Australia - you're standing in it
"my phone literally has one app added beyond factory settings"
That app is?
Yeah.. nah
https://m.
WA
the chosen app of terrorists across the world...
haha
(before fuckerberg took it over)
Had to comment on Labor going after everyone’s super in the future fund.
Do we trust labor’s management or do you think they will just” burn through it “
in no time….
Peter Costello who started it in the first place is horrified.
250 billion of other people’s money in Labor hands….nope…
That is all.
Do you know what the Future Fund actually is Opti? Unless you are or were a public servant, it ain't your super. There are other issues there for sure but not what you are banging on about.
It funds public servant employee super and other costs as well.
It invests in things that make money to save money for the taxpayer.
It made 11.9% in interest last year and is now worth 290 billion.
If Labor gets access it will no longer grow at 11.9%….it will actually lose money.
Just like Labor always loses money…..not saying Labor aren’t good at some stuff….
They just aren’t good at that.
If you ain’t no good at that…. don't touch it.
Jim’s been bragging about his budget surplus ….perhaps use that instead…
Housing can be fixed overnight easily….release cheap land for everyone….everywhere……allow humble buildings.
Keep the developers out of it…..
Then, everything will fix itself.
sypkan wrote:I honestly don't know who advises labor these are 'winner' ideas...
Weird that the same kind of awful policy gets put up in different western countries by different governments at similar times. Enough examples out there, the farmers stuff in UK and Holland, the misinfo stuff getting put down here and overseas. Funny stuff is, it doesn't come from the people who vote in these governments, for who is doing it just read the first letter in each of my sentences...
re: @opti's "contributions ^^
Yes it is vital any $$ spent from the Future Fund stacks up but the singing of praise on Costello FFS cannot be left unchallenged ... with apologies to those that have read this previously.
Fact #1 the record surpluses that Howard and Costello saw in government were due to: (1.) being the highest taxing Governments in AU history as a % of GDP given the good fortune of being in power during the 1st mining boom; (2.) selling off every publicly owned asset they could get their hands on; (3.) drastically reducing the public service including sacking staff in the CES, aged care, TAFE and places like the ABS, ACCC, AISC and Tax Office; and (4.) basically stopping Federal Government $$ for required public infrastructure.
Fact #2: with these massive windfall surpluses Howard/Costello gave voters personal income cuts each election and introduced a suite of middle and upper class welfare measures such as negative gearing, 1/2 CGT, the elimination of tax on self funded superannuation income streams and allowing SMSFs to borrow to speculate in housing and other assets all of which ensure Federal Government structural deficits to the current day and into the future.
In other words Howard/Costello grabbed every last $$ they could get their hands on and pissed it all up against the wall and voters are still suffering their structural deficit hangover.
Costello is in no position to lecture anyone about economics nor is his unflushable turd PM!
@Optimist
My advice is not to bother with a reply, everything for him comes back to Howard and Murdoch they live rent free in his old empty head.
Just be happy that we had Howard and Costello to clean up the mess Labor left, otherwise who knows what may have been, personally my only regret is i didnt make more of that golden Howard era
indo-dreaming wrote:@Optimist
My advice is not to bother with a reply, everything for him comes back to Howard and Murdoch they live rent free in his old empty head.
Just be happy that we had Howard and Costello to clean up the mess Labor left, otherwise who knows what may have been, personally my only regret is i didnt make more of that golden Howard era
But nothing that was pointed out is untrue though?????
^^ that’s it @AndyMac
andy-mac wrote:indo-dreaming wrote:@Optimist
My advice is not to bother with a reply, everything for him comes back to Howard and Murdoch they live rent free in his old empty head.
Just be happy that we had Howard and Costello to clean up the mess Labor left, otherwise who knows what may have been, personally my only regret is i didnt make more of that golden Howard era
But nothing that was pointed out is untrue though?????
I agree with much of it but not all, but it's all about perspective, you might see these things as negatives while others like me see many of them as positives that were needed like the GST and just cutting the fat, IMHO it's about due for another trim.
Otherwise you end up in a situation like the Victoria government or USA in huge debt or local council's that now charge silly rates prices and keep raising rates when all most of us want is basic services like bin collection and maintenance of parks etc and lower rates
Small governments, less regulation, and lower taxes and less involvement in our life's from the government the better.
We are just lucky we havent let it get out of control like the USA, Musk is gong to have his work cut out with this new role of "Department of Government Efficiency"
Hopefully it works and we see a similar thing in Australia.
maaaan... what a shame. Just as street press is coming back onto the streets of out cities, regional papers can't bridge the few years time gap, before it all comes back. Once things are gone, they're gone. Vote whatever-version-of-trump we get offered. They'll say that they'll fix it..
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-20/portland-observer-sale-staff-redu...
stoicism at the beginning, regional print media at the end:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/why-stoicism-is-havin...
basesix wrote:maaaan... what a shame. Just as street press is coming back onto the streets of out cities, regional papers can't bridge the few years time gap, before it all comes back. Once things are gone, they're gone. Vote whatever-version-of-trump we get offered. They'll say that they'll fix it..
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-20/portland-observer-sale-staff-redu...
stoicism at the beginning, regional print media at the end:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/why-stoicism-is-havin...
There’s no hope for this. As evidenced on swellnet, everyone’s on YouTube. I’m surprised some of these papers are still alive.
flollo wrote:basesix wrote:maaaan... what a shame. Just as street press is coming back onto the streets of out cities, regional papers can't bridge the few years time gap, before it all comes back. Once things are gone, they're gone. Vote whatever-version-of-trump we get offered. They'll say that they'll fix it..
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-20/portland-observer-sale-staff-redu...
stoicism at the beginning, regional print media at the end:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/why-stoicism-is-havin...There’s no hope for this. As evidenced on swellnet, everyone’s on YouTube. I’m surprised some of these papers are still alive.
yeh, they're an exemplar of how vanity print can work well, coupla primary school events, some community stories, youth sport with pics and results.. guarantees a few hundred sales right there.. ads from local shops, events and agriculture.. add a real estate insert with a couple of advertorials and it works. When it starts to not work, you either combine a few, like Spec does with potland, hamilton and warrnambool, or you take the true-believer model where you run it solo, and let people submit their own stories, subject to a one-man editing set-up. The Border Watch only just got saved a few years ago, SA's 2nd largest town. It can work. And it can't. My daughter has just changed from nursing to journalism, eyes wide open, haha. I like buying a local paper when I travel.. little insight/snapshot of a place.
^ * casterton, not warrnambool, coupla the oldest papers in vic, they're in argus territory.. if you'd like to read an article by the paper about its closing in the next month, you can get a subscription..
https://spec.com.au/article/general/2024/11/22/stopping-the-press-and-why/
velocityjohnno wrote:sypkan wrote:I honestly don't know who advises labor these are 'winner' ideas...
Weird that the same kind of awful policy gets put up in different western countries by different governments at similar times. Enough examples out there, the farmers stuff in UK and Holland, the misinfo stuff getting put down here and overseas. Funny stuff is, it doesn't come from the people who vote in these governments, for who is doing it just read the first letter in each of my sentences...
thanks for that vj
sometimes I think I'm going crazy...
some things appear so bleeding obvious... yet, they - and their minions - keep telling us it isn't so...
I hate this reasonably contemporary term - but it is gaslighting... in the truest sense of the term...
the difference between bullshitting and gaslighting is subtle, so subtle people argue it's the same... but it is much more reckless and nefarious than just plain old bullshitting...
and it's now the go to political tool
cue, mass mental health crisis...
crises...
about ten years late
more like 20...
apparently, the government couldn't possibly know
it's almost like they were...
us
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/fake-students...
sypkan, you can't really blame them for being upset and confused considering that for the last decade or so they have had the full support of the mob who created the system. Even now they are going in to bat for them, forget about the fact that the whole setup is a rort. Particularly love this quote from Tehan
“I have been consistently clear that the Coalition will restore integrity to our migration system and cut Labor’s record migration numbers,” he said.
He's one of the crew that has been running it for the last decade or so
The Sydney Morning Herald
‘In bed with education agents’: Coalition under fire as Tehan dines with agents
Coalition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan dined with education and migration agents at a breakfast to discuss immigration issues the day before sinking Labor’s bill to crack down on private colleges and education providers.
Tehan was the featured guest at a private breakfast hosted on Sunday by Rattan Virk, the Liberal candidate for the north-west Sydney seat of Greenway, and praised the feedback he received from a dozen people including migration lawyers and private college representatives whose business models were threatened by Labor’s legislation.
The breakfast was held a month after the Coalition’s education spokeswoman, Sarah Henderson, headlined a separate function organised by a company that helps students extend their stays in Australia and had sponsored Liberal Party functions in the past.
Tehan, Henderson and fellow Coalition frontbencher James Paterson, the Home Affairs spokesman, co-signed a statement on Monday declaring the Coalition would block the government’s education bill.
As the Coalition’s rejection throws Labor’s plans to lower soaring migration numbers into disarray, the federal government has seized on the revelations to accuse senior Liberal frontbenchers of “getting into bed with education agents” despite calling for deeper cuts to international student numbers.
Labor’s bill would have introduced international student caps – with the deepest cuts going to private education providers – as well a raft of integrity measures to crack down on migration agents and colleges that bring thousands of people into the country on student visas, such as by blocking commissions for agents when students change courses.
Nationals leader David Littleproud this week said one of the bill’s flaws was that “private providers … are being left out of this and in fact will go bankrupt”.
Virk, who invited local education and migration agents to Sunday’s breakfast with Tehan, celebrated the Coalition’s decision to block the bill in a post about the event. In a separate video Virk posted to Facebook, filmed after the breakfast, Tehan said: “This forum we’ve had today has been brilliant, it’s provided me with lots of feedback that I can take back to Canberra.”
In response to questions from this masthead, Tehan said the Coalition’s decision to oppose Labor’s “flawed education bill” had been made before the breakfast on Sunday.
“I have been consistently clear that the Coalition will restore integrity to our migration system and cut Labor’s record migration numbers,” he said.
The opposition has this week been pressured to outline its immigration plans as it blocks Labor’s attempt to limit student numbers while accusing the government of mismanaging the system.
Several shadow ministers and backbenchers have cited confusion in the party room about the Coalition’s sudden decision to block a bill that would reduce immigration, with some unsure about how to articulate the position publicly.
Education Minister Jason Clare used Thursday’s question time to accuse the Coalition of hypocrisy, pointing to reports in this masthead that Henderson and former immigration minister Alex Hawke headlined a migration forum and launched a new brand for a Liberal Party member who helps international students extend stays in Australia.
“It was hard to believe this opposition leader would get into bed with the Greens on migration. Now it seems that bed is getting pretty full. Full of education agents,” Clare said.
I most certainly don't blame the students...
but I also don't for minute, accept that labor only found out what's happening once they got in power...
they had a decade of morrison to make political hay on this issue - but all we got was silence...
cold steely silence
now, with labor in power, and a million migrants per year rolling in... and what appears to be the slowest of slow walks from labor on actually clamping down on these dodgy visas...
it just seems like labor has found a face saving scapegoat to maintain the 'longest per capita recession in austalias history' (recession when you're not having a recession) mechanism that BOTH parties are all in on...
playing it from both sides
as is dutton...
https://x.com/KosSamaras/status/1860456835561718233
seems dutton's playing it a bit smarter though
because, labor are dumb cunts... who assume we are dumb cunts...
with labor's record of a million ++ migrants... and their shameless hollow promise to cut it in half...
but didn't...
I think dutton's playing it from both sides scam, just outsmarted labor's playing it from both sides scam...
100% sypkan. Everyone knows this. No one can tell me that they just discovered this. Just walk through the Melbourne cbd and you will feel like every second door is some sort of ‘university’. Coalition is full of shit but labor is now in power. People wanted change so bring us change. They were voted in because the other ones were shit. If they drop to their level then they are also shit.
Not defending the immigration levels and agree with what both of you have said, Labor should have gone harder earlier but there's always this little tit bit
"In a move to root out unscrupulous operators in the visa-driven sector, Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday introduced legislative changes forcing all 1300 registered colleges and universities to re-register under tighter guidelines. "
Didn't see the coalition pick up the slack when they got back in power but all of a sudden it's Labors fault?
Re Dutton: I originally thought the idea of him as leader of the coalition was ridiculous when it was first put up, I mean who would possibly think he would have any chance of being elected? but now I've got to admit that he is probably the most effective opposition leader Australia has had in a long time, cunning smart, but still a c#nt, he'd tear the country down just to get in power and will probably do both the way he's going.
Keep in mind, that’s our third or fourth largest ‘export’ that you lot are disparaging. ‘Export?’ Fuck me. Talk about gaslighting.
The Greens support for this scam is strange. Wouldn’t the consequences of indiscriminate growth, rampant growth, unsustainable growth, be in direct opposition to the Greens’ raison d’être? Just what is the point of the Greens? Split on the cards there.
Heard the other day that Italy’s population has dipped below 60m for the first time since WW2. Yet after 20yrs of targeted government policy, their exports have consistently improved. They are now the World’s fourth largest exporter. That’s fair dinkum exports, mind you. Italy and Japan gonna seem like paradises soon, if they’re not already, compared to increasingly third world adjacent hellscapes such as Hellbourne in the failed state of Victoria. They’ll be certainly laughing their arses off at the likes of us.
Don’t know how this heresy evaded the censors at SOUTluByANKa :
“Interestingly, while Japan's economy has shrunk as its population has fallen, individually, the Japanese people are better off. GDP per head is growing, as workers remain in the workforce far longer. Productivity outpaces that of many other rich nations.
This is almost the exact opposite of our experience. Australia has avoided recession since the pandemic largely due to a rapid increase in population. Individually, however, we're all worse off with per capita GDP sliding into reverse in four of the past five quarters.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-02/japan-economy-recovery-prosperity...
Albo must still be feeling a bit sore after his week in Peru, a lot of one on one time bending over for Xi and Modhi, signing us up for more of the same.
sypkan wrote:about ten years late
more like 20...
apparently, the government couldn't possibly know
it's almost like they were...
us
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/fake-students...
"Indian students and migration agents have brazenly admitted to rorting Australia’s visa system through dodgy colleges that leave them “free to work until they get residency”. "
Government doesn't mind at all cause they will do low paying jobs many young Aussie's wont and they are good workers, also generally they are not socially disruptive and a group that rarely ends up in prison especially for violent crime, and if they latter get to stay after university they also tend to settle down and have children helping boast up the birth rate.
Similar deal with Chinese, both groups make up our biggest immigration groups too.
@Roker
Ok I wouldn’t go that far. With the exception of some great cities up north Italy is nowhere near our standard of living. Salaries are shit and living is constrained to 50-60 sqm appartments with the rest of the family. Yeah, exports are good, especially with food products. Australians should ask themselves; why are our food exports so low? It can be way more than what it is with Asia at our doorstep.
Fair enough Flollo. I enjoyed your take on tariffs on the other forum.
I'd just say that the lifestyle - or lack thereof - that you describe, sounds like a glimpse into near future Hellbourne.
sypkan wrote:about ten years late
more like 20...
apparently, the government couldn't possibly know
it's almost like they were...
us
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/fake-students...
Good article Sypkan.
"The Tribune’s article, which was published in September, went viral after being shared on Reddit this week.
“I don’t think anyone would object to international student levels if the industry was primarily about education, and not considered as a pathway to migration with all the unscrupulous actors that then creates,” one person commented.
Another shared that they had worked at a ghost college.
“There were over 600 students on the books, but we’d be lucky to get even one of them showing up,” they wrote.
“This was for an English pathway to VET program. For those who don’t know, there’s a piece of legislation that says students in ELICOS (English) programs must attend at least 80 per cent of their classes or risk having their visa cancelled. I was the director of studies at the time and I was kept in the dark about how this was a ghost college. I kept getting frustrated that I couldn’t hire more teachers (legislation requires 1:18 ratio of teachers to students) and that I would have to report students en masse for non-attendance. I basically got told to shut up.”
The commenter said they “soon found out these students had been brought over on student visas in a deal with a construction company — the students would work in construction all day instead of coming to class”. “They were tricked, as far as I know, and brought over from some poor areas of China,” they said. “I quickly resigned from that role and reported them to I quickly resigned from that role and reported them to [the Australian Skills Quality Authority].”
Yep with the training VJ got he would be a fantastic TEFL teacher, but an environment like the one described above is just so wrong on so many levels, better to conscientiously object.
& - ALP, Libs or Greens you'll get the same outcome. One Nation, Australia First, Sustainable Australia you'll get a change. Gotta vote them in outright though.
So it's about time to link the sportsbet odds, they are looking prestigious after picking the Trump win
Australian 48th parliament
https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/politics/australian-federal-politic...
odds at present are
Lib 1.72
ALP 2.10
other 81
Cheating is now so rampant that uni degrees have become worthless
https://www.smh.com.au/national/cheating-is-now-so-rampant-that-uni-degr...
velocityjohnno wrote:Cheating is now so rampant that uni degrees have become worthless
https://www.smh.com.au/national/cheating-is-now-so-rampant-that-uni-degr...
Nothing new. I finished university in 2017 and while we didn't have AI/ChatGPT there were still plenty of other ways to get around things.
Everything outside of exams was always done by copying your mates/working together. There were always previous years example assignments to go off/copy - even exams were pretty much the same year to year. Learn a few past papers and you're golden.
It's kind of irrelevant because you will always get found out pretty quickly once you start working if you know stuff or not.
did you catch this @AndyM?
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/latenightlive/bruce-shapiro-subma...
interesting episode, a few cringe phrases and moments, but sounds a fun book.
only-sams wrote:It's kind of irrelevant because you will always get found out pretty quickly once you start working if you know stuff or not.
You'd hope so in stuff like brain surgery.
Is it important for a person to do their own work? Using past exams is a use of resources available, everyone copying each other is fraudulent.
I wouldn't brush it off. The lecturer in the article states, " It’s mind-blowing to me that you can walk away with a master’s degree without being able to read or write a basic sentence in the language of the institution."
That's full idiocracy.
velocityjohnno wrote:only-sams wrote:It's kind of irrelevant because you will always get found out pretty quickly once you start working if you know stuff or not.
You'd hope so in stuff like brain surgery.
Is it important for a person to do their own work? Using past exams is a use of resources available, everyone copying each other is fraudulent.
I wouldn't brush it off. The lecturer in the article states, " It’s mind-blowing to me that you can walk away with a master’s degree without being able to read or write a basic sentence in the language of the institution."
That's full idiocracy.
Yup but unless you actually know what you're talking about your masters degree is useless. It's sort of a self fulfilling scenario that benefits universities. There's no onus on the university to make sure you know what you are talking about, they're a facilitator. You get out of the degree what you put in.
E.g. Person A rubbishes their way through degree, cant really get a job, does masters, still useless, cant get job, goes back to uni... etc etc. The universities clip the ticket at every point along the way.
Person B works hard, knows their shit, gets good job, backs up their degree with on job skills, never steps foot in the university system again.
My partner just finished her PhD and she cant believe the people she sees go through the system, half of academia at a post doctoral level is people who can't survive in industry.
Unbelievable that every little town in Australia is expected to bastardise itself to support the unlimited population policy.
Lots of talk of the symptoms but none of dealing with the causes.
Councillor Lynn Cairns of Yamba talking about increased population and population density -
"People didn't want it."
Cr Cairns said people feared they would "lose the character of the town".
"It's a quaint town, [we can't] start changing the character and have more high-rises," she said.
"The town as it is entices tourists."
But what if the choice lies between expanding into Yamba's flood plain, or six-storey flats in the main street?
"We've got less room to go out, but if we go up, that's more people in the town," Cr Cairns said.
"I don't think it should be either."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-28/call-for-regional-towns-to-embrac...
Big fire along the WA midwest coast road
https://www.news.com.au/national/western-australia/fishing-towns-in-was-...
Last month channel 7 did a big Australia series of reports. tbh I'm surprised they went there. Some good issues raised.
velocityjohnno wrote:So it's about time to link the sportsbet odds, they are looking prestigious after picking the Trump win
Australian 48th parliament
https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/politics/australian-federal-politic...
odds at present are
Lib 1.72
ALP 2.10
other 81
Im really surprised with those odds, I thought they would be pretty much even or even slightly in Labor's favour.
Just the fact that historically one term government's are as rare as hens teeth, and while im not a fan of the current government, i dont think its been bad enough or opposition is strong enough to change the government after only 4 years
I think those odds will tighten as things get closer.
It could go in the "Good News" forum but is as Australian a tale as you could ask for. Bloke saves family using beer keg as flotation device.
https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/2024/12/04/lifesaver-in-training-re...
blackers wrote:It could go in the "Good News" forum but is as Australian a tale as you could ask for. Bloke saves family using beer keg as flotation device.
https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/2024/12/04/lifesaver-in-training-re...
Well done champion! I think he passed.
The "I can't believe it's not politics" thread.