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Shoebridge is another reason I've given up on the Greens. Nev

Here is someone who has a plan to help people. I haven't seen the whole press conference, but we need more people in politics thinking like this: Note, it is mainly foreign shareholders that really benefit from the current arrangements and yes, business won't like it, but when there's enough money still to be made, they will stay Norway, Qatar, and a host of others have proved it.

I am not meaning to be a sinophobe, but China is positioning itself to be a global superpower like no other. Like the many countries but more recent stark examples such as Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, they start with a cheap labour force and other factors of production and start manufacturing the basic goods.. almost commoditised types of goods. It is cheap, breaks and generally OK to throw away after a while But then they invest in technology and manufacturing processes and their cheap goods soon become durable and relatively high quality. You only have to look at the Chinese car manufacturing industry to see how that has come leaps and bounds in a very short period of time - about 10 years in major exports (yes, they have had a domestic car industry for much longer time and they have been exporting cars for a longer time, too.. but not at mass scale as today). Certainly in my life time, Australia never really enjoyed comparatively lower costs of labour or other factors of production. So we are always going to struggle to compete. Although there was a vibrant manufacturing sector, it was largely domestic.. Now, China is advancing into the high tech manufacturing and doing a good job of it. But unlike the other countries named, there are two major differences: the population and size of the economy as its wealth from exports increases.. and the government still has largely autocratic control and it decides on the allocation of resources, unlike western type economies where managers focusing on the short term share price and bonuses as a result decide the allocation of resources. And the Chinese government plans for the long term. With a cashed up government thanks to exports and control over industry, China is perfectly placed rise to be the (not a) global superpower. That is a little dramatic but not improbable. Sorry for the thread drift.

No so good for union apparently https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-09/live-updates-england-vs-wallabies-nations-championship/107351328?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other And according to the article, England have beaten Australia 12 of yhe last 14 times. Money back in England is not going to be fun

A good day for Australia in the World Cup. The women beat Fiji 30-14 followed up by the men 44-12 over Samoa. The finals next Sunday at Lang Park, Australia vs New Zealand in both the men's and women's.

Way down upon the Swanee River. Nev

Correct.

Old time rock and roll

Correct.

You can see examples all over the World. China is in the best Position with a Large Population able to afford stuff. No one can Match them. Nev

No one can ever say what the size of our population would have to be before we stop saying it's too low for mass production industries. Would it have to be 50million?, 100 million?, 1 billion?, before we think it's high enough to start making things?

I rest my case, M'Lord.

Our population is too Low to support mass production Industries. We would rely massively on exporting it. We are also a long way from most Markets and transport costs are rising and are more risky. Nev

Murdoch Monopoly Press,TV and Radio, LIES constantly about all this to achieve his self interested Aim . I call that FRAUD.. In Queensland, his coverage is by far the Highest. being almost total. Most of the ABC staff are ex Murdoch Employees. Nev

Primary Industries and Mining really don't do much to make a Nation economically strong. While both those industries generate income, they only generate service jobs for the rest of the community. Look at teh nations which became great, starting with Britain, then Europe and the USA and now China and India. Greatness came from making stuff from raw materials, not simply providing the raw materials.

Compare it to other countries and you will get a better Picture. How much is in Infrastructure and Defence? Population is Also growing. Money into Houses rather than Factories. Still retaining the AAA rating is significant as that affects the Interest rate Gov't have to Pay on Borrowings. Nev

Yep and the LNP continued to grow it at the same rate from 2013 to 2019.. switch looks very different to what the curve looks like since Albo came to power.. But that was my point.. Albo's government in real terms has flat lined debt - actually reduced it; yet the press are blaming him for the high debt levels caused by previous governments both LNP and ALP

If you ignore the covid era hump in the line, it's almost a straight upward trending line from about one year into the first Rudd government to where we are now.

Australia is actually doing alright but you won't see that expressed often here.. Nev

Ahhh.. Blame the current bloke for the previous guy's failings. In the current value of money, here is Australia's debt curve... Adjusted for inflation of course.. So, the total debt in today's money has reduced slightly since 2022 not long after Albo had taken over. The graph steadily increases since the previous ALP government, continues during the LNP (we'll excuse the rate of increase over the 2 year COVID period).. Albo gets in and it steadily reduces, with a slight increase but still below the levels he took over. Yep, I agree.. with pollies, it's other people's money. But it clearly isn't Albo's debt - it is the previous guys.. the ones a lot of people think are the safe pair of hands with the economy because that's what the media owners want them to think. He could do his bit to reduce the debt further - property tax gas exports, reduce corporate welfare, etc. But the press don't like that.

Probably Rembrandt Square.. Nev

Aren't those Christmas lights in a certain section of Amsterdam?

Interesting assessment of the likely rationale behind Musk deciding to spend nearly half a billion dollars on the election and what the Republican loss may be costing him.