After 1,000 submissions, a heated debate session, and one very enthusiastic winner (congrats, Max!), the Shitstirrers Index has become one of Crikey’s most successful initiatives. How can I tell? Well, not only have the articles attracted a high number of readers all week and a huge amount of comments, shares and reach on our social platforms… they’ve also generated lots of (good-spirited) complaints.
Just like that other iconic Australian list — triple j’s Hottest 100 — many people were unhappy with the final ranking. “Rex Patrick was robbed!”, “Who would vote for Joe Aston?”, “Pingers shoulda been higher!”
It wasn’t just our audience who had things to say. Honouree and new Crikey subscriber Taylor Auerbach took to the comments to argue that his 2024 performance should have earned him better than a third place finish:
“I’m not trying to stir shit here, but I must voice my disagreement with Crikey’s characterisation of both me and my shit stirring. So far the only person who’s attained a higher rank than me is a senator who abused the literal monarch in Parliament House, so I know I’m up against it. But third? I really do feel dudded. There’s something about my shit stirring that rings of firstness, no? Ms Thorpe’s theatrics, though commendable, required merely a Parliament House security pass which was already in her possession. But me, ‘little known Auerbach’, as you put it, ‘launched’, as you put it, ‘a last-minute legal intervention’, as you put it, apparently under my own steam and with no obvious legal right to intervene. How can you beat that? Was I ‘doing it for the right reasons’, as you put it? ‘Probably not’, as you put it, but that’s because I wasn’t doing what you claim I was doing. Nor was the ‘blast radius from Auerbach’ quite felt in the same outwardly direction that you describe — but these are mere details. ‘Is Auerbach a good guy’, as you ask? Who am I to say? But am I good Shit Stirrer? Well, a Shit Stirrer who apparently on his own initiative decided to, and pulled off with ‘spinning trapeze’ artistry, as you put it, a ‘legal intervention’ that stole the show, as you put it? Beat that.”
Auerbach maintains that there are many inaccuracies in his entry, and does not consider himself a shitstirrer.
While the judges’ deliberations will remain classified for at least 100 years, perhaps Auerbach can take some comfort in knowing one member of the panel was advocating for him to claim first place? And based solely on whose announcement got the most support and shares on social media, Vincent Namatjira was the clear Shitstirrer People’s Choice.
The beauty of the Shitstirrers Index is that it’s subjective and endlessly debatable. Australia has so many noble mischiefmakers who deserve acknowledgement for being a nuisance to the powerful. So, here’s a list of Shitstirrer Honourable mentions — the names that came up again and again, and the cases you made on their behalf.
2024 Shitstirrers Index Honourable Mentions
Crikey: “With respect, isn’t Crikey the shitstirrer? That’s why I pay my dues.”
ARC Tracker: “For giving researchers across Australia information that the Australian Research Council could totally tell them, but chooses not to.”
Alex McKinnon: “He reveals so much of the bullshit vested interests in silencing pro-Palestinian voices.”
Ben Pennings: “For his fight against Adani.”
Cathy Wilcox: “The sharpest, most biting cartoonist who hits the mark every time. Has to be up there with the best shitstirrers we’ve got.”
Craig Foster: “As a former footballer and football broadcaster, Foz has a broader and more diverse following than the self-styled stirrers of the legacy media and the political class. Compare Craig to apparently similar pundits, and his sincerity and authenticity totally shines. Foz is not here to make us feel comfortable and smug.”
Dan Ilic: “Always goes it alone for the common good, and gets a good crowd along with him.”
Giordano Nanni and the Juice Media team: “For his creative and entertaining spin on how to get the message across.”
Guy Rundle: “You know why.”
Jacqui Lambie: “Her shitstirring on gambling legislation was noble and loud.”
Jonathan Haidt: “An American who had more effect on Australia than Biden or Trump this year, he published ‘The Anxious Generation’ which triggered South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas’ quest to ban kids from social media, resulting in the federal Parliament rushing through a ban.”
Jonathan Sriranganathan: “He upset the entire Brisbane political establishment by protesting regularly, and running for mayor on a radical platform.”
Kristin O’Connell: “The co-founder of the Anti Poverty Centre is a thorn in the side of the rich, a powerful advocate for her peers grappling with the dysfunctional welfare system, and insists on better from the NGOs that exist to plug the holes.”
Konrad Benjamin aka Punter’s Politics: “For highlighting how hypocritical politicians are.”
Mad Fucking Witches: “Because angry, middle-aged women are excellent organisers and are sick of taking shit from men. Powerful men seem to repeatedly forget this.”
Paul Barry: “The first shitstirrer award should go to a guy who won’t have another chance to win it. He highlighted hypocrisies and cashgrabs in Australia’s biggest newsrooms for 11 years, and Media Watch’s work this year on the reporting on Gaza was some of the most honest and necessary journalism they’ve ever done.” [Editor’s note: Paul, you’ll still be eligible without the Media Watch platform — keep stirring!]
Rex Patrick: “With his FOI efforts he also helps others find shit that governments don’t want to see daylight.”
Rick Morton: “For laying the cruelty of robodebt (and the wider LNP bloodlust) bare in his brilliant new book, Mean Streak.”
Simon Holmes à Court: “This shitstirrer, by doing nothing other than coordinate fundraising for independent candidates who want climate change action, integrity in government and respect for women, has got the government shitting itself. So much so they are trying to legislate his activities into illegality.”
Stephen Mayne: “Someone with the moral and intellectual courage of Mayne would be so annoying to those corporate types — especially the Murdochs — popping into AGMs via Zoom or in the flesh to ask well-prepared, curly questions. He’s prolific on X, chasing up corporate inconsistencies and malfeasance. Relentless. Great to watch him work.”
The YIMBY movement: “Sydney YIMBYs made a beautiful alliance of old money, trots and conservatives angry and changed the premier’s policy direction.”
