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Fine. A nice step, but only a little step. When do you think they will address the big players who offshore their profits to avoid tax? A few billion recovered there would help Australia's bottom line.

Albo has never held a real Job, always was a labor lackey, so what he lived in social housing and his Mum was a single parent, this did not set him up to be the prime minister of this great country, many of us emigrant(i came here 56 years ago), when you could walk to a new job the next day if you didnt like it always was more jobs than workers, then came the labor /socialist party to power ,downhill we all went , rents went up, morgage went up, fuel went up, labor spend like there is no tomorrow,taxes go up,yada yada yada, why do we as a nation keep voting these no talent pollies (on both sides) to power, we are not all fools, is it because the 2 party system splits us into different sides, the greens are a waste of taxpayers money to pay them, indepentants never achieve much at all ,One Nation seems to attract some strange people (but i do like the sentiments they espouse). we need strong politicians that see that our back is now up against the wall and take strong measures to counter this, relying on asia for our fuel is stupid, asians think we are all racist in Aus, they can bring us to our knees anytime they want, we as a country cannot survive without fuel and forget going full solar it is not ideal for the vastness of our great country, immigration should be stopped completely we are full up . As a country we need to go fully independant for our safety and advancement, yes i think we should go slightly isolationist for a while bring us back to a even keel, I am in the last years of my life , so wont see changes but i hope my kids and grandkids do

I believe nothing will change in this country until it becomes a basket case like Argentina became. Then everyone has to swallow a very bitter pill to get back on track like their current hard line president has started a massive turnaround there. The gate has been left open for far too long and it currently cant be closed because of the mindset of our politicians who do not have any true life experience. 90% of the dicks in power are either lawyers or trade union rejects or stupid Green idealogs . Digging stuff up out of the ground then sending it overseas to be value added then we idiots buy it back at a much higher price. China for example. Trade is one thing but self flaggilation is another. This process has been going on so long now It is almost impossible to reverse it. Reset is the current term thrown around but it does seem to me that that is probably the only real solution. The horse has bolted for such a long time the process to catch the bastard and put it back in the paddock is nigh impossible now. The only solution is to start again but to do that pretty much everything has to be torn down and that is a very grim prospect. This is a very dim and dark view I know but it is possible if you can get the ones in charge to change their mindset but again how realistic is this.? We are one of the very few countries of the world that has every resource you could want to be self sufficient...the one problem is the money to do it. This is where we could get international investment to start these projects but not like it was in the 70's and 80's where multinationals raped out resources at ridiculous prices because they were not taxed properly or business deals were not setup properly as it should have been a profit sharing model not the way it was. The tax system needs to be different. Yes profit is key to any investor. So why not setup a system where you can get the money to actually rebuild our manufacturing and energy production for outside but do not tax the crap out of the investor companies. Let them keep a reasonable profit and not taxed stupidly. Lets face it the current tax system does not work as they are all offshore and dont pay tax here they just rip the max money out in profit and pay no real tax because of our stupid taxation system. So drop the tax and say of 50% of the profit goes to them to make it worth while for them to inject the huge amount of cash for the projects and the Australian private company keeps the other 50%. The private company then they do pay a nominal tax on their profit say 15%. If the partner is the government well they get to keep the 50% profit and use it to put back into the infrastructure of the country. Just throwing the idea out there...the ratios could be different but the current tax system is so broken it needs a totally different approach that will benefit our country yet makes the profitability for the overseas partner very viable. This is all a bit radical I know but we need major change and radical change is the only way to get something differnet happening because currently we are all swirling around the dunny bown about to go down through the S bend. I am no economist or genius but surely doing the same shit and nothing is getting better only worse so something has to change. You know every single person I talk to in my life says they never voted for Albo..well buggered if I know then how he got in. Labor has alway been a socialist organization..but something changed. The old Labor like the Hawke era were way different. This past 30 years or so the marxists somehow have taken control and the agenda seems to be "You will have nothing and you will be happy" oh and "you will eat bugs" because cows farting kill the ozone layer. The current Labor version only know how to spend money and they put it all on the aussie super credit card. Its not a endless pit but these idiots dont seem to see this. Someone will call in the debt somethime in the future. What ever happened to a fair wage for hard work...there are so many on some sort of welfare now that produce nothing except increase the countries debt. There is almost 1 million on some NDIS benefit....autism or some other issue. Once the parents or the family had to deal with the issue themselves now every tax paying person in the country has to be responsible. There are some of course that do require the proper support due to phyical disabilities and we should support them completely but there is so much fraud going on in this area it is beyond belief and of course its one of the reasons the country is going broke All this TDS I think is just a waste of everyones time. We need to be more focused on what happens here so we can take ourselves out of this global dependence, so another Trump in another country cant effect how we live our lives in the extent it is now. Self reliance in our own backyard needs to be our goal not this current situation we have now. I know its a bit of a rant I hasve been on here but there are many more things to think about and what we can do. The big problem is that list has now been made so big due to the stupid decisions of past governments on both sides. We need a clean out but we have been such a dumb population now I feel the balance scale has gone tone too far to the one side. We need to offload all that dead weight to get some sort of balance to get smart ideas and commonsense back into this country Mark

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

Ahh.. but he is the master of the art of the deal... In his own mind

I am helping my mother-in-law into a nursing home. We are struggling to rearrange her "wealth" to provide aged care (dementia) in a manner that the funds from sale of her home will last her life out. And that is with the present CGT rules. I object to people blaming the oldies for the present housing crisis. When an average person has struggled to pay off a home with tax paid worker's income why do they have to pay tax on the sale of the home? It may look like a profit but it isn't enough to buy an equivalent home at today's prices. So there is no real 'profit'. Even though the numbers of the cheque are massively bigger. As for redistributing this ficticious wealth, my mother-in-law's estate won't pass on enough for any of the younger generation to even put a deposit on their home. The bank of mum and dad (in this case of grandma), is empty. However, owners of multiple properties are investors, and should pay tax on those financial gains.

Same cynical comment from my late dad. He was on the big guns around there. He said the American warships arrived, pounded the island with heavy fire from a safe distance until there wasn't a palm tree standing, then ping off and send the Aussies in to "mop up". Then the Japanese would come out and the real combat started.

But only when he holds all the cards

I am concerned about losing the CGT relief for primary home owners.

Firstly, TDS is certainly a thing to worry about. Observing the derangement of trump should be a warning to us all. Yeah I do know the intended meaning of TDS.... but the yanks were seldom good at irony. It would be clearer if they put the apostrophy after the middle word, but the yanks don't do proper grammar either. The positive side of watching 'Good Ole USA' going down it's own self made gurgler, is that we have the option of learning from it. The lesson goes way beyond "Don't put a raving nutcase in charge of the place!". Our leaders SHOULD be taking notes on how badly certain policies can turn out. Are they watching the cause and effect of eash fiasco in the american clown show? It should make it easier for our political observers to work out smarter ways to run our own country. Sadly (In my opinion) we are following too closely behind USA instead of steering clear of the biggest sinhle cause of government erosion. The rise of the oligarcs - the ones with obscene wealth. The ones who can and do buy and sell just about every politicion and policy with their small change. The ones who fund 'Super Pacs' etc. The politicians (not just their party leaders) do not sing to the tune of the majority of the populace. There is no point in saying 'Oh but there are some pollies with ethics', unless the majority have ethics, the political system is owned by the big players. So, my challenge to you is this..... what would you propose to change this ? Cos I have no effin idea.

I may be thick, but I genuinely don't get what you are saying. How does all humans being equal equate to being pro-Palestinian? Believing they are unfairly treated by the Israelis is one thing (whether that is true or not - I can no longer be arsed getting into that argument), but being pro-Palestinian because all humans are equal sort of ignores the horrible inequities in Palestinian controlled areas (Gaza and Ramallah) - as well as other Arabic or Islamic nations - I dunno, like Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi, Iran, Afghaistan, many ogf the other 'Stans, and the like. Unless killing gays because they are gay, or beating your wife legally and even being instructed on how to do it, legal honour killings, discrtimination against far east labourers, slavery, etc is treating everyone equally. You know - like in Israel whihc has the largest - because the only gay pride; where foreign workers are treated the same as local, where Palestinian citrizes have the same rights and one was even the previous deputy PM, and there have been Palesitnian cheif jidges of the Israeli high court. Where women are eqqual and marital rape, wife beating, etc is against the law. Where even a soldier will be held to account for killing a Palestinian terrorst after they have injured aoir killed other Israeli soldiers. Where before 7 October, Israel provided necessary medical care to Gazans and Ramallans despite there being lots of hospitals in those two areas - some hopefully withoput weapons cahces under them. Where Israel provided Gazan with the water supply (and still do) despite Hamas firing rockets at them almost daily. Where many Gazans used to work in Israel with the same rights and conditions as Israelis and could move about freely (they were justifiably searched oin their way into Israel because of the risk of them wearing bombs). Hang on.. Where is their vocal opposition to Russia that does commit war crimes on a daily basis, targetting civilian infrastructure? Where is their vocal oppostiion to the many wars and conflicts in the middle east that don't involve Israel? I can't recall much more than a scant reference to Iran, and even then it was more about the illegal Chump/Net war and not the 30,00+ civilians killed (although this could be because the newspapers and the ABC don;'t gibve them much coverage). Then, yeah. good on the Greens for sticking with their morals. Give them a clap. They're just being perfect and it's not anti-semitism at all. Shame though, because most of heir policies, if implemented properly, seem pretty good. Would I vote for them despite the above? Actually, probably, because thankfully in the incredibly unlikely event they got in, they cold probably block exports and imports to/from Israel. I don't think wither country would lose sleep over it. Given it is unlikely they would get in, the additional primnarly vote would hopefully send a message to the majors to lift their game in the other areas.

I don't agree with everything you have written, but the sentiment is spot on, IMHO.

Multiple U.S. military attacks are being reported on many Iranian infrastructure assets - bridges, railways, power stations, petrochemical plants and even Tehran University. A synagogue in Tehran was destroyed when an adjoining building was hit with a U.S. bomb. A reported 50 military sites were bombed on Kharg Island - military bunkers and storage facilities, air defense systems and other military facilities. The IRGC has simply replied with more missile launches and drone strikes, targeting Israel, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain. Meantimes, Iran has set the conditions for a ceasefire with a 10 point plan - which includes requirements for the U.S. to cease bombing Iran immediately, and pay reparations for Iranian damage, and to give security guarantees to Iran. The Iranians state that a peace deal must allow Iran to charge "toll" fees for ships passing through the Straits of Hormuz. The U.S. President has rejected the plan without revealing all the details.

I agree, Nev. I haven't served, but have worked closely with active serving personnel, some of whom were in the elite force of their country. I would always defer to someone who has served for a more considered opinion, but my observation was that the special forces personnel were selected and traing based on their mental toughness and fortitude. A lot of the physical training is about building the mental toughness. This no doubt has an impact, but one thing it does mean is that they are more likely to see somethng through then your average soldier. And when they choose to operate outside SoP and commands, it is more likely because they intended it. Whether that intention is pure evil or the result of what they have experienced and some form of PTSD or other mental impairment should, rightly so, be determined by a court of law - Is this going through the civil or military courts? This is the same of anyone charged with murder; it is not the police job to pass judgement; it is the prosecutor to determine if on the evidence there may be a good case to answer; and then on the judge/jury or military panel (apols if that is no longer the case - I don't really know too much about military law). If it is a civil trial, they will have to establish which state it comes under (most likely territory - and therefore federal criminal law). Regardless, they will have to prove two elements beyond reasonable doubt - actus reus - guitly act - and that it was he who caused the death with no intervening factors; and then b) mens rea - guilty mind (in Aus, they now call it the fault element). They will have to prove, subjectively, i.e. that in Robert's -Smith own mind rather than what a reasonable person would think, that he intended to kill (or commit grevous bodily harm) or was criminally reckless (not negligent) to whether or not the deaths would occur form his actions. Both have to be proved beyone reasonable doubt. Then there could be defences, of which mental impariment is one. Interestingly, the defences only have to be proven to a balance of probability - more likely than not - that the conditions for the defence occured. I would imagine it would be a similar apprach in military law. What is widely reported is that he had an unarmed civilians with arms tied behind his back, and if I recall correctly, blindfolded, stand at a ledge of a ricky outcrop, in which Roberts-Smith intentionally kicked the person over thee outcrop. Assuming it to be accurate in that case, the actus reus is definitely there, and the facts would storngly suggest the reuisite intention ir criminal recklessness. That would then open the defences. Extreme provocation is a partial defence these days; so the provocation of comrades being killed previously in an ambush (the previous day) may come into it, but probably not as the law was changed to virtually immediate provocation - so an immediate reaction to provcation. Anything else is a cold blooded intention. There are a couple of other defences but from memory none would really apply. He would have to show on the balance of probability that he had some form of mental impairment and PTSD is one that the court will accept. He only needs to show it was likely rather than definite. So, there is a lot to play out here. And he, like everyone else deserves a fair trial. It is high time it came.. If he is found to have suffered mental impairment, the court will order an assessment and potentially lodgings at a suitable HMAS instituton. The assessment may determine he is no longer suffering or if so, he does not need lodgings as long as he submts to and maintains prescribed treatment.

. To be a POW of the Japanese was No Fun. My Flying instructor was in Changi. Nev . Nev

Getting off topic a bit here, but this photo of my dad and his platoon making their way up through Balikpapan was taken on the first day of the landings. The same day, another platoon in their company got strafed by a trigger happy American plane. Lucky nobody was killed but some were wounded. They were right out in the open as well, in clearly visible land just off the beach.

I'm sure the M-16 three shot burst setting was designed with US troops in mind, but I reckon a lot would have used auto a lot. Giving them an auto setting is a bit like giving a kid the keys to the lolly shop. When you see a lot of Vietnam footage of them firing, they seem to hugely misinterpret the concept of covering fire. Apparently they were a bit that way in WW2 as well, although they mostly had semi-autos there. My dad always used to say when he was up in the islands that they felt safer fighting the Japanese than they did being anywhere near the Americans.

I was referring to the Greens. The Greens don't consider themselves far left but a lot of the rest of the country does. Labor faithful probably don't. Most people right of centre do.

It was Willie that said far left, not Peter.

Despite initially rejecting the 10 point peace plan - under pressure from Pakistani negotiators, Trump has declared a 2 week cessation of bombing of Iran, which is one of the primary requests from the negotiators. In addition, the Iranian Govt called on Iranian civilians to form large human shields around important infrastructure. As a result human shields appeared around a major Iranian power plant, and several important Iranian bridges - all of which infuriated Trump, and which move has perhaps made him change his mind about "bombing Iran back into the Stone Age". The Iranians still see the bombing of Iran as "Zionist agression", and America as the puppet of Netanyahu.

It's a bright future he have. This came from a weekly AI newsletter I get: npm is a package manager for javascrip and used to deploy most web apps.