AUSTRALIA WOW: JENNY LEE, JOYFUL WARRIOR

The story of a retired Australian schoolteacher who decided to volunteer with the Eau Claire, Wisconsin Democrats in the 2024 election.

In the world of Australian politics, the final two weeks of a parliamentary year are known as the “killing season” If a party is going to make a move on its leader—unlike in U.S. politics, the leader of the party comes from and is chosen by its elected representatives, rather than as a separate candidate; as a result they can toss their leader at any time, too—it often happens in these two weeks at the end of November when Parliament is sitting for the last time and everyone is together.

But the month of December can also be calamitous for Australian party leaders. The last prime minister Scott Morrison was on vacation in Hawai’i in December of 2019 as horrifying bush fires swept across the country, and didn’t return until two firefighters were killed. In his apology upon returning, he explained it wasn’t as though he was going to be out there fighting the fires himself. “They know I’m not going to stand there and hold a hose,” he said.

While current prime minister Anthony Albanese hasn…