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A lot of people can't see the woods for the trees. Some who are unhappy with the rise in popularity of One Nation delude themselves that the problem is all One Nation and it's supporters who their critics perceive as a bunch of ignorant, redneck idiots. Fact one: One Nation wouldn't be having this rise in popularity if the major parties were doing a half decent job. Fact two: The major parties have been complacent for too long, and as long as they have their comfortable two party system of your turn/my turn without any major threat to their voter base, they will never get any better. For sure, a lot of the rise in One Nation is a protest vote against that laziness, complacency, and disregard for ordinary Australians that a lot of people see in the major parties. The voter erosion to One Nation is the kick in the pants that the status quo needed and still needs. They won't voluntarily get any better, so they need a boot up the rear end like this to to make them get off their backsides and start performing better to provide Australians with what they want and need from a government. If the threat of losing voters in possible election losing numbers keeps the major parties on their toes, in my opinion that has to be a good thing and an incentive to provide good government. I'm not defending One Nation or any other party, but just trying to point out the small minded nature of just blaming One Nation and their supporters and dismissing them as fools. Throwing rocks at them is not going to make them go away. You need to ask yourself why. Why are so many people abandoning parties they have supported for years. The problem the major parties have is not One Nation. The problem is within themselves. They need to ask themselves why do so many people not want to vote for them any more. To be honest, nothing much in politics surprises me, but I have been surprised lately by the sheer numbers of people I run into who say they are changing their vote to One Nation at the next federal election. A lot of these people are the last people in the world where I would have expected to see that. There's a problem for the One nation critics who are stuck in that rut of name-calling, ridicule and stone throwing in their stereotyping of supporters. While they're so distracted doing that, they're not seeing what's really happening. There's a big groundswell of a protest vote building, and I think it will keep rolling. I don't personally think what's happening now is just a flash in the pan. The way I see it, the Greens are immune from it. The Coalition has already taken significant hits and a lot of it by their own hand. And Labor, well I wouldn't be too complacent about if I was one of their supporters. At the moment, they are almost guaranteed to win the next election, and that's about as far ahead as most pollies can think, but they are already starting to bleed blue collar votes and that loss will continue to grow. For anyone who doesn't want to see One Nation grow in size, the challenge is how to create an environment where those lost voters will return. That's where they need to spend their energy. Ridiculing and blaming those lost voters for leaving in the first place is unproductive, and as I said earlier, small minded.

People often express disbelief that a gas making up only 0.04% of the atmosphere could have any meaningful impact. Consider ozone (03). Its concentration varies with altitude, peaking between about 15 km and 35 km at just 2–8 parts per million (ppm). By comparison, carbon dioxide (CO₂) sits around 420–425 ppm and is rising by roughly 2.4–2.6 ppm per year. Ozone exists in far smaller concentrations than CO₂, yet its role is critical—without the ozone layer, life on Earth would not survive. Small percentages can still have enormous effects.

A prodigee of Abbott? Be careful what you ask for.

Coincidentally, I just came across this. I will post a link but here are some highlights. https://reneweconomy.com.au/wild-attack-on-batteries-and-renewables-by-7s-spotlight-program-falls-over-at-the-first-fact-check/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRSvLRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeRENsgXVWg03njVcjEv25LrV4q7XUJEVAYcOkDfurOU4zO3LDDzae9NSaOn8_aem_LVPR3uKcuhqbLOHAX9gfnA Spotlight, the so-called flagship current affairs program on the 7 network, dedicated more than an hour on Sunday evening on a report into the supply chains feeding into the renewables and EV industries, with a particular focus on cobalt mines in the Congo, and also activities in Australia. It was amplified on Murdoch and social media. It fell over at the very first fact-check. “Every battery, every electric vehicle, every piece of so-called clean energy technology today” uses cobalt, reporter Liam Bartlett claimed at the start of the program. Wrong. Nearly every big battery installed in Australia these days uses (LFP) lithium iron phosphate chemistry, which means no cobalt, and no nickel (that’s relevant because Bartlett did a similar hit job on the nickel industry last year, using that as a platform to attack EVs and renewables). Tesla, the biggest supplier to big batteries in Australia, now uses only LFP batteries for grid scale batteries. No cobalt. The two big batteries at Liddell and Tomago being built for AGL Energy by Fluence are LFP. No cobalt. A spokesperson for Fluence said all its batteries in Australia use LFP. “We don’t use cobalt.” Finland-based Wartsila, which is building the country’s biggest grid battery at Eraring for Origin Energy, also uses only LFP for its battery projects in Australia. No cobalt. It’s a similar story with EVs. Tesla, for instance, uses only LFP chemistry for most of the variants of its best selling Model Y and the Model 3. No cobalt. It uses NMC chemistry (which does include cobalt) only in “performance” variants, which amounts to about 10 per cent of sales. Home batteries, which are now being installed at record rates in Australia, are the same. New market leader Sigenergy uses only LFP chemistry, so no cobalt, as does another market leader Sungrow, and most others. Bartlett claims to be appalled by the conditions in some cobalt mines in the Congo, and the nickel mine in Indonesia. And so he should be. So should everyone. But the inconvenient truth is that these mines have been operating for decades, and cobalt has been used widely in many industries. The mineral is essential for the iPhone that Bartlett presumably uses, for the laptop he writes his stories on, for the jet engines that flew him from Australia to Africa, and for widespread use in medicine (hip and knee replacements), the petroleum industry, the manufacture of tools, for construction, for cosmetics, and even ceramics. The use of cobalt in EV and grid batteries is relatively new, and is already moving on. Where it is used, most EV makers are at pains to point out that the mineral does not come from such mines, and they produce blockchain style tracking reports to underline their claims. But Bartlett did not seem particularly interested in balance, or inconvenient detail. His story had three major themes – he doesn’t like the Chinese, he doesn’t like renewables and EVs, and he doesn’t like federal energy and climate minister Chris Bowen. “Bowen’s fanatical approach, aided and abetted by a conga line of true believers and latte-sipping Teal supporters is now set to send the country into bankruptcy,” Bartlett wrote in an op-ed also published on 7’s website. Bartlett – was global head of TV, creative visual at oil giant Shell in London from 2013-2015

This is where you lose me, with the kind of thinking that enables a fascist regime. It's the "yes Trump is bad, BUT..." thing. It's like saying "Yes Hitler was bad, but goddam it, real Germans could get a job." Trump is actively dismantling democracy in the USA. He doesn't have a single thought for the people of the US, except how to continue deceiving them so Donald J Trump and his dynasty can profit from them. The only reason Trump ever mentions immigrants (in Minnesota, which has less than most states but has a governor he hates) is to dog-whistle his white nationalist base and sow hatred and division. We don't need a Trump or any version of him. Democracy is not supposed to be exciting. It's meant to be calm, boring and safe. We are an immigrant nation, just ask the original inhabitants. If you can show me actual statistics that show that crime rates are higher among recent immigrants than those whose ancestors moved here between 40 years to 60,000 years ago, then go ahead. (Statistics does not mean sensationalist crap from Sky News or any Murdoch rag).

The Moon Photos from Artimus II

Absolute shite. Trump couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery.

Did his lips move?

The bestest goldest world leader has got it covered. Already, the *resident of the United States now states that the reason for this war (which isn't a WAR) is to destroy the nuclear weapons program that he claims to have already destroyed last year, while simultaneously claiming that the objective of the war is to open the strait of Hormuz that was already open before he started the war, but he is not going to open it. He doesn't need anyone's help to win the war. He already won the war on the first day anyway, and is currently winning the war, but demands help to win the war, and needs no help to win the war. I hope this clears up any confusion, which was all caused by corrupt Democrat fake news outlets.

I rarely repost Farcebook pages, but this one is spot on ...... "Senator Claude Malhuret stood up in the French Senate this week and systematically torched every single member of Trump's cabinet. Nobody was spared. Not one. "A year ago, here in France, I compared Trump's presidency to Nero's Court. I was wrong. It's the miracle court," Malhuret began. Then he went through the roster. "An anti-vaxxer, former heroin addict as Minister of Health." (That's RFK Jr) "A climate-skeptic Minister of Economy." (That's Scott Bessent) "An alcoholic TV host, Minister of the Armed Forces." (That's Pete Hegseth) "An old Qatar agent, Minister of Justice." (That's Pam Bondi, whose former firm collected $115,000 a month lobbying for Qatar) "A groupie of Putin, Minister of National Security." (That's Tulsi Gabbard) Then he pulled back and went bigger. "A Turkish proverb says: When a clown settles in a palace, he does not become king. It is the palace that becomes a circus." Malhuret pointed out that since Trump created his so-called Board of Peace, he has launched more military strikes than Biden did in his entire term. He called out the Boeing jet Qatar gifted Trump worth $400 million. He called out the stock market manipulation that only insiders benefit from. He called out the Gulf investment deals enriching Trump and his family. "Any one of these conflicts of interest would have caused an immediate procedure of impeachment here," Malhuret said. "But we are not here. We are in MAGA's America where public business is conducted in favor of private interests." Then came the line that cut deepest. "Every time the Epstein affair resurfaces, bombs explode somewhere in the world and cause a distraction." This is how the world sees us now. Not through Fox News. Not through Truth Social. Through the cold, clear eyes of allied nations watching a great country be hollowed out by crooks. Every American should hear this speech. Share it everywhere."

I know I shouldn't post this, and Nev will drag me over the coals, but this way I can say I had a head job from an Asian lady at the shopping centre for $15, and not be lying.

He's just an uncouth C**t.

Totally agree regarding Induction cooking. We installed a Bosch Induction cooktop back in 2008. Then it cost about $3,500.00 but the performance was amazing. While it had 4 cooking zones there was a power option than combined 2 of the zones together with the output in 1 zone. It would boil a litre of water from cold in 45 seconds. Control is superb and instant & the cooking surface never gets baked on spillages as it stays cool only getting hot from the transfer of heat from the bottom of the pot. We are renovating the house we purchased last year & installing a new kitchen. Cooking appliances are all AEG & the induction cooktop has a matt finish which is very scratch resistant & is wirelessly connected to the rangehood so the lights & fan are switched on & the speed managed automatically while cooking & both together cost less that the original Bosch from 2008.

Had an interesting morning this morning. I was at a funeral recently and bumped into an old mate I hadn't seen for many years. In the time since I last saw him, he's retired and has been making acoustic guitars for a hobby. Today I went around and he showed me a few of the guitars and where he makes them in his shed. He's a carpenter/builder by trade so already had quite a lot of the tools and some of the required woodworking skills. They're nice guitars, mostly all dreadnaughts, and all Australian timbers. He uses a lot of silky oak on the bodies and grey gum for necks and other parts. I seem to remember the Australian brand Maton using Australian timbers.

This one has been seen before, but worth a rerun.

It's all Litespeed's fault. He mentioned Abbott on page one, and that was enough to send Nev into his usual rants. DO NOT mention anything other than Ukraine reports in this thread. If you must, start a new topic.

Well he didn't impress the Hungarians neither did Just Dumb Vance. The UK & the EU have a collectively larger economy by some margin than the US & Trump has alienated the rest of Nato and pretty much everyone else. The only thing the US has is a bigger military with the biggest most sophisticated weapons and some excellent technology though no better than Europe, China or even Australia. The problem is the country is run by the billionaires with Trump as their figurehead. The US has never been invaded but they are always at war with someone as well as themselves. They haven't invented many things on their own but have exploited most of the inventions from elsewhere, mostly the UK & Europe. The UK & Europe have some very large armament companies but have been happy to play second fiddle while the US has provided most of the defence hardware. Not any more. The invasion of Ukraine and Trumps re election has changed everything, The US is an empire in decline, it is already technically bankrupt and Trump is costing the county dearly. I don't know when it will eventually implode but I am sure it will eventually. There are companies that have been deemed to big to fail like GM but there is nothing that will save a country when it all turns to custard/

When anyone presents a quote, I always look for its source. I can't find any evidence that this was ever said. 🔎 Where the “2 metres in 10 years” claim comes from There is no verifiable speech, interview, or document where Al Gore says: Sydney Harbour will rise 2 metres in 10 years What does exist is a mix of: 1. 🌊 Misinterpreted statements from An Inconvenient Truth In An Inconvenient Truth, Gore discusses: Potential multi-metre sea level rise But only if major ice sheets collapse And over long timescales (decades to centuries) Some critics later compressed that into “he predicted metres soon”, and then it got shortened again into “2 metres in 10 years”—which is not what he said. 2. 🧩 Blending with other exaggerated or wrong claims Online posts often mix together different claims, for example: “20 feet (≈6 metres)” long-term possibilities General warnings about future flooding Local places like Sydney or New York added in later Over time, these get stitched into a fake quote that sounds specific and outrageous. 3. 📱 Social media meme evolution Fact-checkers have looked at similar Sydney-specific claims and found: Memes often use photos of Sydney Harbour to “prove” no change These ignore tides and proper measurement Long-term data actually shows rising sea levels, not flat or falling Once those memes circulate, people attach a made-up quote to them (like the Gore one) to give them credibility. 4. 📊 Real data contradicts the narrative Sea levels have risen 15–25 cm since 1901 globally Sydney tide gauges show a clear upward trend, not just 2 mm total So the “only 2 mm” part is also misleading—it cherry-picks or misunderstands data. 🧠 What’s really going on here This claim is basically a game of telephone: Real science: “multi-metre rise possible over long timeframes” Simplified: “metres of rise could happen” Distorted: “metres soon” Meme version: “2 metres in 10 years in Sydney” By the end, it sounds like a bold failed prediction—but it was never actually said. ⚖️ Bottom line ❌ No evidence Gore made that 10-year, 2-metre prediction ❌ The Sydney Harbour example is added later, not original ⚠️ The claim is a fabricated quote built from distortions ✅ Actual measurements show gradual, real sea level ris

Here's the Moon in 1969. I have a set of slides given to me by a photo lab for professional photographers in Sydney CBD. I've kept them all this time and only scanned them in Sep 2024. I can post more If you want to see them, there's 19 all up, different scenes.

And for all the Trump and Netanyahu fanbois... Tell me again what "the master of the deal" has done for America? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-08/donald-trump-cedes-ground-to-iran-before-negotiations-even-begin/106541368 After being fooled into this war by a war criminal, Trump has: - caused devastation to life and infrastructure in Iran - spent billions of US taxpayers money on a war they didn't want or need - depleted the US armory - caused mayhem around the middle east - raised prices around the world due to fuel and transportation costs, along with associated shrinking of tourism etc - trashed America's reputation even more - put money back in Putin's coffers enabling him to continue the Ukraine invasion. And in return for all this pain, felt worldwide, what has he accomplished? Nothing. If anything, the Iranian regime will come out of this with more than they started with. Not only will sanctions be removed, they will be making money, Mafia-style, from any ship using the Strait of Hormuz. No regime change. No democracy. No stopping of their nuclear program. And you think this pathetic creature is doing right for the US? Don't make me laugh.

When the war finished they had a lot of Japanese held in pow type camps awaiting repatriation back to Japan. In a lot of them they didn't have allied soldiers guarding them, they were doing it themselves. One night my dad and his mate were returning back to camp from a local watering hole and walked past one of the camps. All hell broke loose, the sentry called the alarm and the camp commandant roused the whole camp of Japanese out of bed to form up on the parade ground. He got my dad and his mate who were full as a boot to inspect the troops. The old man said it was one of the craziest experiences he had over there, two private ranked Australians with the wobbly boot on walking up and down the Japanese ranks inspecting them. He told me they hammed it up a bit and did a fairly dodgy officer impersonation to give the commandant a bit of face.

It's been hanging over him for years. Kerry Stokes tried to assist him and I don't blame Kerry for that. We Train soldiers to Be effective killing Machines and expect them to still Be NORMAL. I see that as a quandary. What HE did was awful but WAR is not a Normal situation, A lot of returned Soldiers are Ruined by what they have seen and done. It used to be called Shellshock. The People who start the Wars are the REAL criminals. Nev

For sure that is what he says. But the easily found facts do not show any signs of USA improving the lives of ordinary people. However, the (minority) wealthiest are doing just fine, and Trumpy's family are achieving great wealth. So I choose to see him as a liar, motivated solely by self interest. No, I have neither rage nor agression. Only disappointment. Ours is a similar path to that which has led USA to it's present situation. One which Trump seems to be accelerating. We should take that as a warning. But then along came synthetics (oil based) and we fell off the sheep's back. Then failed to monetise our mining industry, which only benefits a minority. I hold both major political parties for this, as do a lot of USAnians for their situation. Thank you. I am not trying to convince you. I am only trying to explain why I feel the way I do, about current politics. My only proviso is that I believe if someone important tells lies or bullies others, it should be called out. Anyone, whatever race, gender, political party. It seems to me that Trump consistently makes himself an easy target, and I see no proof of him "Making America Great".

The problem with Trump is that beyond quoting a slogan, he has no vision that he can articulate as to how to achieve what he allegedly wants for the country. On the other hand, it's very clear what he wants for himself - power, respect or fear (doesn't matter which), and money. His personality is that of a liar and cheat, and the energy and drive he has is all aimed at his own political survival and personal enrichment. As for Australia, if we had an outstanding and far-sighted politician who had a clear vision for improving the country and making it more self-sufficient that made sense to the voting population, he/she would likely be given a chance to implement their agenda.

Well all I see is people losing their minds over a guy who only wants for his country to be the best. How you get there of course is the methods you use. Why dont you point all your agression and comments and pontifications to the dickheads who lead our country down into the shi#t chute we are heading into. We are a Island..we dont have nutjobs on any of our borders than can just walk in. We have done our best over the past 30 plus years ( thanks to keatings globalization push) to defang and deindustrialize to a point now where we are a joke. We used to be self sufficient in power and oil and manufacturing pretty much anything we wanted. Exported all around the world and had a balance of trade far in excess of the situation we have in this country currently. Now we are a weak pissy shadow of our former selves. Both political parties are responsible for this terrible decline the problem is they are still in that mindset. We need someone to come in and reshape us. I am not saying thats Trump but we need someone with a big set of khunas or boobies..I dont care who it is just someone with the conviction that Trump seems to have. Not his runaway mouth but his drive and vision for a better country. If that makes me a racist or a woke hater in your eyes then so be it.Thats your opinion !...I have a thick skin and sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. Oh and I am aloowed to still have a opinion dont I...I mean if I offend you with what I have said..then good...its not illegal to offend anyone...yet. well the current govt seems to want to try to even take that away from us. What ever happened to common sense and critical thinking to run your country. We have the resources here to be one of the wealthies countrys in the world and give the population here a lifestyle that could rival anywhere in the world. Wether you are born here or immigrated here I dont care. If you have immigrated here dont bring your shit here or try to convert what we are or the way we want to live. We are Australians..well we used to be...sometimes I really wonder who or what we will become in the future as I can not currently see any path forward to a better country under our current and ever former numbskulls Now you have a opinion in my view and I ont or probably wont be offended by whatyou say. I will listen and make up my own mind of what I keep on board what you say or discard it into the rubbish bin of ideas..be they sane or insane

Starter motor for wills Merlin powered bike

Pure right wing American, MAGA-land, unadulterated BS. This part is especially untrue - "The contradiction being that Europe’s energy systems, industrial bases, and geopolitical sermons 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝-𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭." Europes energy systems don't ALL depend on America. They get energy from Russia, from Norway, Azerbaijan, and Algeria for pipeline natural gas. They ship in millions of tonnes of Australian canola and turn it into transportation fuel. They ship in Uranium for nuclear power plants from Canada, Kazhakstan and Australia. They have huge hydro, windpower and solar energy projects. They have diversified their energy suppliers since the start of the Ukraine War. And at the end of the day, European consumers of energy use around one-quarter of the average American energy user. They drive fuel-efficient vehicles and EV's, not gigantic V8 fuel guzzling urban assault vehicles, and even their homes only use modest levels of energy because they're well insulated. It is pure American propaganda. The Europeans are primarily seeking a ceasefire, as they see massive global upheaval, a huge global recession, high interest rates, and vastly increased levels of unemployment, if this idiocy of Trump and his sycophants is left unchecked.

Remember.... Never interrupt your enemy whilst they are shooting themselves in the foot. (Or summat like that)

Jeezus Jerry, I'm almost afraid to say anything now in case it brings forth another 50,000 words of reply! 😄 Look. If you want to ignore the almost daily reports of civilian killings, starvation, refusing to allow food and medical delivery by truck or ship, lack of any legal consequence for extrajudicial killings, targeting of noncombatants, etc - that's up to you. And no one is trying to hold Israel to any higher standard than anyone else. Is Hamas a terrorist organisation that should be disarmed? Of course it is. Do you keep killing a country's civilians until that terrorist organisation is disarmed? No you bloody don't. And as for throwing around the anti-semitic label at anyone who dares to speak out against Israel's invasions - Lebanon too now, as well as Iran - that's just lazy. I'm totally against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump's invasions of Venezuela and Iran, Hamas's October 7th invasion of Israel, and anyone else who takes uninvited military action in a country that isn't theirs. But because I'm also against Netanyahu's invasions of Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, I'm somehow anti semitic?

He should have stuck with drinking and philandering. Now he's God's Minister for War.

Be careful underestimating Hegseth. It's easy to bring up things like excessive drinking, adultery and the like, but that is not what he is like now. At some stage after that sort of behaviour, Hegseth found God. He joined a fundamentalist Christian Evangelical church and changed his ways. Was that a good result? No. The church he joined is the worst kind of fundamentalist. White supremist; all other religions are the Devil's creation. If you compared Hesgeth with the Ayotollah, you would find that the only dissimilarity was the god they beleived was the only one. In all other ways they are exactly the same. So for Hegseth, what he is doing to Iran is not to stop nuclear proliferation, but it is the fundamentalist Christian Evangelical version of a jihad.

I am hoping the Facebook friend invitations from Desi Freeman will now stop.

The news about the U.S. bases damage, is largely correct. The U.S. military themselves have admitted damage has been incurred at 13 U.S. bases in the Middle East, with DoW damage estimations of around US$800M. There are other reports saying the number of bases seriously damaged is actually 17, and the total repair bill for all the Iranian damage is likely to exceed US$3B - and more importantly, take years to rebuild, simply because of the complexity of the equipment in the bases, and the requirement for a lot of electronic replacements, that are still in short supply from COVID-era restrictions. Even many car manufacturers are taking shortcuts in vehicle manufacturing, and leaving out optional equipment that is electronics-heavy, due to the ongoing chip shortage. What our dopey Tangerine Toddler doesn't understand, is that Taiwan may now even make overtures to China to form an alliance, to prevent a Taiwan-China war. This is because Taiwan is starting to realise that their major ally is no longer a reliable ally - and is likely incapable of protecting/supporting Taiwan in the event of a Chinese aggressive military move on them. If that alliance happens, China will then control the majority of the worlds cutting-edge chip manufacturing, and give Trump and his sycophants another dose of heartburn, because America still hasn't got any local chip manufacturing sorted yet. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddq7j48p35o https://defencesecurityasia.com/en/us-bases-uninhabitable-iran-missile-strikes-centcom-force-posture-2026-war/

That's a pretty high ranking.

True. But Oscar was NOT armless, was he! But he didn't have a leg to stand on.

But, it is OK to bag, but I also prefer to offer some solutions. This has previously been discussed on these forums. but a couple from memory: Ban political donations more than a de minimis amount from one controlling person/group (to make it hard to create 100 cmpanies and each of them contribute a seaparate donation to the limit). Maybe restrict it to living people rather than corporations. I would personally advocate a ban on lobbying groups and companies. If you have something to say to the government, it can be done through a public forum where everyone gets to hear it and scrutinise it. And contribute to it. If not point 2, ban parliamentarians from lobbying or representing/being emeployed by firms in any official or real capacity that involves communication - directly or indirectly - with the government. Period. No cooling off periods, etc. Aussie media regulator, ACMA, being given real teeth over both mainstream and social media, which must have independence, legally trained/accomplished people adjudicating, where they can impose real consequences/punishment for intentionally misleading the public. Those impacted can appeal through the court systems if they want. Of course, paid advertorials that are clearly labelled as such would be exempt, however, if the publisher reasonably had facts that rebuke such advertorials, then they have to state this prominently either before or after ther advertorial. A new "offence" is intrroduced of high public misconduct (there is a public misconduct charge which is applying a damp wetted to the wrist very softly). For this, the bar should be recklessness in its criminal definition( foresaw the consequences that are likely to happen, didn't want them to happen, but went ahead with the action anyway) or intention. In other words simple incompetence or even negligence do not count. So, unless the polly clearly states the likely outcome of their policy, and it results in an absurd and large cost to Australians and the benefit promised doesn't materialise, they can be held liable, with the punishment being they and their controilling interests (so, for example, not hiding assets with a partner or company or whatever) can be held finalcially responsible (i.e. having to pay what they can back). The above offence would automatically include acting on prohibited lobbying. I am sure I could think of many more things, but I bet with the above, there would be far more transparent and hopefully logical and rational decisions made in the best interests of the country as a whole.

He's the ultimate snake oil salesman. Back in the early 1900s, travelling salesmen would sell "miracle cures" to naive country folk. Said remedies did absolutely nothing, of course, except leave the victim poorer and still sick. Trump is exactly the same. A liar and braggart. Promised to "drain the swamp" when in fact he's the biggest alligator ever to inhabit any level of government. Promised to "make America great again" and has only made it worse. Promised to make ordinary people's lives better and has only raised prices, lowered healthcare, and made billionaires richer. Promised to start no wars and has invaded multiple countries. A rapist, fraudulent, morally (and multiple financially) bankrupt huckster who has fooled the religious into believing he's god's choice. Someone totally devoid of tact, empathy, diplomacy or character. In fact, if you were to say "Apart from death row inmates, who is the public figure with the least Presidential qualities?", the answer would be "Donald Trump".

Gina and her old man are/were just greed merchants of the highest order. Lang Hancock was a money-grubbing grub who used smart lawyer/accountants to initially write up an iron ore royalty agreement whereby he got 2.5% of all monies earned from a number of iron ore leases that he'd pegged - in perpetuity. The second thing he did was set up a major trust to avoid paying any tax on that massive amount of money. So Rio Tinto pays this family multiple tens of millions each year for no effort whatsoever on their part, and they pay zero tax on it - until the Hancock Trust is dismantled. That's why Gina spent hundreds of millions on lawyers and court cases to stop her children from dismantling the Handcock Trust. She succeeded. She paid her children a few tens of millions to keep them from grabbing more of the billions in the Trust. Gina married an American tax evasion expert, one Frank Rinehart, who narrowly avoided going to jail for tax fraud. He wound up with a suspended jail sentence. He was a crook who taught Gina all about tax evasion and how to manipulate laws to keep winning unfair gains. Frank Rinehart was a total fraud, he lived a double life with another woman while he was married to Gina. Gina believes she's the only one entitled to W.A.'s iron ore wealth, as her family pegged the first iron ore leases - and that everyone in Australia should genuflect to the Hancock dynasty and thank them eternally for the huge efforts the Hancocks have made to build up Australia. The truth is, they're nothing more than 20th and 21st century robber barons. https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-man-who-came-between-gina-and-her-father-20120622-20tll.html

The problem the Democrats have is that they aren't organised and don't have an obvious plan for what they want, apart from getting rid of Trump's mob. They need to work out their version of a Project 2025 type manifesto that makes sense for the country and that they can sell to the public before the 2028 elections. I think Project 2025 was a disaster for democracy in the USA, but it unfortunately showed what can be done if you get organised.

I like the rest of your post, except for this bit. I think you are not allowing for the rapidly rising number of households that are what you call 'jumping the gun'. My solar and battery do all the smoothing needed for my intermittent solar. It has hardly stopped raining for a fortnight, and my battery dropped down to 80%. That is, nil from the grid in that time. A lot of people (finances permitting) are not waiting for the government to solve the problem.

I think that's called having a nonsensical worldview then building fairy castle assumptions to support it.

I think they should be banned & all political advertising taken down on election day. I was in NZ for a wedding last month & there were differing opinions of Jacinda Adern. She won a landslide victory in her second term but had become a victim of the very left and resigned early. She handled the Christchurch massacre and Covid very well and became well known around the world. She was a great leader when NZ needed one. The current PM is not a leader at all & the NZ economy is not doing well. Of course it is all Jacindas fault.

My daughter is looking for a big Yank ute. I told her to wait a couple of months and people will be giving them away.

Sorry, GON but I have zero sympathy for you. And some people meekly pay a fine that is ridiculously easy to get out of. As I said, I have failed to vote on 3 occasions and paid zero fines. If you are paying fines it is because you choose to. It is perhaps a question of "what have the Romans ever done for us" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc7HmhrgTuQ We live in a country with pretty good health, although like most things in life, it has it's problems; however, it doesn't tend to bankrupt people as it does in the US. If you believe you get nothing because you live in the bush, then move. I lived in the bush for 21 years and loved it, but I understood that in having the peace and quiet of a lovely bush block, I could not whine about not having the services of the city. There is a connection between the country life you enjoy and the 37km drive into town. If the facilities of a town were just down the road from your property, then you would be complaining about the amount of traffic. When I lived in the bush, I enjoyed the "solitude" but by the very definition of that word, services were further away. You can't realistically have both. So what is it that the non-Anglos get in the bush that you don't? I thought you moved to the bush so you would have to mix with non-Australians Again, why pay it at all? There are plenty of ways of avoiding it. So, exactly what is it you want? Do you want a post office built across the road from your property? You just can't have everything, the solitude a remote property must come at a cost, it is only "remote" because it is a "remote" If you think I am a city person who doesn't understand well, as I said, I have lived this life. It was great, with pros and cons, but worth it, and I never whinged about it because to me whinging about the place you live is lioke saying I have made a bad choice.

It will only be fair if all fossil fuel tax breaks including excise exemptions on diesel are removed. The same for FBT on leases. For decades we have propped up fossil fuels and bussiness vechicles and now EVs are popular they want to change the rules. Yes, we should get taxes for the infrastructure, we should also be taxing the environmental harm- which is far more expensive.

Oh, well let's see that the MAGA Master of name calling does: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump Yet the minute someone offends his sensibilities, he is on the line to defamation lawyers. Now, who else has been on the line to defamation lawyers when people call her names? I reserve the right to bag anyone I think is not doing the right thing - that is a cherished right of freedom of speech... But I won't bag them without at least there being evidence to do so, unlike others aforementioned. @Siso - We all get your argument - she is playing within the rules so bag the pollies for not changing the rules and not the ones playing within the rules. If life were that black and white, it would be a better place. But the reality she and her ilk have resources and access to disproportionately bend the wilingness of the rule makers to their aims and objectives and they are not afraid to use it. Yep - she employs a lot of people, directly and indirectly. But she couldn't without all the other infrastructure that is in place from roads to education to provide those people she emplys. Yet, she is not willing to pay for it. When proposal for rule chnages are made to even up the playing field, she is in there pulling no stops to make sure those rules don't see the light of day, let alone get passed. So, too are her ilk; Palmer comes to mind, but all the faceless corporation heavyweights - ironically those owned by foreign investors.. The one thing is at least Gina's companies are Aussie owned. You can sit through the "well, she is playing by the rules, so blame the pollies as they can change the rules." Yes, in theory, but the backlash Gina and her ilk can unleash means pollies are very well constrained in what they can do. And the billionaires aren't the only ones. We had the BLF, and today we have the CMFEU (or whatever); Good ol' Jacinta Allan seems to be in their back pocket. Hard for her to change the rules to be more fair when her sponsors (and in her case, her husband) are calling shots behind the curtain.

They don't all Have 37 Billion to buy their way into everything. She will replace them with robots without batting an eye lid. ALL she cares about is Making more Money for Herself. No one want's that kind of thing to be Happening within their Government. It's NOT good for the Country. Gina's on record saying Paying a fine is ok for ALL crimes and Workers are worth 2 Dollars a day. She's No Angel. Nev