Australia - you're standing in it
AW
I bet all 3 of you are still , like me , very naughty boys ( not in body so much anymore ) .
U 3 guys will be like peas in a pod imho ( a Bunch of greenies ? ).
U could take a photo of your three round moons and post that on Artificial Intelligence Thread , perhaps .
U are right , I still jump in , where angles fear 2 tread , a bad habit .
Too much Bob Marley and standing up for MY rights , probably .
Thinking what can go wrong , nothing popping immediately in my head before my mouth shoots off .
Have put all my retirement into ONE basket and loving taking a Big Risk , if it looks fun .
I have , as a surfer , always enjoyed taking calculated risks .
Had lots of smashings ( some very silly ) as it's always a numbers game .
No wipe out has killed me , yet .
Going to the North Shore next year lol haha , fingers crossed while touching my noggin .
Pop Down wrote:AW
I bet all 3 of you are still , like me , very naughty boys ( not in body so much anymore ) .
U 3 guys will be like peas in a pod imho ( a Bunch of greenies ? ).
U could take a photo of your three round moons and post that on Artificial Intelligence Thread , perhaps .
U are right , I still jump in , where angles fear 2 tread , a bad habit .
Too much Bob Marley and standing up for MY rights , probably .
Thinking what can go wrong , nothing popping immediately in my head before my mouth shoots off .
Have put all my retirement into ONE basket and loving taking a Big Risk , if it looks fun .
I have , as a surfer , always enjoyed taking calculated risks .
Had lots of smashings ( some very silly ) as it's always a numbers game .
No wipe out has killed me , yet .
Going to the North Shore next year lol haha , fingers crossed while touching my noggin .
Pops. Good stuff mate.
Well, I only go where ‘ isosceles, equilateral and scalene’ angles fear to tread.
I’m just a bit of a mathematical guy, love a few numbers Bob M. AW
Flagellating Shock Jock shocks himself!
Here's Ben Fordham flying his [L] Brandis Branding shitting over some lame Commonwealth Flag.
The shock Jock mandates for Albo to flagellate over some Fucked Up Fordham Flag.
https://www.2gb.com/tony-abbott-hits-back-at-former-attorney-general-ove...
Shock Jock's Pride'n'Joy rant...Don't Luv my [L] Brandis Flag then Piss Off...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13124471/Aussies-furious-small-...
Albo's Upside Down Aboriginal Flag gets Flagged
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11167605/Anthony-Albaneses-jobs...
Albo with Proper best ever blocking of Aboriginal Flag with VIP [White Australia Salute ]
Still not sanctioned as Royal enough by [L] Shock Jocks!
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/27/coalition-has-ope...
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverston...
More of Albo's best Black Blocking (vs) Green's White Washing of our Dirty Linen
https://peo.gov.au/assets/images/image-library/Parliament-and-its-people...
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7791033/albanese-surprised-by-ban...
Scomo is also the Minister for Standing in front of Aussie Flags
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/23/australia-scott-morrison-portfolios-inq...
PM Abbott's Piss Up Oz Flag Salute
https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1%2C$multiply_0.3903%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_1896%2C$x_104%2C$y_72/t_crop_custom/q_86%2Cf_auto/7c46a8ba4ed0a29b9f4bfd7b3c2a36948b2b68a4
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fear-and-greed-drive-australias-...
https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/763e8983bd5dab998fe6dcab8e93...
[L] PM Turnbull's Full Monty
https://newmatilda.com/2016/03/23/beyond-the-rhetoric-turnbull-and-abbot...
[L] Johnny crosses over to the Darkside
https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/format:webp/1*M6jCZ8TkjL-i6I2d...
PM Rudd Elder Statesman riding side-saddle...some damn fine Flagellating
Oz Flag Protocol
https://www.racgp.org.au/FSDEDEV/media/documents/Faculties/ATSI/NFATSIH-...
Shit Lite....
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2024/02/name-the-chinese-spy/
anyone hazard a guess who it might be?
The Mr Bean Labor Guy who had to resign .
Paul Keating wouldn't sell us out , I hope .
It would happen in the US and most other countries , so , no surprise :)
If Dopey Joe ( Hockey ) knew about it , everyone in Canberra and the Media knows the Name !
The Chinese would know what's going on here , better than Albo , for sure , anyway .
like the article said, could quite quickly narrow down the list to a small handful. I hope we find out who and what happened. Australia's new foreign interference/espionage laws make the whole China thing very ambiguous and tricky. Not worth the risk..
Yep, crazy they cannot name the individual, why if that is the case even make it public?
Weird.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-01/asio-warns-naming-traitor-politic...
To Build an Empire , Caesar had the Best Intelligence .
They would even torture prisoners for gossip .
Always had , somehow , a line of communication OPEN with All his friends and Enemies .
Could always , Do A Deal !
The Chinese are Old Masters at Empire Building .
How they do it and how they the Enlist their SPY network , in written in a thousand Novels .
Epstein stuff !
One persons traitor Spy , is another persons Freedom Fighter !
The size of Victoria’s second offshore wind zone has been slashed by as much as 80 per cent amid concerns about whales and other marine wildlife.
Yes seaslug
Seems like there was a big UpWelling Big Thingy (was it in SA ) that the Big Blues and other marine Creatures love 2 hand around .
It's like their 24/7 Maccas , apparently , nearly .
Seems like Indo Dutchy Type WindMills that are 250 meters tall , look out of Place on an Upwelling ( like a Hill perhaps ) in the fn Ocean .
indo will be freaking out .
Wind Mills on THE AUSTRALIAN Oceans , are a STUPID Idea , while we Gas on our Mainland !
How fn obvious does this need 2B , B4 Everyone gets the message ???
Albo FINALLY got the message , an Upwelling of rejection of Winds Turbines IN our Oceans .
Salute Professor Philip Alpers for exposing OZ / US Pacific Arms Funneling
2005 Gun Running in PNG: From Arrows to Assault Weapons in the Southern Highlands
https://nautilus.org/apsnet/0626a-alpers-html/
7,664 unaccounted Oz / US Assault weapons led to murder rate 42x higher than Sydney.
Only 2,013 (26%) Defence Stock remains in stock + Police lost 30% Weapons.
Very few were smuggled in by 'Evil Foreigners' from from 'Foreign Countries'
Gun running was financed & facilitated by Pollies / Civil Servants / Highest educated Elites.
PNG PM : "Every Candidate was involved!"
Most common was Oz made SLR (Self Load) > US made M16 (Defence) > AR15 (Police)
Peacekeepers sent to Solomons + PNG are likely to face their own weapons.
Most effective way to reduce the Killing was to reduce the flow of OZ / US Ammo.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/australian-guns-passed-to-png-crimina...
Feb 2020 : PNG Police Commissioner > [ Gun Buyback scheme ]
Former PNG Defence General says scheme would encourage more illegal smuggling..
"Just table the Goddamn Report & adopt the strategy for control of yer Firearms!"
May 2023 Prez Biden is alive in The Quaddie ~ BYO Hypersonic PNG 6 Pack Rider...(re: Stronger Brew)
https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-sign-defence-pact-papua-new-guinea-w...
https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/aukus-powers-are-militaris...
10-15,000 have died in PNG decade long war by our hand off our shore.
https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/pacific/bougainville-png-police-a...
US & Oz defence spoils are mounting a formidable PNG Bunker for Aukus to hide behind
2024 Update by The Professor...
Recent massacres would not be possible without Aussie Assault Weapons.
Guns modelled in Wotz New in NRL Promos, now source a greater supply of Aussie Ammo.
#1 Oz funnelled Merch lasts 100 years without repair with Ammo to Go on yer doorstep.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-01/weapons-used-in-png-highlands-mas...
2124 First of the new beaut Aussie Covid Vaccine shots fired off in PNG live rounds.
Aussie Lethal Weapons Expert : "Receives WHO's Highest Humanitarian Kill Factor award!"
Pacific Solution : Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Kill! Kill! Kill!
WA border closed at Eucla, looks like there's an atmospheric river headed down there from the NT
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-11/drought-breaking-storms-flood-nul...
"According to the Bureau of Meteorology, more than 140 millimetres of rain was recorded in the Eucla district in the 24 hours to 9am on Sunday, and there was another 19mm in the 24 hours to 9am Monday.
Arubiddy Station at Cocklebiddy on the Nullarbor has recorded more than 200mm, while the 24-hour rainfall record at the Eyre Bird Observatory was smashed with 141.2mm, beating the previous mark of 81.2mm.
"The trough that's causing this heavy rainfall really hasn't moved over the weekend," duty forecaster Jessica Lingard said on Monday morning. "
Well there's some water.
Going to be some wonderful flora and fauna in that area and through the desert after this.
The massive cave networks will get a good top up.
Deus ex Vickeena
Hasnt it been nice without Scomo on tv every day, waffling about curries and playing Ukulele
I wonder if this is finally the popping of the privitisation bubble.
The NSW state government has published the findings of a high-profile review into the toll road monopoly in Sydney, which is the most densely tolled city in the world.
Its recommendations included setting tolls by legislation and a review by the state’s independent price-setting body, with the potential to switch tolling to a default market offer pricing model such as those used for household electricity, gas and water supply.
It also includes a proposal to create a state-owned tolling authority called TollCo.
I can already hear the screams of "communism"!
not at all. Basic economics says there's a number of things that should be government provided, including roads. They fit the description of a natural monopoly pretty well. Governments should also be leading the charge with renewables due to their positive externalities not captured in competitive market pricing.
I know its not as simple as the headline...
but seriously... 1:11...
its hard to imagine any country with a higher public servant to population ratio
Maybe we should just have 1 contact person responsible for 11 Australians...
— jongkokerer (@jongkokerer) March 13, 2024
Because this 2.5 million servants for 27 million people ain't working too well!
^^^ and that's without austalia maintaining the 'basic economics' of managing and providing roads and power etc.
plus all the outsourcing to 'the big three' and friends... (pwc, kpmg, deloitte)
and contactors doing just about eveything... (ndis, health, etc)
seriously, seems our priorities are all over the shop
Now look at the proportion that are “executive level” 1 and 2. They’re managing 2-5 people at most.
That said, there’s far more money wasted on contractors than public service salaries from what I’ve seen. There’s a whole ‘body-shopping’ recruitment industry that fills holes in government departments, and skims off the top. Average charge to government is about $220k pa per person from what I understand, not that the contractor themselves see that.
A couple of drivers of the large government sector:
1. The expectations of the population for government, as enthusiastically amplified by the media, and election cycle, are just huge.
Story after story saying the government needs to do more, spend more, fill every need that can be imagined. The lobby groups, the NGOs, the media, etc. all hunt for angles to put a case up for the government to do more in their pet area.
2. Often the government is left to do the hard, complex and messy services that the private sector can't or won't do profitably.
One analogy is that the private sector has a self weeding garden where services that are not profitable are just culled or never entered into. Whereas, in an area such as government delivered education, age care or health, the "garden" is full of weeds, over growth and many fragmented "thin markets" that are hard to cull or systemise for efficiency, but if the government or GBE service provider tries to weed the garden there is a public outcry.
All of the above mean government is hugely resource hungry - money and people - even with good intentions.
An organisation can be forced to service tiny markets and then politicians go out and promise even more - the same level of service accessibility in their region or isolated township. Opposing such a plan can be career ending for the manager or even a Departmental head or NGO CEO.
Accessibility, flexibility, responsiveness, customisation, regional coverage, quality, seamless delivery, best practice etc. are wonderful buzzwords and concepts bandied around like confetti but just add layers and layers to costs even when not fully achieved.
Mediocrity is the motto and sadly the business plan. Doesn’t matter when you’re propped up by the public purse.
Good post frog. A lot of truth in that. I particularly liked the “self weeding garden” analogy, spot on. Governments do the shit we need but no one else will touch. If they try to make it more viable, the seagulls flock in and take advantage.
Same people who bitch about too much government are the first to complain when there are problems due to lack of government services.
Want less Teachers, Ambos, Fire fighters, etc etc.?
Are there inefficiencies? yep.
There are in private sector as well.
Andy
An Inefficient Private Sector Business goes Broke and dies , no more Funding .
We all want more Nurses , Police , Town Planners , Fire Fighters etc .
Those are People , ON The Ground , doing Stuff .
Canberra and Spring Street here , they just keep NEEDING and Employing , more fn Advisers !!!
Those People are OFF the Planet , with their Numbers .
The Ref wanted more Advisers , 2 help Politicians , Hand Pass Their WORK !
Strange , how with So many fn People giving Advice to Politicians, we End Up with A No Plan , Plan ( not really strange imho ) .
So much Money is Wasted On getting , the wrong advice .
Leave MOST Stuff 2 Private Business IF Possible .
If its Inefficient , It Dies and we work out something else , without Government Advice .
If its important , a Private Business will Do it efficiently , eventually , as it WILL B Funded .
We could even get the Wagner Group , 2 Defend Australia :)
I bet they would Cut some Costs from our Military Spending .
We might declare War on Russia , so not a prudent Strategy imho .
andy-mac wrote:Same people who bitch about too much government are the first to complain when there are problems due to lack of government services.
Want less Teachers, Ambos, Fire fighters, etc etc.?
Are there inefficiencies? yep.
There are in private sector as well.
And the same people that constantly whinge about governments seem to want their whole life's controlled by governments.
It was insane in Victoria during Covid many on the left seemed to actually enjoy having their life's controlled by the government.
The different between government being inefficient and private sector being inefficient, is if a private company and inefficient in most case's the company dies in the arse, governments federal, state and also councils dont and even if they are so inefficient they get replaced, those that replace them are rarely any better.
More boots on the ground and less bureaucrats please.
Australia ranks right up there with the most heavily governed and bureaucratic countries in the world, even higher than China:
and it's mostly in the state governments, which are massive, inefficient, high waste, poorly managed, money burning monoliths:
Has it not been the case that lots of public servants are sacked and then the govt hires consultants for triple the cost to do the same job??
Yep people taking the piss on both levels, and then some work hard in both sectors.
Fark its not about control but living in a smooth-running civil society, look at the Scandanavian countries and Switzerland, reckon they probably have a bigger public service than us.
Looking at the USA for an example of this big govt is baaad ok, geez what a mess.
gsco mkII wrote:Australia ranks right up there with the most heavily governed and bureaucratic countries in the world, even higher than China:
and it's mostly in the state governments, which are massive, inefficient, high waste, poorly managed, money burning monoliths:
I fully agree. We also have thousands of rules (on all levels of government) that we can't possibly control or administer. The system relies on people blindly following these rules and neighbours dobbing each other in.
And for instance the Australia Institute is continually blowing up (1, 2) about how much public money is spent on private consultancies.
Also, Consultancy.com.au presets a lot of data and analysis (1, 2) of Australia's public sector spending on private consultancies.
We're a high tax, heavily/big governed, highly bureaucratic nanny state that also funnels the peoples' hard earned taxes not only into a massive public bureaucracy at the state level but also into the hands of
- private contractors,
- recruitment agencies and
- consultancies and think tanks
and I would argue at the expense of basic public services.
And there's (supposedly reputable) think tanks and consultancies, such as the Australia Institute, campaigning that Australia is nowhere near taxed heavily enough or nowhere near has a big enough government and public sector...
There's something very wrong there.
Billy Idol summed it up with: what everyone wants from da gubbermint
They cried "More, More, More"
?feature=sharedYet to hear a chorus of "less, less, less"
"Yet to hear a chorus of "less, less, less" "
Except when it comes to taxes. Seagulls.
"...And for instance the Australia Institute is continually blowing up (1, 2) about how much public money is spent on private consultancies.
Also, Consultancy.com.au presets a lot of data and analysis (1, 2) of Australia's public sector spending on private consultancies.
We're a high tax, heavily/big governed, highly bureaucratic nanny state that also funnels the peoples' hard earned taxes not only into a massive public bureaucracy at the state level but also into the hands of
- private contractors,
- recruitment agencies and
- consultancies and think tanks
and I would argue at the expense of basic public services..."
this was my main point
our government doesn't even government anymore...
yet look at that ratio
if government still did the basics like power and water... one might be a bit more understanding...
blackers wrote:"Yet to hear a chorus of "less, less, less" "
Except when it comes to taxes. Seagulls.
I can think of shitloads of others too.
To say that we want "more" government is bullshit.
lees less less...
- DEI bullshit
- nanny state bullshit
- bureaucracy bullshit
- less government meddling generally bullshit
there you go...
you asked for it...
most people I know don't want more of anything... but they all want less of all the above...
and they all vote left!
in a fashion...
or did...
AndyM wrote:I can think of shitloads of others too.
To say that we want "more" government is bullshit.
That wasn't what I was saying, don't disagree with you at all on that. The key word was "from".
By the way, I'm ok with the amount of tax I pay, it's just how it's spent.
um...anyone who calls for less government and less taxes are immediately and swiftly set upon, labeled, abused, discredited and canceled by the massive ideological left blob DEI belonging-and-safety CRT nanny state as being far right neoliberal trickledown economic Trump supporting fascists
the UK recently went through a mighty impressive episode of that
this happens by all the left aligned media, political parties, think tanks, etc, and everyone who benefits from the government acting as a dredge slurping up taxpayer money and spitting it out into their pockets,
the blob itself - the public sector - including the ABC is the main culprit, for obvious reasons
blackers wrote:AndyM wrote:I can think of shitloads of others too.
To say that we want "more" government is bullshit.That wasn't what I was saying, don't disagree with you at all on that. The key word was "from".
Fair enough.
So what do we want from the government?
Apart from the material, like health facilities, education, control of natural monopolies etc, I'd also like this from the government - transparency, honesty, vision for an environmentally sustainable future, a vision for an Australia which doesn't require infinite growth and consumption.
What do I want less of?
Less jobs for the boys, less cronyism, less selling of profitable assets.
@gsco
"anyone who calls for less government and less taxes..."
Because we all know who calls for it and who gets it, don't we?
The call for "smaller government and less taxes" reeks of ideology and greed.
Public sector: the office lads get their work done in 1st hour and spend rest of day RTS gaming against each other
Private sector: the security guard was watching porn for 12 hours and missed a critical incident
bit of anecdata we've heard lately, haha
When a Government Company was Ever Privatised by Listing on the ASX , ALL were considered and Most IPO's were a good investment .
New Managers that just had 2 deliver a Bottom Line , or Else Public Money ( Government sold ) would B Lost .
All were long term Investment as The Fat took time 2 shred .
CSL , Cochlear ,CBA are Big Examples .
Governments were providers of Insurance , Waste Removal , Security , Freeway Building , Railway Lines , Coal Power Stations , Bus Lines , Health Care etc etc .
Are Governments good accountants , Planners , Engineers ?
Here in Vic , our Public ( Government Run ) Hospitals and Schools are really struggling 2 cope atm .
The Private ( No govt. ) Hospitals and Schools are still the Best in the World .
What ARE our Governments good at doing FFS ?
Other than employing expensive advisers !
Very astute article. Worth providing here in full, and the use of an inverted Maslow pyramid to describe today is very interesting. The Australia of my childhood is gone and the change is just so sad to see - the simple stuff like your parents getting a 1/4 acre block for you to play in for 80k in a city. I feel for the younger generations the most, the boomers kids and those that follow: it was so, so different here once.
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2024/03/australias-brave-new-world/
"Australia’s Brave New World
The Australian political economy is transformed…into a mental illness.
From the hopes of personal freedom, fulfilment, and liberalism of the 1980s Boomer generation, we have shifted into a structurally disenfranchised Generation Y with zero prospect of upward mobility.
Wages are low. House prices are impossible. Rents are a moon rocket.
This baleful class warfare cuts across all forms of participation in society.
Whether it is work, politics, or recreation, everything is now an advanced form of gaslighting to protect the psychopathic system.
A society that once privileged egalitarianism has been replaced with an artificial projection of community behind which power collects all the gains.
In politics, Labor stands for capital. Liberals stand for Gangsterism. Greens stand for environmental destruction in league with capital. Independents stand for nothing. Policy process is non-existent.
At work, the economy is layer upon layer of bullshit jobs, stalked by a perpetual supply shock from offshore immigration that crushes wage growth.
Multiple jobs and more hours are the only way to prevent living standards from sliding faster.
In recreation, even sport is not immune. Once iconic national sports are disintegrating as waves of ascorbic multiculturalism wash them away. Commercialism warps rules. Teams and clubs are gladiator cults.
The rise of women’s sports is no better. Clogging airwaves with substandard spectacle yoked to a top-down enforced loyalty that leaches the undertaking of meaning.
That is, if they are women at all. Even sexuality is unsafe. Men are women. Women are men. Pronouns get you sacked. Awkwardness is a felony, even if a pneumatic drag queen serves you advice about concrete at Bunnings.
In the collective forums of discussion about these issues, violent censorship reigns. A mind-controlling autocratic virtue signal radiates from the propaganda towers of the fake left and fake right press in equal measure. It demands loyalty to narrow culture wars over reason and debate.
The only agreement in the fake media binary is that it will not challenge the forces of production driving the entire sickness: the refusal to tackle vested interests on behalf of consumers, the refusal to tackle immigration for affordable accommodation and wages, and the refusal to tackle the extractive firms that gut the earth and government alike.
This seamless convergence of power and capital has robbed younger generations of hope and the individuating urge to rebel.
They seek meaning instead by inverting Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, abandoning their fundamental rights to home and fair pay for the phony self-actualisations broadcast by the system:
But Maslow’s pyramid is a pyramid for a reason. The base is wider because it is the most important. Invert it, and you get what we have today: a generation of psychological dominos that turns rage inwards in pursuit of the infinitesimal.
And what does the psychopathic system do with this angst, anxiety, and rage manifest in losing generations?
It generously labels them “victim” and uses it against them. They are the sick ones, it says, diagnosing millions with behavioural conditions like “neurodivergence” and “ADHD” and prescribing them uppers to cope with homelessness and economic insecurity!
Or, for the genuinely insightful kids who recognise their position is hopeless and slump into righteous depression, the psychopathic system gives them medical marijuana to bomb them out of the way.
All of which is subsidised by your friendly government, which cares about mental health, don’t you know?
And perhaps it is into something.
No sane person can cope sober with the mentally ill system that is Australia’s Brave New World."
Discuss if you feel like it. All opinions welcome.
The "I can't believe it's not politics" thread.