Foreign Facebook accounts using AI Pauline Hanson to manipulate Australians
"ALBANESE LOSES IT AS BARNABY JOYCE TEARS INTO HIM OVER NEW HATE SPEECH LAWS – LABOR’S CENSORSHIP AGENDA EXPOSED!" "Pauline Hanson and Lee Hanson unveil never-seen duet – a song connecting them across time." "SHOCKING NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA: BILLIONAIRE GINA RINEHART FULLY SPONSORS THE EDUCATION OF THE CHILD PRODIGY WHO SAVED HIS FAMILY." What do all of these stories have in common? None are real.
Real attack or video game? Misinformation and war in the AI age
Is it real or is it AI? Misinformation seen by millions is spreading online in the wake of the war in the Middle East.() The footage is spectacular. A warship letting loose a dramatic barrage towards a swooping plane. The plane dodges and weaves across the bright blue sky before finally bursting into flames and crashing into the sea. It looks like a triumph of military strength. The only problem? It's not real. Loading...
Weekend of war: Key moments from the first 48 hours of strikes in the Middle East
Iran, Israel and the United States are now engaged in war, with the fallout spreading across the region.() Iran, Israel and the United States are now engaged in war, with the fallout spreading across the region. Strikes have been reported in at least 18 provinces of Iran. Retaliation from Iran has reportedly been directed towards Israel, Iraq, Syria, Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Michael Workman - ABC News
Michael Workman Michael Workman is a researcher and reporter with ABC NEWS Verify.
Violent protesters or police brutality? Key moments from Sydney protest
Competing narratives have emerged from NSW Police and protesters who were at Monday night's demonstration against Israel's President Isaac Herzog near Sydney's Town Hall. NSW Premier Chris Minns on Tuesday defended the actions of the police, with Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna saying officers were "threatened, jostled and assaulted" during "a number of melees, rolling fights" and "violent behaviour".
Man charged with hate speech Brandan Koschel had posted photos alongside Neo-Nazis
A man charged with inciting hatred through an antisemitic speech on Australia Day had posted blurred images of himself standing next to prominent Neo-Nazis on a social media account earlier this month. Thirty-one-year-old Brandan Koschel declared in an Instagram post it was an "honour and a privelege (sic) to be part of the life long bonds forged with these men, based upon blood and honour".
Australian Neo-Nazis use symbols that may evade hate speech laws
The Neo-Nazi National Socialist Network (NSN) may claim to have disbanded in response to the government's new hate speech laws, however, some former NSN leaders have vowed online that "National Socialism is inevitable" and are likely to again attend anti-immigration rallies planned for Australia Day.
March for Australia administrators encouraged members to join White Australia political party
An ABC NEWS Verify investigation has revealed that some of those involved behind the scenes of the March for Australia (MFA) anti-immigration protests previously tried to recruit people to the now disbanded Neo-Nazi White Australia Party. March for Australia is planning a fresh round of mass demonstrations across the country on January 26.
Groups targeted by federal hate laws quietly scrub social media channels and website
Two groups at the centre of the government's crackdown on hate have scrubbed their social media channels and shut down their websites as new laws passed parliament. The Telegram channels of prominent neo-Nazis have been wiped of offensive content and now feature significantly toned-down rhetoric and controversial Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir has shut down its social media pages and website.
An ICE shooting was filmed from multiple angles. No-one agrees on what happened
Multiple videos show the moment a United States immigration officer fatally shot a woman in her car in Minneapolis. US President Donald Trump has posted and commented on one video of the incident saying the officer was acting in "self-defence". Prominent Democrats and the city's mayor are calling for a full independent investigation saying it was "unprecedented" that the government has already determined what occurred.
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