The cheap points of politics means we have little sensible debate about fixing our migration system so that it works better for everyone, and for the economy. A looming election only appears likely to make sensible debate even more unattainable.
Ha. Better from Labor? When it comes to digital rights they are terrible just like the liberal party.
Labor rubber stamped the libs meta data retention and secret software backdoors legislation.
This one is up there with the 2009 Krudd / Conroy clean feed.
My guess is that small targets like the fediverse will likely escape scrutiny because it would be a lot of trouble for a tiny handful of users.
If large numbers of kids started moving here once all the big platforms are blocked, and the pearl clutchers get wind of it, then the govt might move slowly towards trying to do something.
I agree he absolutely did do the right thing on gun control.
I guess that's why I really dislike him. I don't want Australia to be so unequal. A good leader would have attempted to bring people together. Instead he drove as many wedges through society as he could, both economically and socially.
No question people who already owned real estate did very well under Howard.
IMO Howard changed our society from being one of mate-ship and egalitarian values to the current "fuck you, got mine" society we have. Ironically whilst giving speeches to the media about "Australian values" including mate ship. Agree it's hard to say if he caused it, or just reflected society at large.
I think Norway's has legislation around the percent that can be used now vs what has to be reserved for future generations. Although I agree with the sentiment that the calibre of politicians we elect couldn't be trusted to think beyond one election cycle.
For me it was Howard. He was really effective at furthering many neo liberal economic policies to fuck over anyone not born in to wealth. Sure some of the more recent PMS have been more embarrassing and stupid (scummo, abbot) but Howard was an absolute arsehole.
He brought in the capital gains tax discount for real estate which when combined with the existing negative gearing policy was/is a major contributor driving investors to real estate thus making property become unaffordable. Not to mention it's just so unfair inequitable. Why the fuck should a person who buys existing houses pay less tax on money gained from that than someone who actually produces something of value does on their income?
He was the political equivalent of the FIFO miner spending all his cash on a Malloo, jet ski and glass BBQ party. Howard pissed the early - mid 2000s mining boom proceeds up the wall on middle class welfare. Instead we could have had a future fund like Norway. To be fair every politician we have had since has either been too corrupt or scared to attempt anything like that.
Howard also realised he could fuck over unions by bringing in masses of extra workers via record immigration in order to lower wages. (Added Bonus this increased demand on real estate too) He won't be remembered for that on immigration, instead he will be remembered for his "boat people" rhetoric. It was like a magicians distraction, look at these bad immigrants, meanwhile opening the floodgate for "good" immigrants.
He sold telecom setting our internet tech back at least a decade.
He dragged us in to the middle east wars like a good little lapdog for George dubbya.
He started the erosion of Medicare to please his private health fund donors.
As a millennial, not born in to 1% wealth, Howard and the liberal parties message to me has always been "go fuck yourself". I will never put liberal anywhere but the bottom of the ballot. Potato head might be fantasising about winning the votes of the working class by paying lip service to some issues we face and then campaigning against social issues we don't care about. I don't think that many of us are so foolish to think that the liberals will ever be anything but the party for the elite. Even then they are only the party for the honest elite, that wear their arseholery as a badge of honour. The other elites have the teals.
If you've grown up thinking that Situation Normal is something like the Australian Electoral Commission — an independent electoral authority which operates our voter roll to standard and transparent rules across the country — prepare to be shocked by the Wild West that is voting in America.
Truth be told I don't find hunting upsetting. It's the way of nature. Hunted wild venison and pork is some of the most delicious meat I've eaten. Probably goes without saying but deer and pigs are introduced pests which damage the environment and threaten diversity in Australia and New Zealand, so I have no qualms about hunting them.
Factory farms yeah they can be a bit crap which is why I tend to look for free range meat and eggs.
I'm not opposed to eating plant based meals, I do it probably two dinners a week at present. However overdoing legumes which seem to be pretty popular in plant based meals tends to create a lot of greenhouse gas in the vicinity of my arse.
Also dairy. Sorry but cheese, I fucking love cheese. Plus I've tried every non dairy milk in existence, they just don't come close in a longmac topped up.
Anyone know why this bullshit is being allowed by govt?
How did voice over LTE end up needing carrier software approval on top of having the right hardware?
Is this telcos writing legislation for yet another ignorant communications minister?
All I see is limited consumer choice, generation of completely unnecessary e-waste and a giant "fuck off" sign to international tourists.
A web of 'delusional' regulatory decisions has essentially turned some perfectly good phones into e-waste.
| Skilled | Family | Humanitarian | All permanent migrants(b) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 356,100 | China (c) | 133,000 | Iraq | 62,400 | India | 439,700 |
| 2 | England | 197,300 | India | 81,900 | Afghanistan | 30,700 | China (c) | 334,900 |
| 3 | China (c) | 196,500 | England | 79,700 | Myanmar | 21,100 | England | 277,500 |
| 4 | Philippines | 103,200 | Philippines | 64,000 | Syria | 20,900 | Philippines | 167,400 |
| 5 | South Africa | 101,300 | Vietnam | 61,500 | Iran | 17,300 | South Africa | 118,200 |
| 6 | Australia (d) | 65,300 | Thailand | 34,400 | Sudan | 12,300 | Vietnam | 82,400 |
| 7 | Malaysia | 52,000 | United States of America | 27,300 | South Sudan | 7,000 | Australia (d) | 75,900 |
| 8 | Sri Lanka | 48,300 | Indonesia | 21,000 | Pakistan | 6,600 | Iraq | 72,700 |
| 9 | Korea, Republic of (South) | 40,700 | Afghanistan | 18,900 | Thailand | 5,800 | Malaysia | 69,200 |
| 10 | Pakistan | 39,000 | Korea, Republic of (South) | 18,700 | Ethiopia | 5,700 | Sri Lanka | 67,700 |
The above is from https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/permanent-migrants-australia/2021
Australians expect to be able to punish their vehicles over harsh terrain and have it come back in one piece.
Oh please. The most off road the majority of dual cabs get is mounting kerbs in a drive through.
That narrow street looks so awful: https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/e43976b189d514742d5ec4831a82a0ca?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=3456&cropW=5184&xPos=0&yPos=216&width=862&height=575
Imagine how hard that treeless hellscape must make Satterly.
A mayor in Perth's south-eastern suburbs has raised concerns that developers are creating subdivisions without sufficient verge space to plant trees.
No users.
A bunch of those lemmit online communities.
A few other communities that tend to mostly just be identity politics arguments.
This might be the first time I've ever agreed with something the business council has lobbied for.
IIRC a land tax instead instead of stamp duty per transaction was a recommendation from they Henry tax review.
The minister throws her weight behind a Business Council proposal for states to replace stamp duties with land tax.
When I ran dual boot I kept windows on a separate disk to my mint install. I unplugged the mint disk when ever I wanted to boot windows.
Still had the clock issue of course.
I would rather spend more time sitting on a train than I would navigating air ports with their security theatre.
Even 2h on a train vs 1h of air port and plane bullshit would be preferred.
Other half had a Peugeot 206. Thing was an economic write off at 10 years old with barely 100,000 kms on the odometer. Endless problems every service, high chance of stranding you. Interior falling apart, paint peeling off etc. Quality control must have been non existent.
Worst car I've ever driven would be a 2021 Mitsubishi outlander hire car. The way it handled corners felt downright dangerous, weak engine with awful CVT. Average park bench has more comfort than the seats. Sometimes in my career I get a feeling of imposter syndrome, but I can look at a car like the outlander and say thank fuck I'm not at daft as the arseholes responsible for that abomination.
Pipepipe share just gives YouTube.com links. Like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUUy3mnAhCE
Is there tracking in that URL?
I don't think limiting is necessary.
Instead we could start by getting rid of John Howard's capital gains tax discounts on properties. That alone massively distorts where investment dollars go in this country. Of all the fucked things about real estate that has to be the one that is most unfair. Why the hell should you pay less tax on speculating existing property than you do when you work on something that actually produces value?
If that didn't correct things enough there are more things that could be done: banning ownership by non citizens, replacing stamp duty with annual land tax, incentives to discourage land banking, realistic population targets, and dare I say it; limiting negative gearing to new builds only.
It's been very easy. Although I will say my use case is a 9km urban commute. Any issues I can jump on a train to the local bike shop.
Changing a rear tyre on a split frame in the middle of no where would be beyond me.
7 years and counting. Have never had any maintenance on my belt. The Alfine 11 has had an oil change though.
Australia's had a particular immigration strategy for decades, but it's in major need of repair.
WA ‘must quit prescribed burns’ with new tech now ready for roll-out
A rally will be held in Margaret River at the weekend to call on the state government to fund rapid bushfire suppression equipment and scale back “failing” prescribed burns in the South West.
Globally there has been a shift towards adopting new early detection and rapid suppression equipment to quickly identify and extinguish bushfires.
The technology, including smoke detection cameras, satellite monitoring, AI software and drones to give a bird’s-eye view to spot developing fires, is already operational in Canada and California.
It is being rolled out in European countries and along the east coast of Australia.
WA Forest Alliance senior campaigner Jason Fowler said the WA government and Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions were lagging and reliant on “outdated and dangerous” policy.
“The prescribed burning program is no longer effective at protecting South West communities in a drying and warming climate,” he said.
“Only half of prescribed burns close to communities have been completed last year because they are too risky.
“Forests are also suffering with an increasing number of high-intensity burns causing severe damage.”
New $1 billion Perth riverfront masterplan unveiled
Likely a pipe dream at this stage. But having just visited south bank in Brisbane it would be awesome to create something similar here.
What I liked about south bank: -big shady trees to sit under Lots of nice places to hang out that don't require you to be a customer open access pool, water playground. Lots of places to eat
If Perth tried to do it, we would need to bring in the team who did south bank, and keep away the clowns who made the shadeless concrete wind tunnels like yagan square and Elizabeth quay.
The federal government will water down proposed carbon emissions laws for vehicles, as it seeks to appease car makers who feared it would push up the price of some cars by thousands of dollars.
Laborel party letting foreign companies dictate policy.
Prosper Australia says if we were smarter about taxing land, we could slash taxes on workers and businesses, writes Gareth Hutchens.
There is further evidence Australia's ongoing housing crisis is deepening as the national vacancy rate hits a record low of 0.7 per cent, according to Domain.
I'm sure if we keep voting for the Libor and Laberal parties they will eventually fix it right?
Whatever today's economic data shows about how close Australia is to recession the truth is we are already experiencing the biggest dive in living standards in half a century — and have been for two years, writes Peter Martin.
In the golden age of railway the WA government ran affordable holidays to show off the state's attractions
The WA government once offered train holidays around the state with sleeping cars, on-board dining, and a chance to see the sights on 'reso tours'.
Australia's ageing population set to challenge reliance on workers' wages
Workers shoulder the burden of paying for the things we want: schools, hospitals and a civil, safe society. But as our population ages and more people need support, can income tax continue to fund our needs?
An Australian New Vehicle Efficiency Standard—Frequently asked question
Looks like we are finally working towards a fuel efficiency standard.
Will be interesting to see what the final details are, especially the year at which manufacturers have to hit zero emissions, and if it's going to be a linear change to get there or otherwise.
No doubt legacy parts of the industry will be busy lobbying for their own interests instead of the planet's.
Council plan to save Perth trees to be rejected by WA minister despite community support
A council plan to protect Perth's trees will be rejected by WA Planning Minister John Carey despite overwhelming community support, the ABC understands.
Experts have said for years we need more social and affordable housing. So where is it?
One solution to the housing crisis has been raised over and over again for years: building more social and affordable housing. But it doesn't seem to have happened yet.
Wood heater smoke estimated to kill up to 63 in ACT each year, prompting calls for national ban
Researchers call for new wood heaters to be banned from urban areas and for existing ones to be phased out after their study shows their smoke may be killing up to 63 people a year in the ACT alone.
